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    Around Lake Cumberland
    Around Lake Cumberland
    Around Lake Cumberland
    Ebook203 pages44 minutes

    Around Lake Cumberland

    By Kris Applegate and Jarenda Miller

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Lake Cumberland is a premier vacation destination for millions of people each year. Before Lake Cumberland became a recreational paradise, the wild and wondrous Cumberland River ruled the land.


    With its 1,255 miles of federally protected shoreline, an average depth of 90 feet, and a surface area of more than 60,000 acres, Lake Cumberland is one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States, yet visitors may not realize the storied history that lies beneath the deep water. Although plagued by spring floods, towns and communities prospered along her banks. In an effort to control the Cumberland River and reduce flooding, Wolf Creek Dam was constructed following the Flood Control Act of 1938. With the dam in place, Lake Cumberland began filling in 1951. The dam offered protection to South Central Kentucky, but it drowned or forever changed many thriving towns and communities. Images of America: Around Lake Cumberland shows what life was like along the banks of the Cumberland River before Lake Cumberland was born.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 15, 2009
    ISBN9781439622896
    Around Lake Cumberland
    Author

    Kris Applegate

    Authors Kris Applegate and Jarenda Miller are members of the Pulaski County Historical Society and natives of Pulaski County. They share a love of history and of preserving the past for future generations.

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      Book preview

      Around Lake Cumberland - Kris Applegate

      Cunningham.

      INTRODUCTION

      Nearly seven million recreation and relaxation seekers alike flock to the rocky shores of Lake Cumberland each year. The tourist season officially opens Memorial Day weekend and extends well into October. In 1999, an average of 250,000 people per month visited Lake Cumberland’s shore.

      Located in south-central Kentucky, Lake Cumberland is one of the largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River. The lake covers 65,530 acres and spreads over the counties of Clinton, Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, and Wayne.

      Lake Cumberland boasts an impressive 1,255 miles of federally protected shoreline. To put this in perspective, the coastline of Florida is 770 miles in length. The total Atlantic coastline (Maine to Florida) is 2,069 miles, and the total Pacific coastline (California, Oregon, and Washington) is 1,293 miles in length.

      The main body of Lake Cumberland is 101 miles long and supplies drinking water to more than 200,000 people. With its tributaries and numerous coves, Lake Cumberland is a tourist’s ideal destination.

      Lake Cumberland is actually a reservoir for Wolf Creek Dam and ranks ninth in the United States in size with a capacity of 6.1 million acre-feet of water—roughly 1.9 trillion gallons of water. That is enough water to cover the entire state of Kentucky to a depth of 3 inches.

      But Lake Cumberland has not always been the houseboat capital of the world, as it is now. Lake Cumberland was born after Wolf Creek Dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was constructed mainly for flood control and for hydroelectric power.

      The story of Lake Cumberland actually begins with the Cumberland River. Byrd Douglas, author of Steamboatin’ on the Cumberland, said, The area was one of the last frontiers in the Eastern United States, unexcelled in beauty and unadorned by any semblance of modern improvements. Rich in raw materials, peopled by the finest stock of pioneers and unperturbed by advancing civilization all around it, here was a prize that caused many steamboat captains to gasp for breath.

      The Cumberland River formed near Harlan, Kentucky, and flowed through south-central Kentucky down to Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, the river curves back northward into western Kentucky before draining into the Ohio River at Smithland, Kentucky, for a total of 687 miles.

      The Cumberland River was a vital waterway in the lives of Kentuckians. It was first used as a travel passage for hunters and settlers. As the population increased, floating stores and shops appeared on the river. Entrepreneurs, including blacksmiths and dry-goods merchants, often traveled in flatboats along the river looking for business. The river later supported steamboat trade, which settlers depended upon. Towns and villages grew along her banks from Burkesville to Burnside.

      Burnside was the head of navigation on the Cumberland. Navigation above Burnside was impossible because of shoals or sandbanks and mountainous terrain. Steep cliffs sometimes rose 300 to 500 feet above the river. However, the 325 miles of terrain between Burnside and Nashville was more suited to travel. The river alternated between high rocky hills and fertile floodplain.

      With the growth of river traffic, bandits and river pirates occasionally preyed on river travelers. Boatwreckers offered to help navigate a stranded boat across a shoal. They would then deliberately wreck the boat and help themselves to the cargo as it was salvaged.

      Many travelers relied on the safety of steamboats. Steamboats were a common sight on the Cumberland River by the mid-1840s. There were 12 principal river landings and towns on the Cumberland River. Upstream from Nashville were Martinsburg, McMillin’s Landing, Black’s Ferry, Cloyd’s Landing, Burkesville, Bakerton, Albany Landing, Creelsboro, Rowena (Wild Goose), Mill Springs, Waitsboro, and Burnside.

      Minor docking points included Marrow’s Landing, Dunbar’s Landing, Rankin Landing, Eads Landing, and Robertsport—which currently sits under Conley Bottom Resort in Wayne County.

      Creelsboro was a prominent river landing and at one point was the largest town in Russell County. Thomas Elijah and William Jackman were the first settlers in the area. William Campbell opened a ferry business in 1814. Near this ferry was an established tavern and trading post owned by Elijah and Elza Creel. On January 29, 1836, Creelsboro was incorporated. There were only about 50 residents in the 1840s, but it was considered a major trading center on the Cumberland.

      Although Creelsboro was small, it had a constable, a post office, a tavern, a store, a hotel, a Union Church, a tanyard, doctors, and a school. The first bank opened in 1808. The bank was robbed on July 14, 1932, by Forest Bradshaw, Mark Weams, and Clinton Turnham. The robbers were caught later that day and given prison terms.

      Long Bottom was a small community between Rowena and Kendal, Kentucky. Long Bottom was in the southern part of Russell County and followed along the flat land of the Cumberland River. It was an open area with the river on one side and a steep hill on the other side. Established in 1822, Long Bottom had the first post office in the area.

      River travel was only possible during the rainy seasons until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a series of locks and dams along the river. From 1888 to 1928, a total of 15 dams and locks were built along the Cumberland River to aid in navigation during low river levels. Even though this system of locks and dams was almost obsolete as soon as it was completed, these locks were, and are, an important part of the history of the Cumberland River.

      Trade was increasing alongside the river as the railroad entered south-central Kentucky. The Southern Railway was completed, and the first freight train arrived in Burnside in February 1880.

      Automobiles and trucks were becoming commonplace in the 1930s. The good roads movement was under way, and the area was thriving.

      One thing that was not improving in the area was the threat of floods. With the Flood Act of 1939, plans were put into the works to build Wolf Creek Dam. That is when the entire region changed forever.

      One

      LIFE ALONG THE CUMBERLAND

      In 1750, an explorer named Dr. Thomas Walker led an expedition across the Appalachian Mountains to the western wilderness of Kanta-Ke. Walker happened upon a waterway, which he named the Cumberland River in honor of Prince William,

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