Little Floyd

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Historical Marker #905 in Floyd County notes one of the most unique tracts of land in Kentucky.

Floyd County was originally composed of 3,600 square miles of land when it was founded in 1799. Throughout the nineteenth century, sections of the county were used to contribute to new counties. From 1806 to 1884, fifteen new counties were created out of parts of Floyd County. As Kentucky added numerous counties over its history the opportunity for strange occurrences increased. One such occurrence happed in Floyd County.

Tandy Stratton was born in 1860, the grandson of Samuel Stratton, founder of Stratton Settlement in 1796, at the mouth of Mare Creek. The family farm consisted of one thousand acres of land, which were originally part of Floyd County. When neighboring Pike County was created in 1821, Stratton's land legally became a part of the new county. In 1845, Stratton successfully appealed the Kentucky legislature to have his property considered part of Floyd. The legislative act read: "Be it further enacted - - that the county line between Floyd and Pike counties be so changed, on Mare Creek, as to include the farm of Tandy R. Stratton, on said creek in Floyd County." Stratton's farm became a small island of Floyd County within Pike County.

The property came under threat in the late twentieth century after the death of Tandy Stratton's grandson, Henry P. Scalf. After Scalf's death in 1979, the land devolved to his widow. The land was declared a landmark due to its unusual past but corporate companies had an interest in the location as it was rich in coal deposits. Scalf's wife was forced to sell most of it, retaining only two hundred of the farm's original one thousand acres. Today, Little Floyd County is an unincorporated community in Pike County.