Burnside, Kentucky

Many people may not know that General Burnside State Park, just south of Somerset, KY off U.S. 27, used to be a bustling small town, with a post office, retail stores, restaurants, churches, banks, hotels and a vibrant shipping business via the rivers nearby. Some think Burnside was also the location of the first established instance of the Boy Scouts of America and a plaque outside of town pays tribute to this.

Settled at the intersection of the Cumberland and South Fork Rivers, it was originally named Point Isabele for a woman who allegedly jumped off a nearby cliff due to a relationship gone sour. In 1890 the town was renamed Burnside after the Civil War General, Ambrose Burnside (sideburns where named after him).

In the early 1950s the Nashville, Tennessee District of the Corps of Engineers, in an effort to create the largest lake in Kentucky, impounded the Cumberland River and built Wolf Creek Dam. The result was the popular recreation spot Lake Cumberland.  As an unfortunate side effect, the low areas of Burnside were flooded and the town was relocated to higher ground.

The rest of this story is a bit of oral history as told by my mom and grandmother who lived in Somerset in the 1940s. They told me about going to the town of Burnside for day trips to do shopping and eat out at one of the many nice restaurants. Or about how after the town had been flooded an adventure diver (can find no record of this) had gone down in the water and came back up stating he would never go down again. He told of entire buildings and houses in tack, power lines, utility poles, trees, cars and children's playground equipment left as it was before the dam waters filled the town. He said he saw man sized cat fish over 6 feet long. It all sounds a bit fanciful but makes for a great story and I do not doubt it was true, yet I have not been able to find any account of this diver and his tale. If anyone has record of this please let me know.

Here is an image of an old train bridge leading into the cliff side. When the water is low you can still see the top of the tunnel.

MJL