Thursday evening I heard Hopkinsville transplant Grace Abernethy talk about her research into the many places in this city that are connected to clairvoyant Edgar Cayce, the Christian County native who became known as “The Sleeping Prophet” because of his gift for delivering medical cures and other information while in a trance-like state.
Speaking at the History on Tap program, Abernethy shared that she first learned about Hopkinsville when she met Alissa Keller, who is now executive director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, while they were in graduate school together nearly two decades ago in South Carolina.
Abernethy, who writes the “Brick & Mortar Monthly” column for Hoptown Chronicle, said Keller’s descriptions of her hometown painted Hopkinsville as a “magical place” and that the portrayal has held up since she and her husband, Brendan Abernethy, moved to Hopkinsville a few years ago.
Newcomers sometimes see what natives do not, and in Abernethy’s case it is at least partly the wonder of Hopkinsville’s history. I guess I had the same kind of mindset when we created a series of “Did You Know” stories devoted to Hopkinsville’s history that ran during the first year of Hoptown Chronicle’s existence.