Heading West With No Destination In Mind - Part Six

We headed off the hill from the KOA and got back on 25 South and drove right into Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, known as "Kentucky's Country Music Capital"! It is a large destination venue. Inside the green walls of the valley you will find a tradition of classic country, southern gospel and mountain bluegrass music shows. It has been a staple of the area since 1939.

Turning south onto 461, we entered Rock Castle County. Seeing all the rock that was blasted through to create the roads, I can understand how they get the county got it’s name!

There is another “Little World’s Fair?” Impossible … don’t say that too fast … besides the Hemlock “Little World’s” Fair in Hemlock New York, the Brodhead Fire Department hosts a Little World’s Fair in August each year. Their events include a Fun Horse Show;

Miss Little World’s Fair Pageant; Demolition Derby; Lawn Mower Pulls; Look-a-like Contest, Baby show, Tiny Tots, Cutest Kid Contest; Wrestling; KOTTPA Truck Pulls; KTPA NAPA Gold Pulls; Mud Races and a Memorial Run 5K/2Mile Walk.

We passed by a Toyotetsu Manufacturing Complex in Owensburg. What does Toyotetsu do? I asked the same question. They are a manufacturer for parts for Toyota vehicles. Giant presses inside the plant are used to stamp out parts, such as parking break handles and center pillars between doors, for the Corolla, Lexus, and RAV4 models.

General Burnside State Park is on the shores of Lake Cumberland in Somerset Kentucky. One of the unique features is the golf course at the park is located on an island surrounded by the lake. It also features, boating, fishing and camping.

27 Twin Drive In is also located in Somerset Kentucky. I think drive in movie theatres are a tribute to how great America is, especially if they still thrive today! This drive in offers two screens, so you have a couple of options when you head to the drive in movie!

In Burnside Kentucky there is a Kingsford Charcoal Plant. Did you know that the Kingsford Company was formed by Henry Ford and E.G. Kingsford during the early 1920s. Charcoal was developed from Ford Motor Company's factory waste wood scrap. Recycling was a big deal back then too!

The Daniel Boone National Forest embraces some of the most rugged terrain west of the Appalachian Mountains. The forest lies within the Cumberland Plateau, where steep forested slopes, sandstone cliffs and narrow ravines characterize the land. The forest contains three large lakes (Cave Run, Laurel River and Cumberland), many rivers and streams, and the Sheltowee Trace National Recreation Trail that extends across the length of the forest. The forest spreads across 21 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky, more than 708,000 acres of national forest lands.

Often called the “Niagara of the South,” Cumberland Falls has attracted the attention of countless numbers of people. Geologists estimate that the rock over which the Cumberland River plunges is about 250 million years old. Romantics are enchanted with the poetic beauty of the falls, visitors are awed by the majesty of the falls and historians note the uniqueness of the site. Both Cumberland and Eagle Falls were held sacred by many Native Americans. Early maps show the Cumberland River was known as the Shawnee River. The park has a museum that has Indian artifacts too. However, the greatest attraction remains the thundering waters of Cumberland Falls. The falls are 65 feet high and 125 feet wide. When the Cumberland River is at flood stage the width of the falls can quickly expand to 300 feet. 

Encompassing 125,000 acres of the Cumberland Plateau, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area protects the free-flowing Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The area boasts miles of scenic gorges and sandstone bluffs, is rich with natural and historic features. The natural twin arches are truly the most impressive rock arches in the eastern United States. The northern arch has a clearance of 51 feet, and a span of 93 feet while the southern arch has a clearance of 70 feet, and a span of 135 feet.



Big South Fork Scenic Railway in Stearns Kentucky operates as a means to preserve, protect, and interpret the rich history of one of the few company towns in America still surrounded by its coal, lumber, and railroad roots. The Kentucky & Tennessee Railway once stretched over 25 miles into the Big South Fork River valley and operated 12 steam locomotives. It served as the primary passage not only for timber and coal, but also for workers and supplies going to camps along its line. Today the train leaves the depot in Stearns for a trip into the gorge of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area with a stopover at Blue Heron Mining Camp and back to the depot. I am sure in the falls the colors of the leaves are spectacular and a great trip for the photographer in all of us!

