846 SOUTHGATE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH “Integration Delay May Bring Suit,” KP, September 1, 1955, 1. “Integration Will Begin in Newport,” KP, August 15, 1955, 1. “Local Schools Openings to See Changes,” KP, September 5, 1955, 1. “Negro Educational Convention,” CC, February 19, 1873, 3. “Newport,” CDG, August 28, 1873, 2; August 30, 1873, 3; September 8, 1873, 3. “Newport School Appointments,” Newport Local, June 11, 1878, 3. “Newport School Committee on Salaries,” Newport Local, June 3, 1879, 1. “Newport Voters Defeat Bond Issues,” KP, November 9, 1938, 1. Reis, Jim. “Superintendents Notable for Longevity, Leadership,” KP, March 6, 1995, 7.
Theodore H. H. Harris
SOUTHGATE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. The Southgate Methodist Church was founded 1906 as an outreach in the village of Southgate by the Grace United Methodist Church of Newport. Starting a Sunday school in Southgate was the vision of Louis Wilson of the Grace Church. Between 1900 and 1906, the Grace Church held Sunday school on Sunday afternoons in the old two-room school that was located on Elm St. in Southgate. Later, church ser vices were held at the same location two Sundays each month. Eventually, a Ladies Aide Society was organized and money was raised to build a church in Southgate. Shaler Berry donated a lot across from the Southgate School, and Catherine Wright and her husband donated another lot for a church building. The building itself was financed by picnics, lawn fetes, bazaars, and other fundraising activities. The 36-by-40-foot church, designed by architect L. H. Wilson of Newport and costing $8,000, was dedicated in 1908. The original building had a sanctuary and two small rooms in the back. Rev. George Bunton was the first pastor, and William Theis was the first Sunday school superintendent. Between 1908 and 1939, three additions to the church were built. By 1939 church membership was about 300 and Sunday school membership was 189. A parsonage was built and dedicated on May 14, 1950, nearby in town at 226 Evergreen Ave. Rev. T. O. Harrison was the first pastor who occupied it. In May 1952, “the Little Church by the Side of the Road,” as the church was known, was torn down in order to build a new structure on the property. The church furnishings were taken across the street to the Southgate School, where the congregation met during the construction of its new building. The first ser vice in the new sanctuary was held April 19, 1953, with Pastor H. K. Carl presiding. Orie S. Ware, a Masonic Past Grand Master (see Masons), presided at the cornerstone-laying ceremony, which was conducted by the Newport Masonic Lodge No. 358 on May 17, 1953. When the fi nal payment on the $120,000 mortgage had been made, in January 1966, the building was formally dedicated as part of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the
Southgate United Methodist Church in 1906. During the 1970s and 1980s, the church was known for its promotion of scouting in the Southgate community. By the 1990s, the Southgate United Methodist Church had become an urban church, and it began to experience a decline in attendance and membership. As a result, it was reorganized as the New Hope Church. Finally in 2004 it became the New Hope Campus of the Immanuel United Methodist Church in Lakeside Park, in order to continue to serve the communities of Southgate and south Newport. “Corner-Stone of Edifice Laid,” KP, September 9, 1907, 5. Dedication Program, 1966. Southgate, Ky.: Southgate Methodist Church, 1966. “Site Is Deeded for M.E. Church,” KP, March 28, 1907, 5. “Southgate Methodists to Dedicate,” KP, June 20, 1908, 5. “Throngs of People Attend Dedication,” KP, June 22, 1908, 5.
