By 1816 the population had grown to fifteen families with about one hundred residents. A group of pioneeer men
gathered in the McFaddin cabin to discuss civic problems. Samuel Rowe, who came to the settlement in 1809 from
North Carolina, recommended the name of the village be changed to Mount Vernon. It was suggested as the name of
George Washington's home on the Potomac. The action was approved and they tossed their hats into the air and passed
around the jug.
Hoop-pole Township
The river traffic increased more and more as flatboats piled high with produce and grain plied the waters of Ohio
on the way to the New Orleans market. A stopover at the local wharf brought welcome rest and a chance of refreshment
for the crew at one of the two taversn. Thus came about the tale of HOOP-POLE TOWNSHIP.
The professional boatmen were a colorful, harddrinking, rough and tumble lot. Strong of muscle and courageous,
they loved to fight and would do so just for fun. About 1832 ten or twelve flatboats were tied up at the local
whart while the boatmen did a bit of merry-making at John Carson's aloon on Water Street. They were joined by men
from an adjacent cooper shop; soon a general fight ensued in which the local coopers were badly beaten. When some
of the rougher element of the town heard of the defeat, they armed themselves with hoop-poles (wooden staffs made
of saplings cut in Lynn Township woods and used in the making of barrels) from the nearby cooper shop and converged
upon the rivermen. The fight was renewed with such intensity that the boatmen were glad to flee back to their boats,
their bodies bruised and their faces bleeding. All the way down the river their unsightly appearance was noticed
and news of the hoop-pole fight spread quickly. From then on Mount Vernon was considered a rough river town and
often referred to as "Hoop-pole Township."