What is Fairhope2 ?? Fairhope was originally in Illinois back in the 1800’s.  But after the quake of 1885 the river changed course and since the river was the boundary between states, Fairhope suddenly found itself in Kentucky. That was well and good except there already was a Fairhope in Kentucky.  Because Kentucky law would not allow for two cities in the state with the same name, the city fathers simply added a “2” to the name.  They figured that it would be cheaper to write a “2” after the name on all documents as opposed to changing the name entirely and having to buy all new stationery. Since then there have been other quakes and changes in the river course and Fairhope2 has variously been in Kentucky and Illinois and is currently residing in Kentucky once more.  This has caused numerous problems with residents having to change license plates every few years. Some people say that Fairhope2 was also in West Virginia for a year or two.  It turns out that all of them took geography in 1967 when Brother Wilson was the substitute geography teacher.  Brother Wilson was famous for developing the world’s first GPS system in 1966, but there has always been some question as to whether or not it worked.   Brother Wilson was last seen in 1968 hiking  into the woods with no map and using his invention as his  only guide.

What’s this about the city council? Fairhope2 has a ward system which includes a mayor and 4 wards,  each with specific boundaries.  Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, each ward was defined in the city charter in great detail and cannot be changed without the unanimous approval of all council members. This all worked fine until the flood of 1922.  That flood caused most of the third ward to sink, leaving only a small patch of ground left dry.  Old Nate, as he was known at the time, immediately purchased that parcel and moored a houseboat.  Since he was the ONLY resident in the third ward, he simply elected himself to city council.  This worked very well for Old Nate.  Actually he did have a “bump in the road” once.  Nate got into an argument with his wife at election time back in ‘34 and she voted for herself as a write-in candidate.  Since the election was tied 1 to 1 they had a run-off election.  Nate took this literally,  ran his wife off, and took his seat in city council. Does Fairhope2 even exist?  I can’t find it on the map! Of course it exists, otherwise we wouldn’t have the notes of the City Council Meetings!!  As for not being on the map it is simply a matter of bad luck.  Since Fairhope2 “wanders” from state to state depending on the rains  and floods, it just so happened that Fairhope2 was Illinois during the last official mapping of the State of Kentucky.  Therefore it wasn’t included with Kentucky.  They started mapping Illinois just after the flood waters receded and by that time Fairhope2 was again in Kentucky, so it won’t appear on an Illinois map either.  To keep this from happening again, the Mayor has asked the third ward councilman to get a houseboat that is 20 feet longer than his current boat so that Fairhope2 could stay in Kentucky during the flood season.  The honorable councilman has not responded to the Mayor’s request thus far.  It seems that he earns most of his money during the flood season and nets a lower tax rate if he is in Illinois at that time. How can a city go from state to state? There have been many cases in history wherein a piece of land has moved from one state to another because of a change in a river boundary.  Beech Island, Georgia comes to mind.  Usually the piece of land in question has little or no value.  But Fairhope2 is different; because of its location over a massive karst  area it is dotted with wells that produce a large volume of oil and natural gas on a daily basis.  The docks for tankers are in the first ward.  With such a valuable basis for tax revenue in play, neither of the two states is willing to relinquish Fairhope2.  During the times when the flooding puts Fairhope2 in either Illinois or Kentucky the taxing authorities take up residence in the Fairhope2 Inn to try to maximize their revenues.  The Fairhope2 Inn,  which is owned by the Disher sisters, thrives on rooms leased to the states. Note that West Virginia, who some people believe was ‘home’ for Fairhope2 for a while, has also laid claim to the oil tax revenue and leases a room in the Fairhope2 Inn.  Thus far they haven’t collected any tax revenue on the oil produced. Can I buy property in Fairhope2 ? The short answer to the question is --- no. The longer answer to the question is -- not very likely. The extended answer is -- why would anyone in their right mind sell property in Fairhope2? It is easier to dig an oil well than it is to dig a garden.  In fact, that is why no one has a garden in Fairhope2.