Museum Beautification Project

The Three Forks Historical Center was chosen by the employees at Jackson Energy, our local electric cooperative company, as their community service project for the "Beautify the Bluegrass" initiative launched three years ago by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. This program is a also a form of competition where the energy companies each pick a project in their service area and once completed, submit their project video to the governor's office for judging. If chosen, the Governor will make a trip to that community and have lunch with up to 200 people. It is a great opportunity to showcase our community if we win and even if we do not win, the museum would still benefit by this landscaping facelift.

The museum board got together with a few Jackson Energy representatives and we walked the grounds discussing ideas and making a list of problem areas. Funding was matched and we ended up receiving a project grant of $2,000. Also the labor was going to be the employees of Jackson Energy, museum board members, and community volunteers.

We set the date and worked to then have all the materials delivered that morning. We ordered pallets of mulch from Lee County Building Supply, pallets of top soil from Congleton Brother's, and plants from Country Garden Greenhouse and also the Lee County High School FFA Club. The Beattyville/Lee County Tourism Commission sponsored lunch for the volunteers that day and ordered several subway trays the day before.

It is amazing what a large group of people can accomplish in just a half day. 32 people worked on the landscaping in front of the museum, the tourism center caboose, the gazebo, and the corner yards of the museum's property. We can't thank Jackson Energy enough for choosing the Three Forks Historical Center for their project. Be sure to look at the before and after photos!

The project photo was featured in the June 2019 Kentucky Living Magazine! The Museum is so inviting from the road of HWY 11 that people are stopping in to take a look. The museum board plans to keep the museum open each Saturday from 10am-4pm using volunteers. The museum has had many more visitors since the beautification project and has also received special groups calls to schedule the museum to be open for their tour group. If you would like to schedule the museum tour for your group call (606) 464-2888 or (606) 464-5038.