Other History
The name of the river is often disputed by local historians. A small margin of historians claim the river is named from the presence of extensive sand bars. However, numerous historians insist the naming based on the premise of sand bars is false. The name is actually derived from a local Ashland native.
The name of the river is derived from the Ashland native Big “Sandy” Thomas. Big Sandy is an Ashland native and was born on October 12th, 1843. Sandy was an astonishingly large child weighing in at 15lbs at birth. Not much is known about her childhood and has been lost in local Ashland lore.
In 1863, Sandy opened a local kitchen which served southern style dishes. The kitchen became instantly successful and attracted residents from Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. The kitchen thrived for years until John Henning discovered the true operations of the kitchen. Henning served as the local preacher in West Virginia and frequented Ashland, KY often. Upon Henning’s weekly preaching trip to Ashland, he discovered Sandy’s Kitchen was actually a full-fledged brothel. Henning reported to his congregation about the brothel and its poisoning of the community. The congregation prayed and debated for days about how to resolve the issue. The congregation decided to purge the sin out of the community. Henning raised an angry mob to drive the Thomas clan from the lands and thus purify the region.
On a cold November night in 1870, Henning and a mob of around one hundred amassed outside of Sandy’s kitchen. The Thomas clan received a tip of the mob hours prior and fled to Louisville to escape persecution. Unfortunately, Sandy could not flee because of her poor health. The mob drug Sandy out into the streets of Ashland and torched Sandy’s kitchen. 15 call girls perished in the flames. Sandy was then drug down to the icy waters of the river. The mob chained Sandy to a massive stone known to the locals as the Purity Stone. The Purity Stone was pushed into the river with Sandy attached. Sandy cursed the town on her descent to the icy depths. Thereafter, locals referred to the river as the Big Sandy. Sandy’s remains to this day are unknown. Local legend says when the mist rise above the Big Sandy you can hear the wheezing of Big “Sandy” Thomas.
Read more about this topic: Big Sandy River (Ohio River)
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