Kentucky - Corbin

 T. Coleman du Pont wanted to preserve the Falls at Cumberland Falls so anyone could see them. He purchased the land with the intent to give the land to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. During the process he died.  His widow, Alice Elsie du Pont did the work  so his wishes could be fullfiled. She gave the land to build the park to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Kentucky - Parker’s Lake

A lake was built by the Cincinnati Southern railroad in McCreary County Kentucky to provide water for the railroad’s locomotives. A Cumberland Falls station was built on the Cincinnati Southern line at Parker’s Lake. There travelers could get a wagon to go to see the Cumberland Falls.  The Cumberland Falls is considered one of the most scenic places in the Southeast. Mules were there to move the wagons to Cumberland Falls.  Travelers had to endure a rough four hour ride to get to see the Cumberland Falls.

Kentucky's Favorite Places

Cumberland River, High Water, Kentucky

 

The stone bridge constructed by the CCC at Kentucky's beautiful Pine Mountain State Park.  The high explosives storage structure and the cabins constructed by the CCC at Cumberland Falls State Park.  The stone fenced overlook constructed by the CCC at General Butler state park.  The woodland steps constructed by the CCC at John James Audubon state park. These are places to lift our spirits.  The CCC made these bridges and other things out of a faith that our country could come out of hard times.  It can happen again. 

The Cumberland River

The Cumberland River in Southeast Kentucky

This is the Gatliff Bridge. It crosses the Cumberland River at the border of McCreary County  and Whitley County.  The road is Highway 90. On one side is Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and on the other side are tracts of the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park and the Daniel Boone National Forest. The bridge is located above Cumberland Falls. The bridge was built in 1953.  It is hard to imagine how the local people got around before 1953.  There is a plaque on the bridge that honors Mr. Gatliff.  Mr. Gatliff worked at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The bridge appearance was chosen to look natural with its forest setting.  A low cost bridge could have been erected but the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet stood firm for a bridge appropriate to the scenic setting. It could have looked like a railroad bridge with steel structure over the bridge deck. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet stood firm. Hence the bridge is made with an outer layer of cut stone.  Masons were brought to the site to lay the stone during the construction.

A 16.1 mile corridor of the river is designated a state wild river.  There are only nine rivers in Kentucky with the wild river protection.  Generally there are not buildings along the wild river protection areas of these special areas.

It is one of the region's most beautiful places.  It stuns with its surprising beauty.
  
Have you seen this scenic Kentucky place? If not, what are you waiting for?

Building the roads, bridges, and trails for Kentucky

Stairway at Cabin - Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Kentucky

Kentucky once suffered from the Depression era damage to the countryside.  The landscape was worn out from over cultivation and forest clearing. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built service buildings, water reservoirs, roads, and campgrounds. Near Carrolton, Kentucky the CCC built the terraces, walkways and roads that became the General Butler State Resort Park.  The CCC planted trees.   The CCC restored damaged woods and pastures.  It ended up that the New Deal agencies planted 3 billion trees.  The CCC was at the forefront of the tree planting effort.  The landscape of Kentucky benefited from this work.

 

Franklin Roosevelt had the vision that that the landscape could be restored.  He had a confidence about him that made people want to be involved with him in making things better. He could speak in a way that proved to be enduring.  He set forth the concept that the land could be restored.

It is perhaps fitting that the words of a President could cause change for the good.  By contrast the words written by a person in a monastic order are little heard and quickly forgotten. One exception is a man that lived in a monastic order for twenty-seven years at a location south of Bardstown, Kentucky.

The monk and writer Thomas Merton lived in that monastery. Merton has produced challenging ideas that have been communicated around the world.  Merton wrote that the “plague” of the “modern age” was “intolerance, prejudice and hate.” Merton said the counter to this intolerance was rooted in personal and community labor; “the Christian must labor with inexhaustible patience and love, in silence, perhaps in repeated failure, seeking tirelessly to restore, wherever he can, and first of all in himself, the capacity of love and understanding which makes man the living image of God.”

It is that “capacity of love and understanding” that we want to have. This is that process that we work. 

As Kentuckians we are fortunate that the forests and pastures were restored from the awful situation of the Depression era. It took a long time for that process to have the look of a restored land.  As Kentuckians we are fortunate to have a world-renowned writer that produced his work while living in rolling green hills south of Bardstown. 

It is about the land and the people.