A little planning

Last weekend, we had every intention of visiting at least 3 counties.  The plan was, to head east.  But we ended up heading west.

West on I-64 until we reached the Kentucky State Fair.  For those of you that don't know, the State Fair hosts an exhibit they call "Main Street".  This year, 67 counties were represented.  So we had the opportunity to get information on 67 of Kentucky's counties.  We had a good time and met a lot of nice mpeople that we will try to look up on our travels.  Several of the counties went out their way to offer us ideas on what to do when we visited.  Some even gave us ideas that were not on the "beaten path".  We found out things to do in some places that only locals know about.

So, while we got a little behind because we didn't visit any counties, we now have the information we need to do some much needed planning.  But look at the mess of information we ended up with.

I do have one question, though.  Should we count the State Fair as our visit to Jefferson Couny? (By the way, my vote is NO.)

See you on the road...

The first 12...

This is the first of 10 different videos from our travels.  I hope to post a video after every 12 counties we visit.

Knox County

Heading North on US 25 out of Bell County, our next stop was Knox County.  It was about this time that we came to realize something.  And that is, there are a lot of colleges in Kentucky.  We were on our way to see another one.  This time it was Union.  However, you should know the drill by now, first a little background on Knox County.

KNOX COUNTY BACKGROUND

Knox County was formed in December of 1799, having been seperated from what was then called Lincoln County.  Originally, all of the upper Cumberland Valley was included in Knox County.  However, over the years several other counties were formed in this area.  It was the 41st county formed in Kentucky.  The county's namesake is General Henry Knox of Massachusetts, America's first Secretary of War.

The county seat is Barbourville and the only other city is Corbin.  Corbin is unique in that it straddles 3 counties; Knox, Whitley and Laurel.

Daniel Boone helped blaze The Wilderness Trail through Knox County.  It is also said that the first log cabin in Kentucky was built in Knox County by Dr. Thomas Walker while exploring in the interest of the Royal Land Company in 1750.  There is an exclusive spot just outside of Flat Lick, where three historic roads converge to become one road heading to The Cumberland Gap.  They are Boone's Trace, The Wilderness Road and The Warrior's Path. 

During the nineteenth century, Barbourville was the largest city south of Richmond and was a major stop for settlers and travelrs who crossed the Cumberland Gap.

The first Kentucky Civil War Battle took place in Barborville as Confederate forces destroyed a Federal recruiting station on what is now Union College's campus.  This Battle saw the deaths of soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Union College was formed in 1879 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and offers 27 degrees in the liberal arts.  It's campus encompasses 100 acres and 20 buildings near downtown Barbourville. 

OUR VISIT

After stopping on the highway to get a picture of Roadkill and the Knox County sign,  we headed over to the Union campus.  This is another extraordinary college campus in southeast Kentucky.  Unlike the University of the Cumberlands, the Union campus is covered in huge old elm trees and mountain laurel and has a more "plantation" type feel.  I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but no students were on campus here either.  However, there were a few people around because they parked everywhere nearly blocking the main entrance.

When we finished our quick look around campus, we moved a few streets over to downtown Barbourville.  We took a couple of minutes to snap a picture or two and decided to move on.  We had three more counties on the agenda and it was already lunch time.

My final thought on Knox County is this: They are extremely proud of their pioneer heritage.  It's evident in everything that you see.  It's good to see a community embrace their history and share it with all who visit.

Whitley County

Our first stop this weekend was Whitley County.  The main stop on this trip was Cumberland Falls.  We decided to take a little more time here, since it is such a unique place.  But Whitley County also has some interesting history.

WHITLEY COUNTY HISTORY

Whitley County was formed in January of 1818, when it was seperated from Knox County.  The county was named after William Whitley, noted pioneer and indian fighter.  The intial plans for the city of Williamsburg, were layed out in June of 1818.  Williamsburg still serves as the county seat today.

Whitley County's growth was very slow during the first 50 or so years.  However, after the Civil War, it started to grow very quickly with communities springing up all over the county.

In 1883, the L&N Railroad completed it's line through Whitley County.  This has changed the make-up of the county ever since.  This allowed industry to grow and expand, as they could easily ship goods in and out.  The first booming industries were lumber and coal.
 

Cumberland College, now known as the University of the Cumberlands was formed in 1888.  It was the idea of 18 Baptist Churches from the Mount Zion Association.    The story of this university is so long and interesting that I could never fit it all in here.  If you haven't followed any of the links I have provided, I encourage you to follow this one.  I have visited numerous college campuses and there are very few as nice as Cumberland.  It sets on 70 acres and has 34 buildings and two sports complexes and has an endowment approaching $57 million.

 

Whitley County is also home to Kentucky Splash, a full service water park.  It has an 18,000 sq ft wave pool, a lazy river, a kiddie pool, multiple slides, mini-golf, batting cages and a lot more.

OUR VISIT

Like I mentioned earlier, we started our visit to Whitley County at Cumberland Falls.  It is the widest falls south of Niagra.  Cumberland Falls became a State Park at 1:30 pm on August 21, 1931 under the direction of Dr. Willard Rouse Jillson, who served as Kentucy's first director of parks.  Cumberland Falls is one of only two waterfalls in the world that create the effect of a Moonbow.  A moonbow is created during a full moon when the sky is clear. A "bow" is created from the base of the falls to spot downstream.  It is said you have to travel to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to have this same experience.

Cumberland Falls truly is a natural wonder that we are blessed to have right here in Kentucky.  It has been visited by millions of people from all over the world.  If you've never had the opportunity to visit.  This is one place we highly recommend.

