Houchin's Ferry Road

Houchin's Ferry Road
Route information
Maintained by Edmonson County Road Department and the NPS
Length: 9.6 mi[1] [2] [3] (15.4 km)
Major junctions
South end: KY 70 / KY 259 at Brownsville
North end: KY 728 / KY 1827 near Lincoln and Ollie
Highway system
National Park Service Road

Houchin’s Ferry Road is a secondary roadway located in Edmonson County in west-central Kentucky. County road logs list this road as CR-1004 and CR-1005.

Most of the road is maintained by the National Park Service, but portions of the road outside of Mammoth Cave National Park are being maintained by the Edmonson County Road Department.

Road description

[4] Brownsville’s local branch of Minit Mart is where the road's southern end is located. This is at a junction with South Main Street (KY 70/259) on the south side of town. A trailblazer sign for the local library stands at the intersection with Ferguson Street. [5] Houchin’s Ferry Road passes by the edges of the campus of Edmonson County High School and provides school access points to the parking lots which connects Wildcat Way.

After passing the high school, Houchin’s Ferry Road enters the western part of the Mammoth Cave National Park. This is the only road that goes through the western half of the park. It would cross the Green River via a river ferry, which is how the road got its name. The ferry crossing features a campground, boat ramp, as well as a picnic area.

The road continues as a gravel road at a point at a point north of the ferry. It then travels northeast to cross a number of horseback and hiking trails. After crossing First Creek Trail and J. Skaggs Road (which access the Great Onyx Job Corps Center), the road becomes “Ollie Road.”

Ollie Road continues northeast past a few residences before ending at an intersection with Kentucky Route 728 right near the KY 728/1827 split near Demunbruns Store and Lincoln communities, which are located east of the Nolin Lake State Park area.[6] [7] [8]

History

Houchin’s Ferry/Ollie Road has long been the most direct route linking Brownsville to areas in northeastern Edmonson County. Some residents had long commuted from the rural northeastern part of the county to Brownsville. But there were times where the ferry was closed down due to either excessively high river levels, low river levels, federal government sequesters and shutdowns.

In 2013, Houchin’s Ferry was closed and put on a hiatus due to various reasons, which caused a hardship on Edmonson County’s travel between Brownsville and the Lincoln-Ollie-Demunbruns Store area. The fire department in Lincoln held a town hall-style meeting regarding the closing of the ferry, and citizens of Edmonson County were asked to call their congressmen and register their concerns about it. Many of Edmonson County’s local officials attended that meeting. [9] The ferry was declared out-of-service in October 2013 as part of the 2013 government shutdown. [10] The closure of Houchin’s Ferry was the second Edmonson County-area ferry to go out of business, the first being the Bear Creek Ferry southwest of Segal being shut down in the late 1960s. The Green River Ferry, further upstream, is now the only ferry in the area to remain in operation.

Points of interest

Major intersections

The entire route is in Edmonson County.

LocationmikmDestinationsNotes
Brownsville0.00.0 KY 70 (South Main Street) / KY 259 – Brownsville, Smiths GroveSouthern terminus
0.050.080Ferguson Street
0.090.14Edmonson County Middle/High Schools
Green River Houchins Ferry
Demunbruns Store9.615.4 KY 728 / KY 1827 – Cub Run, Nolin Lake State ParkNorthern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kentucky State Highway Department. Edmonson County Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1958 ed.). Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Frankfort.
  2. ↑ Kentucky State Highway Department. Edmonson County Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1937 ed.). Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Frankfort.
  3. ↑ Kentucky State Highway Department. Edmonson County Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1987 ed.). Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Frankfort.
  4. ↑ Mammoth-Cave-National-Park-Map-Web.pdf Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  5. ↑ Edmonson County Public Library
  6. ↑ Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer (Map) (2010 ed.). 2010. page 65.
  7. ↑ Ferries - Mammoth Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
  8. ↑ Ferryboat Schedule (KYTC)
  9. ↑ "Many attend meeting regarding Houchin Ferry". Edmonson News. July 10, 2014. p. 1.
  10. ↑ Bridgehunter.com | Houchin’s Ferry

External links

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