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Green River Museum

Name: Green River Museum
Address: 100 N. Park Street, Morgantown, KY, 42261, US
Telephone: +12707914261
Price range: $$

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Green River Museum

The Green River Museum is dedicated to the preservation of Butler County, Kentucky's history. Open Saturdays June through September, noon until 4pm.

The GRM preserves the history of Butler County, with particular emphasis on the Green River and its influence on that history. The principle buildings were constructed in 1912 and 1913 by the federal government as office and residence for Superintendent of Green and Barren Rivers. The museum originally opened in 1981, thanks to the efforts of many local citizens who volunteered their time and expe

rtise to help preserve our history. The most recent re-branding, which included 501 (c)3 status and re-organization of focus and leadership, began in 2003. Our season is May through October and the museum is open on Saturdays, noon until 4pm. Admission is free! Our GPS address is listed as Morgantown, but GRM is located in Woodbury, Kentucky.

03/22/2026

Let's take a look inside one of Morgantown's most iconic businesses, Butler County Drug. The building in which it was located was constructed around 1896 for Eddie Kuykendall's successful drug store. It eventually became the home of H. C. Phelps dry goods store, then Butler County Drug opened there in 1946. Operated by Richard Moore, Butler County Drug had success for several decades.

The interior photograph was taken in the 1950s. Richard Moore is behind the druggist counter and Ross Melton is the customer. The man turned away from the counter is Joe Borah, and the young people are unidentified, unless someone can help! The store had a prescription department but also sold magazines and sundries, and had a full service soda fountain.

The building later became the Bear's Den, and was purchased in 1981 by the city for Morgantown's City Hall.

03/14/2026

One of old Morgantown's most beautiful business interiors was that of the John M. Carson Banking Company. Beginning his career as a cashier at Morgantown Deposit Bank, John M. Carson (1856-1937) opened his own bank in 1907, with the help of his father-in-law, Judge B. L. D. Guffy. The bank, located on Main Street near where Embry & Watts CPA is today, had an impressive limestone facade with intricate stonework around the doors and windows. The interior had dark-stained, paneled woodwork, with a decorative teller's cage, and pressed tin ceilings.

These photographs were made by George H. Dabbs around the time the bank opened in 1907. In the interior, the man to the right is John M. Carson and the man to the left is unidentified. In the exterior, the men are Justus Carson, unidentified, and John M. Carson. Carson was married to Luella Guffy Carson (1859-1941) and their fine home was just down the street. Built in 1890, it is known as the Hammers House today.

The John M. Carson Banking Co. closed in 1928 after a "bank run" by local customers. As the result, the bank was deemed insolvent. Customers were paid back dollar for dollar but Carson was later charged with receiving deposits for the institution, after the bank had officially closed. The building was used for a variety of things over the years, including being occupied by Forgy's Drug Store from 1942 until 1949. The last business to lease the downstairs portion of the old bank was Naomi's Beauty Shop. The building burned in the 1971 fire.

03/06/2026

This week's Morgantown interior photograph is of W. A. Kelley's Grocery, located on the corner of Main Street and today's G. L. Smith Street. Constructed in the 1860s, the building had several uses until Mr. Kelly opened his grocery and dry goods business in 1899. The photo, made by an unidentified photographer in the mid-1920s, captures a long, narrow space, crowded with merchandise, including boxes of Keds tennis shoes and Baby Ruth candy bars. The building was heated with a coal stove and lit with electricity.

William A. Kelly (1865-1929) was married to Minnie Dabbs Kelley (1869-1961), the sister of George H. Dabbs. The Kelley's had one daugher, Alta, who tragically died at the age of four years. Kelley's business operated until his death in 1929 and Minnie continued to live in their house on Main Street until her death in 1961. The old structure was torn down in 1958 and replaced with Jim Spradlin's Butler County Hardware later that year. Today Garrison's is in that location.

Standing from left to right are Dave Kelley (1876-1962), William Archer Moore (1895-1982), unidentified, Justus Carson (1877-1967), and W. A. Kelley (1865-1929).

02/28/2026

Here's another interesting Morgantown interior this week . . . the bedroom occupied by George and Sallie Dabbs while they lived with his parents. The house was located somewhere on Main Street and was probably around a decade old when this photo was made in February, 1907.

The room arrangement is very typical of the time period, as is the floral wall and ceiling paper, a "wall pocket" holding photographs on the door, linoleum and rugs on the floor, an iron bed, a pressed-back rocker, and a Rayo lamp on the bedside table. The bookcase is filled with folders, probably holding magazines or journals.

The sharp resolution of this image is due to the fact that Mr. Dabb's glass negative still exists.

02/18/2026

In the early 20th century, Morgantown had stores both big and small. Because of the work of an unknown photographer, we are able to see the interior of Kahn's Grocery, located on the block where Firehouse Pizza is today.

Joseph Walter Kahn (1863-1926), whose parents were German immigrants, married Eliza Jane McKenney (1875-1962) from Butler County in 1896. Joseph Kahn was born in Cromwell and was a traveling salesman. When he died in 1925, his wife opened a grocery in Morgantown that operated for nearly two decades. In the 1929 photograph are Eliza Kahn and her youngest daughter, Jo.

Even in the small space, we see that Mrs. Kahn had great amount of merchandise in her store, which was heated by a pot-bellied stove and illuminated by a single electric light bulb hanging in the foreground.

