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| Bell County Coal Mining Museum, Middlesboro, Ky. |
A small outdoor museum showcase in Middlesboro displays deep coal mine equipment from the 1960s. It is not a particularly informative display, but the dust covering every surface does seem to give you a more accurate portrayal. If you’ve ever seen Harlan County, USA
Pineville is one of those great places in Kentucky that you really have to plan to get to. No one ever “stumbles into” Pineville. Located near the Cumberland Gap, it was probably one of the original settlements in what was to become Kentucky. Its a pretty little town, surrounded by the mountains, but man is it a haul to get there. This courthouse is the fourth located in Pineville. Interestingly enough, according to the Kentucky Almanac, the first courthouse was REFUSED BY THE COURT in 1869 because of poor construction. I can only imagine.
Frankly, I am shocked that Peter didn’t report on this memorial when he made his trip to Pineville, instead choosing to focus on religious zealots in the streets. Pictured above is King, the German Shepherd from Bell County that serves as the memorial to all fallen K-9 officers and their handlers in Kentucky.
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| A town within the crater: Middlesboro, Ky. |
About three hundred million years ago, a large meteor struck what is now southeastern Kentucky. The impact created a large, three-mile wide crater. Skip forward to about 120 years ago and the incorporation of the Kentucky community of Middlesborough (also spelled Middlesboro) which is built within the crater. According to the historic marker commemorating the town’s geology, the area has been “Designated by the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists as a Distinguished Geological Site. Middlesboro is one of only a few cities on the North American Continent located in the basin of a meteorite impact structure.”
The picture above shows the high wall of the crater. Standing in Middlesboro, this crater wall is a 360-degree panoramic. Until the 1960s and research by the USGS, locals thought the unique topography was caused by tectonic shifting rather than the 1,500 foot in diameter that once struck the area.
The site is one of three known astroblemes in the Commonwealth (the others are in Shelby and Woodford counties). [*]
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| Pineville Preachin’, Pineville, Ky. |
On a Sunday afternoon drive through Pineville (Bell Co.), I happened to notice some singing coming from the corner of the courthouse square. With guitars in hand (non-instrumentalists held Bibles), the crusade had begun. To be sure, there was some fire and brimstone outdoor preaching on this hot day. There was also the laying of hands and purging of sins. While I didn’t hear it, I’m sure the “Do Not Enter” sign was worked into the message.
The voices recalled for me the sound of the preachers who would shout in the commons area at the University of Kentucky, but these Pineville folk were not going to Lexington. They simply took their Sunday morning message out into their own community. And, while my form of worship isn’t necessarily on my knees in the middle of the street, these people seemed genuine. Religion is important in Kentucky; I’ve had the opportunity to visit some gorgeous churches on my journeys but this was the first time I’d witnessed (while on a No Destination drive) public displays of religion.
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| First Camp Site in Kentucky, Pineville, Ky. |
Near the entry to Pine Mountain State Resort Park is a marker designating the First Camp Site in Kentucky:
Dr. Thomas Walker and 5 companions, employed by the Loyal Land Company, came into this region April 14, 1750, to locate lands for settlement in these western reaches of Virginia. His 1750 journal relates that he established a camp at this spot and spent 3 days here, hunting and fishing. He then moved on to the river, which he named Cumberland River. Walker preceded Daniel Boone in Kentucky by 16 years.
So many Kentuckians are familiar with Daniel Boone, but few are aware of Dr. Walker. Walker’s naming of the Cumberland River preceded the naming of the pass his group took to enter the area, a pass later named Cumberland Gap. Walker was also the first American to discover a use for coal.
After returning from his exploration of the “western frontier” of Kentucky, Walker returned to Virginia. In 1957, he became Thomas Jefferson’s guardian as the young Jefferson’s father had passed away.Walker, having a grant of 800,000 acres in what would become southeastern Kentucky, remained in Virginia.