After we left the falls, we headed over to the University of the Cumberlands campus.  Just like in Georgetown, the school was still on summer break and there were no students around and the buildings were all closed.  But we enjoyed walking around and seeing the sites.  Roadkill seemed to like it too.

Since campus is so close to downtown, we headed over there next.  We walked around for a few minutes checking out all we could, on a Sunday afternoon.  The county is in the process of building a new judicial center across from the current courthouse.

 We had a great visit to Whitley County.  There is so much to do, this is one of those places we will definately visit again.

Roadkill

On our way through the great state of Tennessee, we came upon this lonely critter with the cutest little button nose and fuzzy striped tail. He said his name was Roadkill and he was looking for a ride. We told him we were the Jones family and that we were going.....well, just about everywhere! Everywhere around Kentucky, that is. We explained our 120 in 12 project to him and he begged to come along, saying he'd never been to Kentucky. He said he'd heard all about the horses, mountains, lakes, parks, college campuses, great food and good times Kentucky is known for and that BLUE was a much better color for him than ORANGE and he begged to come along.....mumbled something about it being his destiny and that we had to take him. What could we do? We felt like it was meant to be that Roadkill would become part of this adventure, so we agreed to let him come along. Turns out, he's a great road companion, but tries to worm his way into all the pictures! Sooooo........be watching for Roadkill the Raccoon in our 120 in 12!

What z thinks

I want to see all the things Kentucky has to offer and all the fascinating things that we have never seen. For example I hope to see things like Cumberland Falls, Mammoth Cave and all the State Parks. I love to take pictures, I will be taking pictures of everywhere we go. I will probably share some of them here.

I'm glad I get to do this with my family. I'm also glad I get to do this because I think it will be good experiences that I can remember for a long time. I think this is something that I will eventually be able to tell my kids about. I hope this will lead us to be able to travel to other states more and see all the things they have to offer and maybe even to other countries.

moms take on Project 120 in 12

My hope for this project is that our kids will learn some interesting facts about the state they live in......I want them to taste Kentucky, smell it, touch it and see it. I want this to be something they remember forever. I want to take pictures and make memories. I want them to learn to appreciate the beauty God has blessed us with in this great state....and I want it to be fun! I know some of this will be lost on them now, that the process may become dull and boring at times, but I hope they can recall this as they grow older with smiles, happy memories and historical facts. Who knows, maybe this could spark an interest to see more of the world in this same way for us and the kids. I want "My Old Kentucky Home" to mean something......

Here's the list...

For those of you that don't know them all, here is an alphabetical list of all 120:

1. Adair


2. Allen


3. Anderson


4. Ballard


5. Barren


6. Bath


7. Bell


8. Boone


9. Bourbon


10. Boyd


11. Boyle


12. Bracken


13. Breathitt


14. Breckinridge


15. Bullitt


16. Butler


17. Caldwell


18. Calloway


19. Campbell


20. Carlisle


21. Carroll


22. Carter


23. Casey


24. Christian


25. Clark


26. Clay


27. Clinton


28. Crittenden


29. Cumberland


30. Daviess


31. Edmonson


32. Elliott


33. Estill


34. Fayette


35. Fleming


36. Floyd


37. Franklin


38. Fulton


39. Gallatin


40. Garrard


41. Grant


42. Graves


43. Grayson


44. Green


45. Greenup


46. Hancock


47. Hardin


48. Harlan


49. Harrison


50. Hart


51. Henderson


52. Henry


53. Hickman


54. Hopkins


55. Jackson


56. Jefferson


57. Jessamine


58. Johnson


59. Kenton


60. Knott


61. Knox


62. Larue


63. Laurel


64. Lawrence


65. Lee


66. Leslie


67. Letcher


68. Lewis


69. Lincoln


70. Livingston


71. Logan


72. Lyon


73. Madison


74. Magoffin


75. Marion


76. Marshall


77. Martin


78. Mason


79. McCracken


80. McCreary


81. McLean


82. Meade


83. Menifee


84. Mercer


85. Metcalfe


86. Monroe


87. Montgomery


88. Morgan


89. Muhlenberg


90. Nelson


91. Nicholas


92. Ohio


93. Oldham


94. Owen


95. Owsley


96. Pendleton


97. Perry


98. Pike


99. Powell


100. Pulaski


101. Robertson


102. Rockcastle


103. Rowan


104. Russell


105. Scott


106. Shelby


107. Simpson


108. Spencer


109. Taylor


110. Todd


111. Trigg


112. Trimble


113. Union


114. Warren


115. Washington


116. Wayne


117. Webster


118. Whitley


119. Wolfe


120. Woodford

The "how" and the "why"...

I've lived in Kentucky my entire life and there are still about 25 or 30 counties I have never been to. All that is about to change! My hope is that, along with my wife and 2 boys we are able to visit all 120 counties in the next 12 months. Unfortunately we have to work for a living and are going to have to do most of this over the weekends. So, if we are able to hit the road every weekend, we will have to see 2.5 counties a week. And being a realist, I know that isn't ging to happen. That being the case, in some of them, we will only be able to cross the county line and call it being there. Once our "12" is over we'll try to go back and hit the ones we didn't get to spend a lot of time in.

After we have been there, I will post a short biography on the county along with a link to their local Tourism Commission or Chamber of Commerce as well as a few pictures and a short commentary on what we did. With a little luck, my wife and oldest son with have a short post on each county as well.

Wish us luck, and if you have any suggestions on What we should do in a certain county, please leave a comment and let us know and we will do our best to check it out.