One of the Kahn's daughters, Clara Dixie (1907-1993), married Abram Pushin (1902-1966), who owned Pushin's Department Store on the square in Bowling Green.

02/07/2026

Let's look inside another building in Morgantown this week. Here is the interior of Morgantown Deposit Bank in the mid-1930s. The unknown photographer took the picture from the inside of the teller's cage, looking back toward Main Street. In the photo are Cecil Wilson (1884-1968), cashier, and James Everett Doolin (1867-1940), president. Soon after the death of Doolin in 1940, Cecil Wilson became bank president and served in that role for nearly 30 years.

Details of note in the photograph are the decorative metal cage around the teller space, original to the 1885 building. Also, we can see that the building was heated by coal, that transoms over the doors allowed fresh air into the un-air-conditioned bank, and there was a bit of clutter out of sight of customers! Visible at right is the interior staircase to the attorney's offices on the second floor, accessible from Main Street.

The building still stands today and is the home of Laurie Keen Photography.

02/03/2026

It is always nice to find an original print of a photo that is much sharper than its published image. This photograph was included in the 1949 annual but the resolution was not the best. This is the 10th grade Home Economics class, posed on the steps of the industrial arts building. Most of these young ladies would graduate in 1951.

Front row (l-r): Vida Renfrow, Dean Grubb, Christine Cardwell, Mary Alice Dye

Middle row (l-r): Thelma Cook, Lucy Mae Childers, Dorothy Embry, Margie Carter

Top row (l-r): Betty Baucum, Billie Taylor, unidentified, Nellie Miller, Ruth West (teacher),
Mary Evlyn King

Does anyone remember these Butler County women?

01/31/2026

Let's take a look inside one of Morgantown's former businesses! This is the interior of Beesley's Drug Store, ca. 1930. The store was located on Main Street and stood just to the left of where Hocker Insurance is located today. It is easy to see that the store was well-stocked with patent medicines, ci**rs, tinware, kerosene lamps and many other items. The store also had a soda fountain. Coca-Cola is being served to the customers at the table.

In the photo, made by an unknown photographer, are the owners, John W. Beesley (1864-1941), right, and his wife Clara Doyle Beesley (1871-1934), left. The customer in the center is unidentified but the woman seated at right is Marie Martin (1910-2000), younger sister of Golda Martin Threlkel, who many may remember.

John W. Beesley bought the drug store in 1926 from druggist W. T. Kittinger who had constructed the building and opened his drug store in 1894. Beesley's Drug Store closed in the mid-1930s and the building was torn down in 1958.

01/25/2026

In keeping with our theme of interior photographs this winter, here is the wedding of Katharyn "Kate" Helm (1884-1970) and John W. Moore (1877-1941), which took place at the home of her father, Col. W. A. Helm (1857-1921) on December 28, 1907. The house still stands today, just above the Charles Black City Park.

The wedding was a major social event in Morgantown and was covered not only in the local paper but in the Courier-Journal. The CJ article recorded that Kate's father, a widower, was a prominent attorney and president of Morgantown Deposit Bank. It also stated that she was "one of Morgantown's most popular and attractive society girls" and that Moore was also "very popular in social circles." Standing up with the couple were Rollie Keown, Annie Pearl Phelps, Justus Carson, and Edna Smith. The officiant was listed as Rev. Mr. Napier.

After the wedding, dinner for seventy-five guests was served in the dining room of the Helm house. This pair of photographs, made by George H. Dabbs, illustrates the elaborate costume, table settings, and decorations of the late Victorian period.

John W. Moore was elected to Congress in 1925 and the couple maintained homes in Morgantown and Washington D. C., where he passed away in 1941 at the age of 64. Both Kate and John are buried at Riverview Cemetery in Morgantown.

01/18/2026

During the winter months, let's explore the interiors of some of the homes and businesses in Morgantown during the first third of the 20th century! We will start with one of the best.

This is a photograph made by George H. Dabbs in the parlor of home of his parents, ca. 1905. Seated left to right are Dabbs' parents, Francis Ann Bunch Dabbs (1843-1931) and Joseph R. Dabbs (1839-1917) and his wife Sallie Glenn Dabbs (1880-1954). George and Sallie were living with his parents in their house on Main Street at the time.

The photograph reveals fascinating information about the time period, especially in the arrangement of the room, focused around the coal grate. This was common practice in the wintertime, for obvious reasons. Also to be noted is the center table with a kerosene lamp, highly varnished woodwork with a two-color paint scheme on the doors, a variety of calendars decorating the walls, a brass bird cage, and a mantel crowded with ink wells, medicine bottles, a match safe, s***f cans, an oil can, and a clock in the center. The elevated door in the corner, to the right of the fireplace, accessed a boxed staircase to the home's second floor. A small closet was fitted beneath that staircase. To the left of the mantel is hanging a painting by George H. Dabbs. There's also an empty rocking chair next to Sallie, no doubt where George was sitting prior to his making the photograph.

The sharp detail of this image is due to the fact that the original glass negative exists! The GREEN RIVER MUSEUM will be open to the public in late spring!

10/13/2025

Thank you, Gary and Veronica Chapman, for donating rocking chairs for the front porch of the 1913 Superintendent's House at the Green River Museum.

Address

100 N. Park Street
Morgantown, KY
42261

Opening Hours

12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+12707914261

Website

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