Plenty of towns in our part of Kentucky owe their start to the railroad. Wingo might be the best example.
In 1854, the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad pushed through southern Graves County. A local landowner named Jerman J. Wingo gave land for the tracks and a station, and a little community started to grow up around the depot.
Three names in about 20 years
The town did not get its name right away. According to the Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer, the post office opened in 1861 as Point Curve. A year later it was renamed Wingo Station in honor of the man who gave the land. In 1882, the post office dropped “Station” and became plain Wingo. The town was incorporated in 1872.
Still the heart of south Graves
The passenger trains may be a memory, but Wingo is still a hub for the farm families and small communities around it, from Water Valley and Pilot Oak down toward Dukedom on the Tennessee line. It is the kind of place where people know their neighbors and turn out for each other.
We want to tell more stories from south Graves County. If you have old photos of the Wingo depot, family history from the early days, or news from your church or community group, send it our way.
Reach us at news@southwestky.com.
Source: Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer.
Photo: A caboose on display in Wingo. Brian Stansberry, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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