Big Creek, Kentucky

Big Creek is a 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long creek in Kentucky, United States whose headwaters are in Leslie County and that flows into the Red Bird River in Clay County.[2] A postoffice and village are named for it.[2] Its own name is likely purely descriptive of its frequent flooding and high water levels, as it is not otherwise one of the biggest tributaries of Red Bird River.[2]

Big Creek, Kentucky
creek, village, and postoffice
Big Creek, Kentucky
Coordinates: 37°09′44″N 83°34′08″W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Clay, Leslie
Elevation	866 ft (264 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	40914
Area code	606
GNIS feature ID	510640[1]

The post office named after it was established by James Marcum on January 10, 1871.[2] Originally located one mile up from the Red Bird River, it has moved several times up and down the creek, and as of 2000 was located three quarters of a mile up from the Red Bird, serving the Big Creek village.[2] The village is located on U.S. Route 421, 10.7 miles (17.2 km) east of Manchester.[3] Big Creek postoffice has ZIP code 40914.[4][5]

In Leslie County the creek has tributaries Hals Fork (which U.S. 421 parallels), Couch Fork (paralleled by the Parkway), Hollins Fork, Bear Branch (2 miles (3.2 km) long), and Ulysses Creek.[6] Couch Fork used to be named Collins Fork, and the Obed post office, founded on January 26, 1903 by postmaster Levi Couch, used to lie between Collins and Hollins Forks.[6] Obed was in 1936 moved downhill to the Twin Branch tributary of Collins/Couch Fork and closed in 1938.[6]

A Bear Branch post office was established by William Britton on November 10, 1923, named after the branch.[6] Originally located a mere 50 feet (15 m) across the county line into Clay, it was moved on February 12, 1924 to Ulysses Creek by postmaster Thomas T. Hensley.[6] It moved again when U.S. 421 was built, to a point next to the highway, and a further time in 1936 to its present location just below the branch 100 yards (91 m) from the Clay county line.[7]

A Jason post office was established by postmaster Billie Jones to serve Hollins Fork on September 1, 1937.[7] During its lifetime from then until July 1965, it was located in three different places along the fork, above the Bear Branch post office, ending up less than 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the original site of Obed post office.[7] The postmaster's original choice of name, Elim, was disregarded because of potential confusion with an Elem post office in Rockcastle County.[7]