Empire Farm in Land Between The Lakes
Empire Farm is an abandoned farming educational and demonstration area in Land Between The Lakes. Empire Farm once served as the headquarters of the Kentucky Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge in the 1930s. The refuge covered large swaths of land in the northern portion of present-day Land Between The Lakes.
When Land Between The Lakes became a National Recreation Area in the 1960s, Empire Farm became an agricultural education center until sometime in the 1980s. The fields today are still maintained by cooperative farmers, but the buildings and barns have been abandoned for quite some time.
Old Canton Gas Station
While exploring the historic community of Canton, we discovered this abandoned filling station on the old main drag through town.
A sign painted across the top of the windows and garage door read “Tires, Free Air & Accessories.” The building had a marker near the top proclaiming to be constructed by the Masons in 1919.
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Discoveries While Exploring The Shorelines of Lake Barkley
Lake Barkley recently turned 50. The US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) built Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River near Grand Rivers in the early 1960s. The dam birthed Lake Barkley – a shallow sister of Kentucky Lake, just a few miles east of its sibling.