“Mere words can never adequately describe the many points of natural beauty in Kentucky. The best of photographs, while better than prose, falls far short of doing justice to the inimitable sculpturing of wind and wave and frost.”
Those words were written on July 1, 1924, by then-Kentucky State Geologist Willard Rouse Jillson in the preface to his book, the wordily titled Kentucky State Parks: A Brief Presentation of the Geology and Topography of Some Proposed State Park Areas Based Upon Original Field Investigation.
Jillson had been appointed chairman of the Kentucky State Park Commission and charged with identifying those “many points of natural beauty” that eventually would come to be the state park system, which this year celebrates 100 years of service to Kentucky.
The agency’s present commissioner, Russ Meyer, said Kentuckians can look forward to a meaningful celebration of 100 years of service.
“It will be a time to celebrate the rich history of the Kentucky State Parks and remember the hard work of the team and staff who have provided wonderful experiences for Kentuckians and visitors from around the world,” Meyer said. “It will be a time to honor those who have contributed to Parks’ success and to share these experiences with others.”
In addition to several special activities specifically related to the 100th anniversary (detailed on page 28), the agency is producing a book titled Kentucky State Parks: 1924-2024, to be released later this year. The approximately 300-page book will feature a written history of the Parks system and many picturesque photos illustrating the natural beauty of Kentucky’s state parks. The book will be available at state park gift shops.
Ron Vanover, deputy commissioner of Kentucky State Parks, said the centennial celebration has given staff an opportunity to reflect on the origin of the state parks. Vanover began his tenure with Parks in 1987 as a seasonal interpretive naturalist at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.
“The main genesis was not only to protect the park system that we had or the geological structures,” he said, “but we wanted to look at things biologically, cultural and historic entities. And we also wanted to be a part of what was going on in the movement.”
That movement was one that began with President Theodore Roosevelt, who from 1901-1909 established approximately 230 million acres of public land, including 150 national forests, the first 55 federal bird reservation and game preserves, five national parks, and the first 18 national monuments, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“In some ways, that came right down into state parks,” Vanover said. “We’ve got areas that we protect and we preserve, but we also want to make sure we’re using that resource [paraphrasing Roosevelt conservation adviser Gifford Pinchot] for the most good, for the most people over the longest period of time.”
In 1926, the State Park Commission received $25,000, and two years later, it received $58,000, primarily for developing the first four state parks—Pine Mountain, Natural Bridge, the Blue and Gray, and Pioneer Memorial (now called Old Fort Harrod), said Jennifer Spence, museum curator for Kentucky State Parks. That funding also covered travel and salaries for Jillson and his staff.
“There was a state parks movement at that time, and the National Park Service was very much invested in the states achieving their own state parks,” Spence said. “Also, at the time, there was public interest in being outdoors and traveling, particularly after the First World War. The development of automobiles and roads helped kind of goose that movement to get out and explore those natural areas.”
From those initial four parks, the state park system has grown to 44, which boast 51,198 land acres, 552,838 water acres on Kentucky lakes, 418 miles of walking trails, 203 miles of cycling trails and 1,206 rooms in lodges and cottages for overnight stays.
“[Jillson] had a budget of $25,000 to develop Kentucky’s first state parks. Today, that budget has grown to over $100 million,” Meyer said. “It is a privilege to follow the remarkable team and leadership that had the foresight to modernize our parks and make significant contributions to tourism, the economy and the overall quality of life for the people of Kentucky.”
FOR WANT OF A BUCK FIFTY
Ed Henson retired from Kentucky State Parks in 2003 after 32 years of service. He rose through the ranks, starting as a busboy at Natural Bridge and ending his career as director of recreational parks and historic sites. Henson is one of a few people still living who met Jillson, but it was not in Henson’s capacity as a state park employee. He was a university geology student when Jillson told him a humorous story about the acquisition of Natural Bridge State Park.
Prior to becoming a state park in 1926, Natural Bridge was owned by the L&N Railroad as a private tourism entity, but the state and the railroad came to a property transfer agreement in which the Commonwealth would purchase Natural Bridge from L&N for $1.50. Henson related the story Jillson told him:
“The day they did that, they had a big formal presentation [in Frankfort] at the Capitol in which the governor [William J. Fields] and the president of L&N Railroad and all kinds of dignitaries were in there, and they had lawyers in there and all the staff doing the paperwork. And they got it ready to sign.
“The governor made a big deal about it and went for his wallet. And—this is what Jillson told me—the governor didn’t have any money. ‘And there we sat,’ [Jillson said.] ‘So, I saw what was going on. I scrapped around the group and got the money out and went over and presented it to the governor’s assistant, and the assistant went and presented it to the governor. For a few minutes there, Natural Bridge State Park hung in the balance over a dollar and a half.’ ”
WOMEN LEADING THE WAY
Less than a decade after passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, two women—Marvin Nell Darnell (1928-1932) and Emma Guy Cromwell (1932-1936)—served respectively as the second and third Parks directors, a title that eventually became “commissioner” in 1960.
Parks highlighted their accomplishments in their roles as director and executive secretary of the Kentucky State Park Commission in publicity surrounding the Parks centennial.
Darnell was praised for securing federal money for, among other projects, the George Rogers Clark Memorial at what is now Fort Harrod State Park and for her meticulous record-keeping and visitation of the parks in the system at the time. Cromwell, a suffragist and women’s rights activist, provided much-needed leadership at Parks through the Great Depression, when projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration put Kentuckians to work and bolstered facilities at Kentucky State Parks.
Of the 31 people who have held the Parks commissioner position, nine have been women, most recently former Bowling Green Mayor and Kentucky Secretary of State Elaine Walker, who served from 2012-2015.
“When I took over Parks, it didn’t register with me,” Walker said of the realization that eight of her predecessors were women.
When Walker took the helm at Parks, several of the park directors and other Parks leaders were women, and women in leadership is no longer as rare as it was in the early 20th century.
“It’s more prevalent now. I think we’re moving forward,” Walker said. “The fact that I was not aware of the number of female commissioners there had been when I became commissioner makes me a little hopeful that it’s no longer a novelty.”