- City:
- Slade, KY
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Paths and Trails, Shelters, Sidewalks and Stairs
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Quality of Information:
- Minimal
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Kentucky’s Natural Bridge State Park during the 1930s. The CCC built trails, shelters and stairways.
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Susan in Kentucky
The original Hemlock Lodge looked a lot like typical CCC or WPA work – does anyone know if it was built by them? It was much more attractive and appropriate to the beautiful setting than is the modern lodge.
It was located on the other side of the hollow from the present-day Hemlock Lodge, and was mostly brown-painted log on the exterior, with a big covered porch overlooking the hollow below. Exterior ornamentation consisted of Adirondack-style sticks along the porch rail and atop the porch roof (vintage postcards show this well). It also had a large stone fireplace or two, and I think I remember wood paneling and Adirondack furniture inside the lobby (I lived in Lexington, so never stayed there overnight). There were rocking chairs on the porch, just right for a peaceful afternoon of unwinding.
The place always smelled of fresh mountain air, wet moss, pines, and as if cedar had been recently burned – a wonderful perfume.
The lodge burned in the early 1960s, unfortunately, but I remember visiting it during my childhood and early teens. I have not been able to find any accounts of the fire online, though obviously it must have been covered by the press in Kentucky, as Natural Bridge has always been one of the jewels of the state park system.
I wish the beautiful old Hemlock Lodge had been replicated instead of replaced by the characterless present-day lodge, which is very much a product of its time (mid-1960s).