No matter where you live or visit, there’s some amazing history near you. There’s a reason for the name of the county you live in, the city you live in, the street you live on, and the church you worship in. Recently I was asked to write a bio about myself. First, I do have a hard time “talking about myself,” but I’m in radio, I am capable of talking about something when I need too. While writing my bio, I mentioned I grew up in an area called Sorgho. Sorgho is a little dot on the map west of Owensboro in Daviess County. Sorgho is an area filled many acres of rich and fertile farmland owned by several generations of families.
Now for some history, mainly where the name Sorgho came from. The community was named for the Daviess County Sorgho Sugar Company, for the manufacturing of “Sorgho cane” or sorghum sugar, which was formed there in the mid 1800’s by Dr. J.Q.A. Stewart, J. Balee and E. Guthrie. Once the factory was established the community began to develop.
“Sorghotown,” that eventually became Sorgho, at one point had two dry goods stores, one blacksmith, a sawmill, one boat, one shoe shop, a tobacco stemmery, and even a Post Office from late 1800’s through the 1940’s. I believe the growth of nearby city, Owensboro, contributed to keeping Sorgho from becoming any bigger than it has.
In recent years I have seen an influx of small rural neighborhoods being built in Sorgho, especially along highway 56. However, Sorgho is still so full of the fertile farmland I mentioned earlier. My parent’s still live on the homestead I grew up in. There’s still a warm familiarity when driving along the county roads in the summertime. I smell the corn growing, look across wheat and soybean fields, and of course, the hundreds of acres of tobacco fields.
Home is truly where the heart is. And Sorgho will always be home.
