Kentucky's weirdest (we mean that in a good way) county has an annual festival celebrating the Bluegrass State's oldest ghost story.

Kentucky's Weirdest County

Meade County in Kentucky is anything other than ordinary.  In fact, this county is so weird, there is even a website that focuses on the county's obscure and quite frankly, weird, history called WeirdMeadeCounty.com.  According to Weird Meade County, this area was once home to some of the first peoples in the Americas and has a history that dates back to 10,000 BC. As you can imagine with a history dating back thousands of years, there are bound to be some local legends and lore that have stuck around.

The Tragic Story of Leah Smock - The Notorious Battletown Witch

Meade County is home to many notable residents over the years, but one has had a lasting impact on the county.  Leah Smock has been nicknamed the Battletown Witch, because legend has it that Leah came from a long line of powerful witches. Unfortunately back during that time, an accusation of witchcraft had the potential to be a death sentence and, Leah's life was tragically cut short when she was murdered by being burned alive.

According to Weird Meade County, Leah was known for being intelligent, and highly intuitive.

She was reputedly the daughter of another powerful Kentucky witch. First hand accounts of people who actually encountered the young woman known as Leah Smock portrayed her as an intelligent and beautiful woman. It has been suggested that she had powerful intuition and possibly second sight, through natural or supernatural reasoning. She was attributed with healing properties, either from herbal remedies or powers of her own. She was also a “seer”. She predicted the deaths of critically ill people.

Ever since her death in 1840 legends of her haunting Meade County have been passed down for generations, and some believe she still walks around the county to this day.

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The Battletown Witch Festival

Just a few years ago, a few folks from Meade County decided to honor the life of Leah Smock by hosting a unique festival that would make sure Leah's story was remembered, while also celebrating the spooky season.

The Battletown Witch Festival was an idea that came to be by wanting to celebrate Leah's legacy. 

The idea of the festival came about by wanting to celebrate a life that ended in tragedy. We hope that by taking a day to celebrate folklore, herbalism, native healing techniques, and Kentucky spiritualism we will help Leah rest a little easier.

This year, the Battletown Witch Festival will take place on October 26th, and according to the Facebook event page the festival will include paranormal investigators, historians, vendors, spooky season celebrations,  and more!