Mays Lick ( Mayslick, originally known as May's Lick) is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Mason County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 252.

History
May's Lick was founded in 1788 by six families from Scotch Plains, New Jersey: 
 Abraham Drake (1751–1805)
 Cornelius Drake (1754–1833)
 Isaac Drake (1756–1832), father of (i) Daniel Drake (1785–1852), American physician and author, and (ii) Benjamin Drake (1795–1841), American historian, editor, and writer; Daniel Drake's son, Charles Daniel Drake (1811–1892), was a United States Senator from Missouri and an anti-slavery politician
 David Morris (1746–1798) and wife, Mary  Shotwell (1748–1806)
 John Shotwell (1753–1826) and wife, Abigail  Shipman (1754–1835)
Abraham, Cornelius, and Isaac Drake were brothers, and John and Mary Shotwell were siblings.

The group purchased  of land from William May (for whom the community was named) near the salt lick in southern Mason County and began to build a community. The Mays Lick Post Office opened in 1800. Kentucky's first consolidated school and first school transportation – consisting of a horse and wagon – was founded in Mays Lick.

When May's Lick was founded (1788), Kentucky was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. That same year, the Commonwealth of Virginia established Mason County. May's Lick became the name of the town after first being called May's Spring.

Geography
Mays Lick is in southern Mason County,  southwest of downtown Maysville. U.S. Route 68 runs along the eastern edge of the community, leading north to Maysville and to Ohio, and southwest  to Lexington.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Mays Lick CDP has a total area of , of which , or  0.31%, are water. The community is drained by several small streams that flow north to Lees Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the North Fork of the Licking River, which joins the Ohio River at Covington.

Demographics

Mays Lick Consolidated School
The Mays Lick Consolidated School was constructed in 1909–1910 for $32,500  The building was the first high school in Mason County and until 1960, was the only public high school to serve the Mays Lick District.  In 1982, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Also see: May's Lick Negro School

The May family
The same May family for whom the Mason County Seat (Maysville) is named is also the namesake for May's Lick.

 Mays Lick is named after John's brother, William May.
 Maysville is named after John May ( –1790).

The May brothers
 George May ( –1795), a surveyor
 William May
 Charles May
 John May ( –1790)
 Gabriel May (1751–1813), married to Sallie Stokes (Susannah May Stokes, 1759–1815), niece of Ethan Allen (1738–1789), the hero of Ticonderoga and Crown Point

Notable residents
 Joseph Desha (1768–1842), a congressman and the ninth governor of Kentucky
 Benjamin Drake (1795–1841), historian, editor, and writer
 Daniel Drake (1785–1852), physician, author
 John McLean (1785–1861), Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1830 to 1861
 William McLean (1794–1839), Ohio legislator
 Charles Young (1864–1922), third African-American graduate of West Point, first black U.S. national park superintendent, first black man to achieve the rank of colonel in the US Army

See also
 Fox Farm site (Mays Lick, Kentucky)

References

External links
 Mayslick history, online

Census-designated places in Mason County, Kentucky
Populated places established in 1788
Unincorporated communities in Kentucky
Census-designated places in Kentucky
1788 establishments in Virginia