Commencing Assessment of Cultural Resources at Kyrock, Kentucky: A Brief Cultural History.

Photo Courtesy of The Kentucky Library, WKU.

At its height, Kyrock, Kentucky was the largest producer of natural rock asphalt in the country, an industry that boomed with the invention and wide-spread use of the automobile in the early part of the twentieth century due to the material’s ability to withstand elemental stress as a road-building material. The name given to the product found in abundance in Edmonson, Grayson, & Hart counties region of Kentucky was Kentucky rock asphalt. The Kyrock Company, founded in 1917, marketed their natural rock asphalt as “Kyrock” and sustained production for over forty years in the undulating terrain of Edmonson County, Kentucky. The company not only provided housing for its employees, but put forth funds to build an entire community, consisting of a several community camps, a church, recreational facilities, a commissary, schools, a pump house and other facilities and structures required to sustain the roughly 2,000 people that inhabited the area. The company itself had a number of operating facilities, from offices to quarries scattered throughout the Edmonson County area, shipping facilities in Bowling Green and a headquarters in Lousiville. The company operated through the depression and great wars and didn’t stop producing Kyrock until the demand for natural rock asphalt plummeted in the late forties and fifties. It wasn’t until the invention of hot mix and other more economical road surfacing materials that the company saw this decline, whereas the directors saw no other option than to liquidate the company in 1958. All that remains now of a once booming town are a handful of foundations, a few industrial and residential structures, and the memories of people who lived at Kyrock and its surrounding hamlets. 

I began my research with a book that was published in 2010, called “Kyrock Kentucky” and eventually supplemented that information with manuscripts housed at the Kentucky Library at WKU. In addition to this, some information was gathered from the Historic Chapter of the Kentucky State Archaeological Plan in regard to industrialization and the development of the automobile and roads in Kentucky. An interview of the property owner who maintains the original Kyrock parcels was reviewed and an interview was conducted with the publisher of the 2010 book, Kyrock, Kentucky. 

Field work has been performed in conjunction with a property owner who owns land that contains many of the original Kyrock parcels, to document sites located on his property. Out of at least 3 known sites, (the Kyrock Methodist Episcopal Church site, the Kyrock Sweet Springs site, and the Carmichael site) and analyzed an interview of the property owner to gather information about Kyrock and the various sites located on his property. During several trips to the Kyrock area, my mentor, a fellow student and I have been able to successfully document two of the three aforementioned sites located on the property. 

Photo Courtesy of The Kentucky Library, WKU.

The Kyrock Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1925 as pursuant to an order from the Kentucky Rock Asphalt Company board of directors in Louisville, KY for sum of the general wellbeing of the Kyrock community and surrounding vicinity. The church was, for the larger part of the company’s existence, the main gathering place and community center for Kyrock and its surrounding hamlets. However, as the company declined, so did the church. The building itself was in such a rapid state of decline that, by around 1954, the church was abandoned and materials were used in the creation of the current Kyrock Baptist Church, located about a mile north east on the current Kyrock Road. All that remains of the once booming hub of the Kyrock community are the solid concrete foundation blocks, a few brick and window fragments, two metal poles that formerly held stairs, and an accumulation of historic carvings on the solid rock outcropping on which the church was built. Field work in the form of reconnaissance survey has been conducted at the site by my mentor, a fellow student, and myself to document the remains of a once booming hub of the Kyrock community. 

The Sweet Springs site is located east of (name removed) Creek; a permanent stream that was used for various community and company activities. The site was documented using the same reconnaissance survey methods utilized in field work conducted at the Kyrock Methodist Episcopal Church site. Though some of the people living in the area during the community camps supplied by the Kyrock Company obtained their water from wells, the Kyrock Sweet Springs site was once one of the main water sources for the whole community and the company.  The site continued to be used as a water source for people in the area even after the Kyrock Company closed and was likely used as a water source for people living in the area prior to the founding of the company in 1917. 

The Carmichael House is a historic standing structure that was built around 1926-1927 as a residence for the superintendent of operations at the Kyrock Company, Mr. Henry St. George Tucker Carmichael and his family. At the time, the residence was the cream-de-la-cream of its type, constructed of the finest materials available. Amenities included indoor plumbing, complete with hot running water, operating toilets, large closets, porch areas with beautiful views, and electricity supplied by the Kyrock Company. At the time and in the same geographic location, houses were typically of frame construction with thin clapboard siding and though some of the company homes were supplied with electricity, most did not have running water and toilets were simply unheard of.  A majority of the lumber is California Redwood and was imported by rail from the western part of the country, shipped to Bowling Green and hauled via barge on the Barren, Green, and Nolin Rivers to the site of construction. The house has been completely remodeled and is in wonderful condition. There are several archaeological sites located in close proximity to the Carmichael house and further archaeological investigation is needed to fully document these sites. 

Conclusions drawn from the literature review and field work conducted at the three sites establish that the Kyrock area is eligible for a national register of historic places nomination as a historic district. However, as new sites are being discovered and documented, more work will need to be conducted to finalize the nomination for submission. 

(Disclaimer:  The names of the two other people participating in the Kyrock, Kentucky Archaeology Project (my mentor and a fellow student) are omitted from this paper for security reasons. This paper is an original paper written by John B. LeSieur and is to be used solely for purposes of this blog. This is not a formal presentation nor a final publication. Information used to construct this paper might be used in the future for presentations on the Kyrock, Kentucky Archaeological Project.)