Two Kentucky Towns That Moved: How Eddyville and Kuttawa Survived Lake Barkley

Imagine seventy years ago, walking a street in Eddyville, Kentucky, a small town on the banks of the Cumberland River.

You’d hear the whistle of the Illinois Central train as it passes through town. On the river, steamboats and barges travel upstream and down. The street is lined with frame houses and small businesses. Since the town is the county seat of Lyon County, much activity centers around government offices. The waterfront is only a few blocks away.

The "Castle on the Cumberland" sat on a bluff above the
Cumberland River until the creation of Lake Barkley.

On a bluff south of town, a huge ornate structure overshadows the town. Nicknamed the “Castle on the Cumberland,” this is the Kentucky State Penitentiary, opened in 1889 and the state’s only maximum security facility.

Aerial view of the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville
before much of the surrounding area
was inundated by Lake Barkley

Today, the prison and a few houses built on that bluff are all that remain. The rest of the original town lies under Lake Barkley, created when the U.S. Corps of Engineers built Barkley Dam starting in 1959.

Unlike some towns lost to Kentucky Lake, as I described in my last post, Eddyville survived—but in a new location.

Eddyville and neighboring Kuttawa were the primary towns affected by the creation of Lake Barkley. Residents of both, built on low-lying areas adjacent to the river, had endured frequent floods. But following the massive January 1937 flood devastated western Kentucky communities on the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio Rivers, the U.S. government began to build dams for flood control.

After Kentucky Dam was completed on the Tennessee River in 1944, local residents heard rumors of another dam on the parallel Cumberland River. By the mid-1950s, the rumors were confirmed, and residents whose land would be inundated wondered where they would go.

A Lyon County native, Lee S. Jones, had become a wealthy tax lawyer in Louisville and had begun buying farmland in the Fairview community about three miles north of Eddyville. He approached the Eddyville City Council with a plan to move the town. Each person or business owning land in either Eddyville or Kuttawa that would be inundated by the new lake would be given a free parcel in the relocated town on the land he provided.

Map showing the locations of Old and New Eddyville and Kuttawa after Lake Barkley was formed.
The Kentucky State Penitentiary, which did not move, is near the site of the original town of Eddyville, now underwater.

On August 28, 1959, a ceremony was held for “Dedication and Free Deed Day” at the new site. A large group of people assembled in a field, and Mr. Jones presented deeds for about 60 residential lots. The town grew from there, and in 2020, the population was 2,246.

Creation of the lake forced relocation of the Illinois Central Railroad and many county roads, as well as U.S. 62 and U.S. 68. Many of those abandoned roads now lie beneath the water, although when the lake is at its lowest during winter pool, old roadbeds and abandoned bridge approaches can sometimes be seen.

One surviving residence, nestled in the shadow of the penitentiary, now houses the Rose Hill Museum, which depicts the history of Lyon County and the Between the Rivers region through its collections.

Nearby Kuttawa was built on terraces overlooking the river, and many of its original residences on higher ground survived. However, much of the business district, built on low-lying ground, was covered by the lake.

Main street of Kuttawa, Ky, in 1939 (National Archives photo)

At its peak as a bustling rivertown in the early 20th century, the population of Kuttawa reached 1,100; in the 2020 census, it numbered 637.

The route of the Illinois Central Railroad passed through Kuttawa, and portions of the old rail alignment can still be traced beneath the lake and are sometimes visible in aerial imagery or during low water. Building foundations and pavement occasionally emerge during winter drawdown, too.

Kuttawa is the subject of Drowned Town, a novel by Jane Moore Waldrop. Using interconnected stories, the book explores the emotional reality of displacement—the feeling of losing not just property, but identity, memory, and community.

In many ways, Eddyville and Kuttawa represent many communities that have been relocated in the name of progress. On the shores of Lake Barkley, the past can seem surprisingly close.

SOURCES:

Eddyville, Kentucky

Kuttawa, Kentucky

Welcome to Lake Barkley!

Learn About Lake Barkley | KentuckyLake.com

Eddyville, Kentucky - Four Rivers Explorer

Exploring The Ruins Of Old Kuttawa - Four Rivers Explorer

The History of Land Between the Lakes: From Settlements to Recreation – Kentucky Historic Travels

A Day at Rose Hill: Uncovering Lyon County’s Hidden Gems – Kentucky Historic Travels

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, placed second in the inspirational category of the nationally recognized Maggie Awards. Learn more at www.MarieWellsCoutu.com.

When the lights of Broadway dim, Delia leaves the city behind. But will her family welcome her home again?

The historical short story, “All That Glistens,” was inspired by an old photo of a woman from the Between the Rivers area of western Kentucky. The story was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes recipes.