Balls Fork

Balls Fork is a stream that is mainly in Knott County, Kentucky in the United States. It a fork of the Troublesome Creek tributary of the North Fork Kentucky River that it joins over the county line in Perry County. It is 19.5 mile long.

It is not known where its name comes from. Unlike many other locations in Kentucky, there are no local families recorded with the surname Balls for whom it could have been named.

Tributaries and other locations
The mouth of Balls Fork is 23.875 mile upstream on Troublesome at an altitude of 835 ft.


 * Its major tributaries are:
 * Lick Branch 0.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 840 ft
 * Georges Branch 1.25 mile upstream at an altitude of 850 ft
 * Roaring Branch 3.875 mile upstream at an altitude of 900 ft
 * Elisha Fork 0.25 mile upstream at an altitude of 985 ft
 * Big Branch 4.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 915 ft
 * Beech Creek 0.375 mile upstream at an altitude of 935 ft
 * Sand Lick Branch 1.5 mile upstream at an altitude of 1030 ft
 * Road Branch 2.625 mile upstream at an altitude of 1110 ft
 * Right Fork 3.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1160 ft
 * Zach Branch 5.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 930 ft
 * Rattlesnake Branch (also Cutoff Branch) 8 mile upstream at an altitude of 955 ft
 * Laurel Creek 11.625 mile upstream at an altitude of 1010 ft
 * Hard Branch 12.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1020 ft
 * Old Trace Branch (also John S. Combs Branch) 13.25 mile upstream at an altitude of 1030 ft
 * Old-house Branch 13.375 mile upstream at an altitude of 1030 ft
 * Trace Branch 13.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1035 ft
 * Pond Branch 14.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1045 ft
 * Knob Bottom Branch 15 mile upstream at an altitude of 1050 ft
 * Garden Branch 15.375 mile upstream at an altitude of 1055 ft
 * Sand Lick Branch 15.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1060 ft
 * Stewart Fork (also Terry Fork) 16 mile upstream at an altitude of 1065 ft
 * Gearhart Branch (also Mill Branch) 17 mile upstream at an altitude of 1080 ft
 * Conley Branch (also Little Branch) 0.125 mile upstream at an altitude of 1095 ft
 * Buck Branch 17.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1090 ft
 * Wiley Branch 18.25 mile upstream at an altitude of 1100 ft
 * Combs Fork 0.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1125 ft
 * Hurricane Branch 0.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1155 ft
 * Georges Branch 1.125 mile upstream at an altitude of 1150 ft
 * Bowling Fork 18.875 mile upstream at an altitude of 1140 ft
 * Long Fork 19.75 mile upstream at an altitude of 1200 ft

General
The current Ary post office at the mouth of Balls Fork is actually on Troublesome Creek itself, as was the original site of the earlier Troublesome post office that served Balls Fork from 1882.

Balls Fork had six post offices in its history actually on the fork itself or its tributaries. Three of them were refused the name Ball by the USPS because it had already been taken.

The Talcum post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1903-02-25 by postmaster Levi Collins. It was located at the mouth of Cutoff Branch. After closing in February 1913 it was reëstablished by postmaster Mrs Ida Francis on 1917-04-21. It moved along Balls Fork several times in its lifetime, ending up 3.5 mile downstream from where it started. It closed in 1994.

The Yellow Mountain post office was established on 1909-03-30 by husband and wife postmasters Reece F. and Louelzia Bolen. It was on Mill Branch, 0.5 mile upstream and named after the Yellow Mountain there. It closed in 1951.

In 1918, Bud Dobson's mine was on a minor branch 11 mile upstream on Balls itself.; and William Messer's 1.5 mile upstream on Old Trace Branch.

Joseph Sutton's mine was on a minor fork of Trace Branch, 1 mile upstream; John Ooten's on a minor branch of Pond Branch, 0.5 mile upstream; Lewis Evans's 0.275 mile upstream on Pond itself; and Joseph Patten's Balls itself, 17.5 mile upstream;

Richard Smith had a mine one on Wiley Branch, 0.5 mile upstream; and John Smith one on Wiley Branch, 2.75 mile upstream.

Grant Moore had a mine on Wiley Branch, 0.625 mile upstream; and Solomon Sloane one 0.25 mile upstream on Hurricane Branch.

William Stewart had a mine on Stewart Fork, 0.875 mile upstream; and John Conley one on Conley Branch, 1 mile upstream.

Georges Branch is across a ridge from the Coles Branch of Troublesome Creek.

Vest and the Grigsby family mines and post offices
A Balls Fork post office was on the Fork itself, 7 mile upstream. It was established on 1879-09-11 by postmaster William G. Grigsby, and closed in December 1881. Although it would have been in Knott County today, it predated the creation of that county.

James M. Grigsby's mine was on Old House Branch, 0.5 mile upstream.

The Vest post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1886-01-31 by postmaster William Grigsby. Anecdotally, although there is no record of such a person, it was named after a USPS official who validated the requirement for a post office. It still exists today, and around it are a consolidated school, a store, and a crafts centre.

Combs family mines and post offices
The Bearville post office was established in 1952 by postmaster Lucinda Combs. The name was a nickname of one of the members of a sprawling local family on Troublesome Creek and North Fork Kentucky River, one "Bear" Combs. It was on Big Branch, 1.5 mile upstream. It closed in 1984.

Henry Combs's mine was 1 mile upstream on Roaring Branch; J. S. Combs's was 0.25 mile upstream on Hard Branch.

Triplett family mines and post offices
The Soft Shell post office, an attempted Ball, was established on 1926-05-04 by postmaster Sarah Triplett. It was named for the local Soft Shell church, a subgroup of Regular Baptists that differentiated themselves from the Hard Shell Baptists, and located on the mouth of Wiley Branch. It closed in 1983.

John L. Triplett had a mine one on Balls itself, 18.75 mile upstream; and Thomas Triplett's land was 100 yd farther up.

Richie/Ritchie family mines
Jason Richie had a mine on Beech Creek, 0.375 mile upstream; Hiram Richie had one on a minor branch of a minor branch of Balls itself, 5.625 mile upstream; and Peyton Richie one 13.25 mile upstream on Balls.

Fugate family mines
In the Fugate family two brothers had mines on Georges Branch, 0.125 mile and 0.25 mile upstream; Daniel Fugate had a mine on a minor branch of Trace Branch, 1 mile upstream; and Samuel Fugate had a mine 3.125 mile upstream on Balls Fork itself.

Gearhart family mines
W. F. Gearheart had a mine on a minor branch of Laurel Creek, 2 mile upstream; Lewis Gearhart one on Sand Lick Branch just over 1.75 mile upstream past a spring; Elhannon Gearhart one on Balls itself, 15.125 mile upstream; Martha Gearhart one on a minor fork of Balls, 16.25 mile upstream; and Allen Gearhart one on Buck Branch, 0.25 mile upstream.

Patrick family mines
Rachel Patrick's mine was on a minor fork of Sand Lick Branch, 0.625 mile upstream. and James Patrick's was on a minor fork of Road Branch, 0.25 mile upstream.

Terry family mines
Thomas Terry had a mine on Right Fork of Big Branch, 0.125 mile upstream; Rebecca Terry one on a minor branch of Pond Branch, 0.75 mile upstream; Bud Terry one on Pond itself, 1 mile upstream; and Benjamin Terry one on a minor fork of Wiley Branch, 0.75 mile upstream.

Bowling family mines
Green Bowling's two mines were on two minor forks of Balls, one 16.875 mile upstream and the other 17 mile upstream. William Bowling's mine was 0.75 mile upstream on Buck Branch.