Traveling on Route 27 through Tennessee, I know understand all the songs about the mountains! Up and down, up and down, and yet again … up and down!

We passed by the Morgan County Fairgrounds, home of the Morgan County Fair each September. From Route 27, the grounds looked to be in rough shape … our research indicated that the fair only had about 8,500 attend in 2013. Heck, they don’t even have a web site! Perhaps they need more volunteers to improve it! If you are local, volunteer … There is nothing better than a great fair!

I love an old theatre in a downtown area as much as I love the drive in! The Princess Theatre was once downtown Harriman’s crown jewel, a 900-seat showplace that provided entertainment to movie-goers from Harriman and surrounding areas. The Princess in 1926 and it was known as one of the larger movie theatres in a small town. In 1939, a blaze destroyed the building, and the loss led to new Princess theater construction in Harriman. In 1987, theatre manager Cecil Johnson began to lease the theatre when he learned that the company which owned the Princess planned to close it. The theatre stayed open until 1999 when Mr. Johnson retired. Then, her doors were closed. Beginning in 2001, an active drive to reconstruct the Princess Theater began. The Princess Theatre Foundation formed in 2004 to raise money for the project, and the organization continues to support the theatre. The renovation was supported by a grant awarded to the City of Harriman by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Two neighboring buildings have been connected to the theatre for restrooms, dressing rooms, green room, storage and an elevator. The City of Harriman owns the theatre. Roane State, with the support of the Princess Theatre Foundation, operates it. The Princess doesn’t show just movies anymore; it is a performing arts and education center that includes a television station. The stage was more than doubled in size, and the theatre was restored back to its 1930s art deco grandeur. Today, the Princess has returned to crown-jewel status and is used for concerts, movies, dance performances, community events, education and more!

The Scopes Trial, AKA State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was a famous American legal case in 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. Annually, the Scopes Trial Play & Festival features the play that re-enacts portions of the Scopes Evolution Trial, and also tells the story about how the famous trial came to be litigated in the small southern town of Dayton, Tennessee.

William Blyth operated a ferry in the Hiwassee and Tennessee Rivers. During the Cherokee Removal nine of the thirteen detachments under the supervision of Chief Ross exited their ancestral land at Blythe Ferry, which was located in the northwest corner of the Cherokee Nation. Water levels were very low due to a severe drought forcing some of them to camp there for up to six weeks waiting to cross the Tennessee River into an uncertain future. William Blythe went west with his Cherokee wife. Cherokee Removal Memorial Park is dedicated to those that died and those that cried in what has become known as the "Trail of Tears". Stay tuned to tomorrows Blog for more information about the “Trail of Tears.”

Soddy-Daisy is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee. The city was formed in 1969 when the communities of Soddy and Daisy, along with nearby developed areas along U.S. Highway 27, merged to form Soddy-Daisy. There are two popular stories about how the city of Soddy got its name. The first is that the word "Soddy," a shorter Cherokee form of a Cherokee word, referring to the Muskogean Koasati people who lived there. The second theory is that Soddy was named for William Sodder, who ran a trading post in the city. Others claim that Soddy's name is a reference to "Soddy Creek," which is believed to have originated from the word Cherokee word "Sauta." Soddy was a very small town until the Soddy Coal Company began mining in 1867. Daisy is rumored to have taken its name from Daisy Parks, the daughter Thomas Parks. Thomas Parks was Vice-President of the Tabler-Cleudup Coal & Coke Company, and founded the Daisy Coal Company in 1881.

There is a large 72 foot monument on the south edge of Missionary Ridge at Rossville Gap on the Tennessee/Georgia border. The battle of Missionary Ridge was November 25, 1863. Iowa regiments recognized on the monument include the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 17th, 25th, 26th, 30th, 31st, and the 1st Battery. The monument was dedicated on November 20, 1906 and was part of the delegation from Iowa that dedicated monuments in Chattanooga, Andersonville, Vicksburg and Shiloh.

We turned off Route 27, also known as the Scenic Hometown Highway, east onto GA Route 2 and traveled to the South Chattanooga KOA in Ringgold GA. Stay tuned tomorrow for another two lane adventure!