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36. Devils Pulpit (J) (RM 155.0) A 60-foot tall rock formation first noted by Daniel Boone in 1770. It is a free-standing stone column from which the Devil may well address passing boaters.
37. Marble Creek (J) (RM 155.9) A major trestle bridge was built over this creek for
the RINEY-B railroad in the late 1800’s. YMCA Camp Daniel Boone (J) A private camp established here in 1890 was purchased in 1920 by the Optimist Club of Lexington for the use of the YMCA as a summer camp and continued to be used as a summer camp until the early 1970s. The RINEY-B railroad also had station near the end of the present-day Camp Daniel Boone Road to serve the camp and customers on the north side of the river. The camp was named for Daniel Boone who built a cabin near this site in 1784. Boone also had land grant claims of over 1000 acres in his daughters’ names between East Hickman Road and Spears (immediately north of the Camp). The Filson map of 1784 shows a cabin labeled “Col Boon’s” near this area. 38. Bowlin Warehouse and Boatyard (J) (RM 156.8) William Bowlin operated a boatyard, stone warehouse, and landing about half way between present-day Camp Daniel Boone and Lock 9 in the late 1700’s. This boatyard served some of the extensive Kentucky flat-boat needs after the Mississippi River was opened to Kentucky goods in 1787 by James Wilkinson. Bowlin died in about 1802 and the operation was then taken over by William Stafford 39. Lock 9 (J-M) (RM 157.5) The first all-concrete lock and dam to be built on the Kentucky River. It was completed for barge traffic in 1903 by the Corps of Engineers. The location of two lockmaster houses can be seen under the trees on the flat land. The structure was designed for the lock wall to be adjacent to the land. The flood of 1905 “flanked” or washed out this land, (as well as lock 10) leaving the lock chamber in the middle of the river. An auxiliary dam was built from the shore to the lock to restore the pool. The auxiliary dam has the walkway on it so the lock operators could walk out to the lock while water was flowing over the auxiliary dam. The auxiliary dam is built on timber cribbing. 40. RINEY-B Bridge Piers (J-M) (RM 157.8) If the initials of the major towns served by this railroad (Richmond, Irvine, Nicholasville, and Beattyville) R-I-N and B are said fast, one comes up with RINEY-B, the name by which this rail line was always known. It was built in the late 1800’s to haul lumber and coal from the three forks area to the bluegrass market, but it was also a vital passenger carrier within central Kentucky. There were depots on both sides of the Kentucky River, Valley View in Madison County and Camp Daniel Boone on the Jessamine County side. The Valley View depot is still standing and is used as a residence. This railroad was the most comfortable, quickest, cheapest, and dependable way of getting between the points on its route. Commuters, shoppers, business men, and school children regularly used it. The piers of the Kentucky River bridge can still be seen from the Valley View Ferry, where it crossed the river at an angle. Coming from the south along the Tates Creek valley, it crossed the river in an almost east-west direction and clung to the hillside above the present day road to Camp Daniel Boone and Lock 9. It went over a major trestle at Marble Creek, through a short tunnel, another trestle, then climbed north out of the river valley toward Nicholasville. The line ceased operation in 1932 and was dismantled. Steel members from the bridge over the Kentucky River were used as the towers for the Valley View Ferry cables until these were replaced with concrete towers in 1998. When replaced, these 100 year-old steel towers were little more than pillars of rust. 41. Valley View Ferry (J-M) (RM 157.9) In 1785 the Virginia Assembly granted Revolutionary War soldier John Craig a franchise to operate a ferry between Fayette and Madison counties, at the mouth of Tates Creek. It has been known as John Craig’s ferry, Tates Creek ferry, and today as the Valley View ferry. The Valley View Ferry is the oldest operating ferry west of the Appalachian mountains, is the oldest continuously operated business in Kentucky, and is the only remaining ferry in operation on the Kentucky River. The ferry is located on KY 169 near the Madison County community of Valley View, Kentucky. Its importance lies in the fact that it is the closest point of the Kentucky River to Lexington and served as the main crossing point of travelers from Lexington to Richmond and points south. In 1991 the ferry was purchased from the Howard family of Madison County by the governments of Jessamine, Madison, and Fayette counties which then established the Valley View Ferry Authority to oversee the daily operation of the ferry. Valley View Community and Landing (J-M)This community probably bears this name because of the specially fine view of the setting sun on the river and the view of the hills which surround it on both sides of the river. The first house at this location was built near the river in the mid-1800’s by Strother Million when steamers were able to ascend the river to this point during high water, prior to the advent of the locks and dams. It is said that rivermen on barges and steamers stayed overnight at the Million house. It quickly became an important freight loading and unloading center as it is the closest point to the Lexington market. Both steamers and flat boats were loaded and unloaded here. By far the largest business was the Southern Lumber Company which operated a steam powered band saw mill, built in 1891, three stories high. There were four log booms for holding logs that were floated down river to the mill, which had a capacity of 30 million board-feet a year. The mill had its own electric light plant and its own telephone system which connected the mill, the office, the four boom docks, a store, the freight depot, and the residence of the manager, G.A. Roy. Records show that the Mobry-Robertson Lumber Company also existed in the early 1900’s and that the population of this village for a while exceeded 1000. Valley View was a major stop for showboats ascending the river until about the beginning of WWI as well as a major stop for packet steamers until about that time. 42. Mouth of Tates Creek (M) (RM 158.1) Probably named for either Samuel or Charles Tate who came with Daniel Boone or Richard Henderson to Boonesborough in 1775. One of them may have owned land or settled on this creek. This creek has its headwaters near Richmond.
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