Walton, KY

Walton is located in Boone County in northern Kentucky. According to the history page that was formerly on the Walton, KY website, a small African American community was developed by former enslaved people in North Walton after the Civil War; the community founded the Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1872.

The first African American school is said to have been established in a building behind the church [source: Boone County entry on p. 7 in The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky, edited by P. A. Tenkotte and J. C. Claypool]. The Steele and Ingram families are mentioned as long-time residents of the community.

For more information contact the City of Walton about the Walton history page, 1850s-1890s. See also Chronicles of Boone County Kentucky; and City of Walton, 1840-1990.

Walton is also near the location where the lynching of several African American men took place. An account  of the murders can be found in Mark Curnutte's article "Confederate anger, geography led to 8 lynchings in Boone County in 1870s and 1880s," Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/30/2018 (online).