Paul L. Whalen
SOUTH HILLS. Perched on a hill above the southwestern border of Covington, the area now known as South Hills was once home to Battery Hooper, one of the Civil War fortifications built to defend Cincinnati. South Hills began in the late 1920s as a 121-acre subdivision of more than 400 lots, its name derived from the company that developed the first streets. Fred W. Staengle, a Covington realtor, led much of the original housing development. South Hills was widely known in its early years as one of the largest and most attractive developments in Northern Kentucky; it touted amenities such as electricity and gas, as well as the “Heart’s Desire” model home on Crittenden Ave., which was visited by thousands of people in the late 1920s, according to newspaper reports. In 1927, lot prices in the subdivision ranged from $25 to $50, and a nice house could be had for $5,000. In addition to Crittenden Ave., original streets included St. Anthony, Cumberland, and Henry Clay, which was the only road open from Covington to the south during the Ohio River flood of 1937. In 1949 the South Hills subdivision incorporated as a sixth-class city to block potential annexation by Covington and to create the taxing authority to provide basic government ser vices such as infrastructure maintenance and police. Council meetings were held in the basements of various residences until the South Hills Civic Club was built in 1957. The Civic Club also served as the city building. South Hills mayors included A. J. Jung, Royal Clark, George Schulte, and M. A. Groening. Nearly all residential, South Hills was a closeknit community that had a community club as early as 1941 and for many years sponsored an annual festival and other events at the Civic Club. Rumors of annexation and consolidation with neighboring cities swirled many times between the early 1940s and the late 1950s, and finally in 1960
South Hills was annexed by neighboring Fort Wright. South Hills continues, however, to maintain a typical neighborhood atmosphere. City of Fort Wright. City of Fort Wright 50th Anniversary Booklet. Fort Wright, Ky.: City of Fort Wright, 1991. “Henry Clay Avenue Maintenance Asked,” KP, May 8, 1941, 1. “Historic Spot Converted into Subdivision,” KP, March 27, 1927, 6. “Park Hills, Ft. Wright, Lookout Heights Talk More on Merger,” KE, March 21, 1967, 19. Reis, Jim. “The City They All Seem to Want,” KP, November 11, 1985, 4K. “South Hills One of Northern Kentucky’s Largest Developments,” KP, December 30, 1928, 7.
Dave Hatter
SPARKS, HENRY, CORPORAL (b. June 16, 1753, Culpeper Co., Va.; d. August 14, 1836, Owen Co., Ky.). Henry Sparks was one of the family members of Capt. James Clark’s sons and daughters, who arrived in Owen Co. as early pioneers: the Clarks, the Marstons, the Smoots, the Sparkses, the Towles, and the Hancocks. Each of these families had received large land grants, and Henry Sparks owned 1,000 acres along the Kentucky River north of Monterey. He had earned his land by serving in the Revolutionary War as a bodyguard of Gen. George Washington, whose military unit was said to be the “flower and pick of the American army.” Sparks fought at the battles of Brandywine Creek (September 11, 1777) and Germantown (October 3–4, 1777) in Pennsylvania and was discharged from military ser vice on February 2, 1778, at Valley Forge, Pa. In 1795 he came to Kentucky and settled in what is today Owen Co. He died there in 1836. Sparks was buried at Sparks Bottom Cemetery near Monterey, his grave site marked with a military stone. He is one of several Revolutionary War soldiers who chose to settle in Owen Co., which was at the time part of the new American West. Owen Co., Kentucky. “Henry Sparks.” www.rootsweb .com/~kyowen (accessed June 25, 2007).
SPARTA. The town of Sparta straddles Owen and Gallatin counties, where Ky. Rts. 467 and 35 intersect. In 1779 Jacob and John Carlock migrated to Kentucky from the Holsten Valley of Virginia and arrived in the valley on the north side of Eagle Creek in early summer. They set up camp at the mouth of the Two-Mile branch of the creek and began to establish the town that later became known as Sparta. Accompanying the Carlock brothers were Dave and John Alcor, William Swango, and Jacob Walters. Soon there were families of settlers living on both sides of the creek. By 1804 a gristmill, a tanning business, a distillery, a mechanic’s shop, and shoemakers were operating in town. By 1806 Enoch Winkfield had opened a storehouse there as well. Those who chose to be farmers grew cotton and hemp as cash crops. When Owen Co. was established in 1819, Eagle Creek was the dividing line between Gallatin and