POWELL COUNTY BACKGROUND
Powell County was the 101st county formed in Kentucky. It was formed by an act of the Legislature on January 7th, 1852 from parts of Clark, Estill and Montgomery Counties. The county is named for Lazarus W. Powell, the 19th Governor of Kentucky and later represented Kentucky in the United States Senate. The county seat is Stanton, which was known as Beaver Pond until 1852 and was incorporated in 1854. The name was changed to honor U.S. House of Representative Richard M. Stanton from Kentucky.
Powell County is home to one of Kentucky's most well known landmarks, Natural Bridge. It is a sandstone arch that stands 65 feet tall and 78 feet long. The property surrounding the bridge was acquired in 1889 by the Kentucky Union Railway which later became a part of the Louisville Nashville Railroad. In 1926 the railroad donated the lands to the state park system and Natural Bridge became one of the four original Kentucky State Parks.
The Red River Gorge is also situated in Powell County. The Gorge is a part of the Daniel Boone National Forest. While natural bridge is probably the most famous of Kentucky's natural arches, Red River Gorge is home to over 100 sandstone arches. There are literally hundreds of trails, arches, rapids, cliffs and waterfalls in the Red River Gorge.
OUR VISIT
I would assume it's pretty easy to guess, that our trip to Powell County included a trip to Natural Bridge. That was going to be the only thing on our trip, but on our way there, mom said we might as well swing into Stanton and see downtown. It must have been divine guidance, because we were really glad we stopped.
Across the street from the courthouse, they have constructed a very nice memorial to our Armed Services. It's a small park area that has large monument wall and individual statues representing each of the various branches. It also has a 10 Commandments monument as well. Here are a couple of pictures from the park.We walked over to see the courthouse and the historical markers that were there. But, I have to be honest. Not that there is anything wrong with the courthouse there, I just really like the old 100+ year old courthouses.
After we left Stanton, we headed out to Natural Bridge. We love it there. This was our second trip there already this year. We had been there earlier in the summer, before we decided to start the 120 in 12. So instead of cheating, we thought we needed to go back. As always though, we were fighting the clock. So instead of hiking up to the bridge, we decided to take the chair lift. Which is not cheap, by the way. Being aggravated by the price didn't last very long though. My youngest son rode with me and we had the best time both riding up and coming down. We whooped and hollered and tried to hear our echos. We spoke to everyone that passed us either way. It was one of the few times on this journey that he said he had a great time.
When we reached the top, we hiked over to the bridge looked around for a few minutes, snapped a few pictures and we were on our way. I'm not sure I can say this enough, there is just not enough time! The thing is though, we had a great time and unbeknownst to us, we were about to have few more.
For those of you keeping track, Powell County is number Twenty Three.
Don't give up on us now, we're about to make an unplanned stop in Wolfe County. See you on the road...
1 comment:
We lived in Powell Co. before moving to Paris in the late 90s. Those monuments were not there and they had just gotten a McDonalds. I had trouble with the dialect and one day a student at the school I subbed in said, "You aint' from these parts, are ya?"
We lived on Campton Rd. as you know in KY that is the name of the road due to the town it will take you to. I miss the front porch swing and the Fall Mt. view. Simple little town and thankful for what taught me while I was there. Do they have more then 2 stoplights now?
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