Court Day at Mt. Sterling

In Mt. Sterling, KY, "Court Day" takes place the third Monday of October, bringing together tens of thousands of people to buy and sell goods.

00:07Copy video clip URL Opening credit image: The Appalachian Learning Laboratory. Alice Lloyd College, Pippa Passes, KY. 

00:28Copy video clip URL People playing bluegrass music on a sidewalk. Footage of a gathering crowd. 

00:48Copy video clip URL Title: ‘Court Day’ at Mt. Sterling. Images of the crowd.

01:17Copy video clip URL A woman stands outside holding a microphone and addresses the camera from in front of the Montgomery County Courthouse in Mt. Sterling, KY. She explains that Mt. Sterling typically has only 4100 residents, but that on ‘Court Day’ on the third Monday in October there are about 25,000 people in the town. 

02:36Copy video clip URL An interview with Dr. A. A. Page, resident of Mt. Sterling, about Court Day. He discusses its start about 70 years earlier as a day in which people gathered to trade/sell goods on the county’s court day. The flourishing of trade on Court Days. 

04:27Copy video clip URL In the crowd outside, an old man sings a folk song, playing a bluegrass violin. 

05:55Copy video clip URL Page discusses the Court Days transition to “a modern-day flea market.” 

06:43Copy video clip URL Interview with Ella Hamilton of the local historical society. The purpose of the Court Day originally to trade animal stock and other goods. 

07:15Copy video clip URL Lela Campbell, County Courthouse, discusses the trade of cattle and other livestock in early Court Days. 

08:02Copy video clip URL John M. Pruit, attorney, points out that Court Days no longer have anything to do with legal proceedings. 

09:43Copy video clip URL Sellers hawk their wares. A small band plays folk music. Food stands. People browse. A man plays the spoons. 

12:10Copy video clip URL Jim Stone, a musician, talks about playing Court Days. His bandmates talk about playing music at Court Days over decades. They play a bluegrass instrumental piece. 

16:02Copy video clip URL Page talks about the weather. He mentions that politicians appreciate having a captive audience. 

16:57Copy video clip URL Pruit talks about changes in the attendance, which used to come exclusively from people coming to trade. People used to get drunker, he observes. 

17:53Copy video clip URL Page talks about changes in the event, though it’s still basically the same. 

18:30Copy video clip URL End credits. Production staff: For Alice Lloyd: Julie Voelker; For Broadside TV: Paul Congo, Paul Kuczko. 

18:44Copy video clip URL Appalachian Learning Laboratory logo, which persists until the end of the tape.