The Messenger · Earlington, KY
Earlington resident recovers disappearing National Guard history
Spencer Brewer, Earlington resident, American Legion member, and history fanatic, discovered a fact about the City of Earlington that was nearly lost to time. The small city once hosted the entirety of the Kentucky National Guard.“The whole encampment was there, 2,200 troops,” Brewer explained.The city, more specifically Camp John B. Atkinson, served as the mobilization point for troops as they prepared to deploy to the border between the United States and Mexico in 1916 following the Pancho Villa invasion.At the time, according to Brewer’s research, several more prominent cities tried to entice the Kentucky National Guard to stay there instead, but Kentucky Adjunct General James Tandy Ellis refused their offers.“Earlington has been selected for the mobilization point for the KY troops,” Ellis wrote.