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| Carnegie Library, Middlesboro, Ky. |
The Carnegie Library in Middlesboro is one of 35 libraries built between 1899 and 1914 by the Carnegie Foundation. [*] Completed in 1912, the keys to the structure were never turned over to the city because the municipality could not gather the $1,500 (10% of the cost) necessary to receive the structure under the terms of the Carnegie grant. As a result, the building stood vacant for several years. Ultimately, the Bell County library moved into the building. Other tenants have included the police department, a classroom building for the overcrowded schools and as a bandage preparation facility for the Red Cross during World War II.
Today, the old Carnegie Library houses the county’s historical society and museum.
As Carnegie said, “The[ libraries] only help those that help themselves. They never pauperize. They reach the aspiring, and open to these the chief treasures of the world—those stored in books. A taste for reading drives out lower tastes.” Despite not funding their share of the library, the people of Middlesboro did want the facility [PDF of letters by citizens to Carnegie, compiled by J. Jeffrey of Western Kentucky University].
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| Joshua Fry Bell historic marker #198, Pineville, Ky. |
Joshua Fry Bell, for whom Bell County is named, was born in Danville and is a 1828 Centre College alum. Bell, a lawyer, was elected to the U.S. House as a Whig. Seeking to return to Kentucky, he served a short time as secretary of state under Governor Crittenden. But history tells us that the Whig Party disappeared. Before the rise of the Republican Party, however, Bell (and others) identified with the Opposition Party. It was under this banner that Bell ran for governor, losing to Beriah Magoffin.
Bell served alongside fellow Kentuckians William Butler and John Crittenden at the Peace Conference of 1861, a last-ditch effort to avoid Civil War.
From 1863 to 1867, Bell served in the Kentucky House of Representatives. During this time, the county bearing Bell’s name was formed. In fact, the county’s official name was “Josh Bell County” until 1873.
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| Cumberland Gap Tunnel (Tennessee Portal), Cumberland Gap, Tenn. |
Traveling between Middlesboro, Ky. and Cumberland Gap, Tenn. used to be quite a dangerous trip; old US 25E was nicknamed “Massacre Mountain” because of the number of fatalities occurring on the windy road. Today, that path has been restored to nature and is a hiking path. There is a great 33-photo-tour of the old US 25E soon after it was closed and the ‘restoration to nature’ project began. Here is a photo in 2002 of students planting saplings in the old roadbed. Of course, this old pass – one of only three natural paths through the Appalachians – “served as a gateway in prehistoric times, when Native Americans used it as a footpath and buffalo used it to seek greener pastures.” [*]
Vehicular travel now travels under the mountain through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Begun in 1991 and opened in 1996, there are two two-lane tubes with each traveling 4,600 feet. During construction, subterranean mountain streams would have pumped hundreds of gallon every minute into the tubes. As a result, the tubes are lined with thick PVC piping. [*] The total project to construct the tunnel ran $280 million (the project was about 2x budget).
Interestingly, the Cumberland Gap Tunnel is one of only two tunnels in the United States that traverse a state line (the other is on I-77 between W. Va. and Va.). Although the old US 25E meandered also through Virginia, the tunnels do not (though they are mere yards away). [* – great link on planning, construction details]
Note: Yes. The photo was taken of the Tennessee portal, but the Kentucky portal looks about the same. And the latter is in Bell County. So there.
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| Near the Boundary Marker of TN, KY & VA in Cumberland Gap, Tenn. |
At the top of Tri-State Peak is the cornerstone of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Dr. Thomas Walker and Colonel Richard Henderson first surveyed this site in 1779. A National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark marker notes the Royal Colonial Boundary of 1665. The marker is at an elevation of 1,990 feet.
When Dr. Walker, for Virginia, and Col. Henderson, for North Carolina, surveyed the land, the two states disputed the rights to lands west of the mountains. The region was proposed to be part of the never-successful colony of Vandalia and the non-state of Westsylvania. Also, Col. Henderson is the same who purchased the non-state of Transylvania from the Cherokee in 1775, but which purchase was invalidated by Virginia the following year. The present state lines and boundaries were settled by compromise in 1802 and the Supreme Court’s decision, Tennessee v. Virginia, 190 U.S. 64 (1903), finally approved the location.
From the Tennessee roadside marker pictured above, it is only 1.5 miles to Bell County, Kentucky and the Tri-State Peak.
