Kentucky barns etc

Old Shawneetown, Illinois

The Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site is a historic bank building is a Greek Revival structure build in 1839-1841 in Old Shawneetown, Illinois.

Old Shawneetown is on the banks of the Ohio River at the Illinois state line. As of the 2010 census, the village had a population of 193. Shawneetown served as an important United States government administrative center for the Northwest Territory. The village was devastated by the Ohio River flood of 1937. The village's population was moved several miles inland to New Shawneetown. 

Providence, Kentucky

Providence, in the heart of coal country in Western Kentucky

Garden of the Gods, Illinois

A 2 hour drive from our campground in Kentucky, Garden of the Gods in Illinois.

One of the most photographed locations in the state, Garden of the Gods' scenic beauty is extraordinary. In the recreation area you can hike, camp, nature watch or picnic.

The Observation Trail features unique sandstone rock formations and panoramic views of the surrounding Garden of the Gods Wilderness. Interpretive signs explain the geological history. 

The 1/4-mile trail is made of natural sandstone and takes about an hour to walk. It contains short, steep grades and steps; benches are located along the trail and as a whole the trail is not tiring. Caution should be used due to the high cliffs in the area.  

following the quil trail

School House quilt block, Hanson, KY

Mosaic Star block, State Route 70, Central City, KY

Star of Bethlehem, Muhlenberg County Extension Office, KY

Following the Pennyrile Quilt Trail through Western Kentucky.

stones and symbols

 The cemetery in the ghost town of Paradise, Kentucky looks abandoned, the tall grasses hiding the smaller stones. These tall ones really stood out. The one above 1816-1839. At first we couldn't tell what the carving at the top was, but on the next one (below) we decided it was a tree, most likely a weeping willow.

Judith

wife of

Aaron Smith

1792-1860

Notice the intricate carving from over 150 years ago. 

The weeping willow was a popular headstone carving in the 1800s. 

Most assume the weeping willow is a symbol of grief based upon the name and down turned branches, and they are not wrong. But something I think fewer people may know is that the weeping willow is also a symbol of immortality. In Christianity specifically, the gospel teaches the tree "will flourish and remain whole, no matter how many branches are cut off."  ~Southern Graves

The cemetery is on a hill, and at one time possibly overlooking the Green River in the valley below, but now the view is the TVA Paradise plant across the road.

We enjoy discovering the history of the areas where we travel. Sometimes the cemeteries are our favorite places to visit. I asked Buddy if maybe we should change our final resting plans to burial instead of cremation. He said why so our stones would be overgrown and forgotten like these? 

we're going to need a bigger shovel

Coal is a natural resource in Kentucky. In eastern Kentucky it is found deep underground in mines. Here in western Kentucky it is found nearer to the surface, hence the coal fields. Muhlenberg County Kentucky in the 1960s and 1970s was the biggest coal producing area in the state and at times in the country..

The best way to get the coal out of the coal fields is to strip the dirt off down to the seam of coal underneath - strip mining. Regular sized dirt movers would do the job, but there was something bigger and better on the way.

1962 saw the arrival of Peabody Coal Company's Bucyrus Erie 3850-B Power Shovel, dubbed "Big Hog,” and it was so big it had to be built on site, piece by piece. It was shipped by rail to the mining area. New roads had to be built and a special rail spur was made, along with special rail cars, to haul in some of the parts. 300 rail cars would bring in 5,000 parts and a 250-foot boom. The assembly took 11 months. Fully constructed, the machine stood 20 stories tall, weighed in at 20 million pounds, and cost some $7 million. Big Hog’s bucket could scoop up 115 cubic yards, more than a football field’s worth, or about 173 tons, uncovering coal seams in a strip mine pit where an army of other smaller shovels and trucks would load and haul the coal to TVA’s nearby Paradise plant.

The Peabody Coal Company proceeded to strip over 50,000 acres of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, leaving in their wake useless land full of pits and swamps. The land exists today in that same state, but has been turned into a wildlife refuge - 70,000 acres make up the Peabody WMA. 

1820 First commercial mine opened in Kentucky near Paradise in Muhlenberg County

1950 Coal companies buy up farms for strip mining in Muhlenberg County

1959 TVA (New Deal to help area) started construction on the Paradise fossil fuel plant and contracted with local coal companies for strip-mined coal to supply power plants

1962 Peabody Coal Company's Big shovel

1963 TVA Paradise Coal plant began making electricity out of coal

1965 TVA black soot covers the town of Paradise and residents start moving out

1967 TVA bought out the last of the buildings in Paradise and bulldozed them down

1994 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources purchased and/or signed long term lease agreements on approximately 70,000 acres of reclaimed Peabody Coal Company ground to form a wildlife management area called Peabody WMA.

Paradise, KY

When we first crossed the Muhlenberg County line to our new Kentucky home away from home, I thought - Muhlenberg County, that sounds familiar, isn't that in a song lyric?  The line would pop into my head from time to time and I finally had to look it up, yes of course I had heard it before, sung by my favorite John Denver, in the song titled Paradise written by John Prine. 

Listen to John Prine sing Paradise on this YouTube video, where you can see what happened to Paradise. 

Paradise by John Prine

When I was a child my family would travel

Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born

And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered

So many times that my memories are worn.

Chorus:

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County

Down by the Green River where Paradise lay

Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking

Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River

To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill

Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols

But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.

Repeat Chorus

Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel

And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land

Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken

Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

Repeat Chorus

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River

Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam

I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'

Just five miles away from wherever I am.

Repeat Chorus

The song chronicles the history of Paradise, Kentucky and the impact of strip mining for coal in the area. The song became an anthem in the early 70s for environmental control, being recorded by many other artists of the time, including the Everly Brothers (who are also from Muhlenberg County), John Denver, Dwight Yoakam, John Fogerty, and many more.

On a trip back home to Georgia, I dug through our old LPs and found the one I was looking for, with John Denver singing Paradise.

I often refer to our job towns as Paradise, as in 'another day in Paradise'…Paradise, LA, Paradise, OK… but this time there really is a Paradise, Kentucky. Well there was. It is gone now. Nothing left but the graves, and the giant power plant, but that is another story.

snowbird

after a week of snow on the ground, the only place not covered is where Buddy's truck was parked, so that is where the birds are looking for food 

winter driving

Kentucky Hwy 70 - yay for 4WD!

Cracker Barrel, Madisonville, KY

winter camping

Horseshoe Acres Campground, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky

winter work

Loves Travel Center, Hanson, KY

Lowe's parking lot