Monkeys Eyebrow, KY has always been a mystery to me. After a lot of research, I have found that the name occurred from a legend. According to the legend, if you look down upon this area it looks like a monkey’s eyebrow. Okay, but what does a monkey’s eyebrow look like? I had visited the area last year to obtain further enlightenment. The town is located on a long eyebrow curve. I couldn’t find any mountains nearby so I couldn't look down on the town. After arriving home from my trip, I was still puzzled. Then one day I got an email from Joe! Joe has a farm at Monkey’s Eyebrow. Joe told me that the legend is correct but you need to take out your map and then look down at the town. I didn’t really get it until I looked closely at the map and then it hit me. Joe was right! The town is located next to the Ohio River. The way this river twists through this region it takes the shape of a monkeys face. And if monkeys do have eyebrows the location of the town is where an eyebrow should be. Take a look for yourself! Thanks Joe, I have slept much better after our conversation. 
Anyway, there isn’t much left of the town but Joe’s farm is still there. But there is still one mystery left about the name of this town. Often Monkey’s Eyebrow is spelled without an apostrophe. Not to lose any more sleep, Joe and I have decided that back then maybe punctuation wasn’t such a big priority.
By the way, Joe has a great web site that you need to check out. Thanks again Joe! http://www.monkeyseyebrow.org/.
By the way, Joe has a great web site that you need to check out. Thanks again Joe! http://www.monkeyseyebrow.org/.
2 comments:
There was an article in the county paper about 30 years ago that discussed Monkey's Eyebrow and how it got its name. The name has been around for a century or more. My favorite explanation is the one you posted, that the Ohio River's course around West Kentucky looks like a monkey's face in profile and Monkey's Eyebrow is about where the monkey's eyebrow would be. If a monkey even has an eyebrow. Another version is that someone decided that some shrubs near a store that used to be there looked like a monkey's eyebrow. There are some who say the name came when a steamboat sank in the river nearby and a monkey escaped, got in a tree, etc. Still another, and perhaps the one closest to the truth, is that a bunch of men were sitting in a store, having the occasional nip, and started trying to come up with outrageous names for the community. The best -- or perhaps the worst -- was Monkey's Eyebrow. You mentioned my farm. There was a serious ice storm there a couple of nights ago, which broke lots of limbs, one of which fell through the roof of my pump house. If you drive by, you'll notice the tall TV tower that makes it easy to find your way to Monkey's Eyebrow. it's right behind my property. If you stand on Monkey's Eyebrow Road and look past my house and my tobacco barn, the tower is in the field behind me.
Hey Joe, thanks for the comments. Great stories on the name. We need to hook up down there sometime this summer.
Mark
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