The museum was decorated for the 4th of July weekend with bright hanging baskets, yard flags from each branch of the military and yard American flags. The baskets come from Country Garden Greenhouse located in the Primrose area of Lee County. There were many visitors on the highway because of the many yard sales in Lee County along HWY 52.

It is tradition for the museum board to sell concessions at the Happy Top Park shelter on the 4th before the fireworks. On Saturday, July 2nd, John David Sipple, Ray Shuler, Justin Shuler, Kenneth Isaacs, Anita Brandenburg and Dedra Brandenburg loaded up the grill, coolers, pop, and supplies and transported it all from the museum to the Happy Top shelter. The board members meet on July 4th at 3pm and started getting organized for the concessions.

Thank you to these wonderful people for volunteering their time and donate supplies and work concessions for the museum: Linda & Bob Smith, John David Sipple, Ray Shuler, Kenneth Isaacs, Shirley Reese, and Joshua Hagan, Irene Thorpe, Steve & Michelle Estes, Bruce & Cheri Murrey, Jessica Treadway, Sammy Joe, and Dedra Brandenburg. The museum took in around $1,700 in concessions between 6:00-9:30pm that night.

Thanks also to Jack's IGA and the Bobcat Dairy Bar for supporting the museum on this event.
To watch the video of the fireworks display visit the Beattyville/Lee County Tourism Facebook page.

Thank you Just Jessica Photography for setting up and adorable photography station for families to have themed photos taken. Donations were made to the museum as people took advantage of the onsite photographer. Check out her page to view more photos from the 4th.

The museum went through a beautification project in 2019 partnering with Jackson Energy cooperative. Pulling out old flower beds, adding 4x4 post around the beds, decorating around the water wheel in the yard and more. With rose bushes, hostas, day lilies, lilac bush, peony's, and a wildflower area behind the building all blooming, the museum is a beautiful stop in the spring time. Wildflowers that come up behind the museum include: red and yellow trilliums, star of Bethlehem, yellow lady slippers, flox, and more.

Museum board members help trim back the rose bushes to prepare for their full bloom in the summer. "When the yellow Forsythia bush is in full bloom, its time to trim the rose bushes." Said Kenneth Isaacs.

The Three Forks Museum is still recovering from the historical flood that hit Beattyville/Lee County in March 2021. After year of recovery, cleaning, and moving items around, the museum still is not suitable for being open to the public. However the Museum Board continues to keep up with the normal calendar of events that the community loves; including the spring Fish Fry Fundraiser. Scheduled for April 1st, the fish fry will take place at the Lee County Shrine Club building located on Fairground Ridge Road in Beattyville. The Shrine Club building is a great location for community events as they have large round dinner tables and a great kitchen area.

The museum board could barely keep up with the crowd by serving fried fish, hush puppies, french fries, coal slaw, baked beans, desserts, and a drink for $10.00. Accompanying the fry was a silent auction. There was a nice variety of items donated by community members in support of the museum. The museum served around 200 meals and thanks to the wonderful turn-out, was able to raise $2,300 in funds.

The Lee County Republican Women's Club hosted their annual Veterans Day Luncheon at the museum. On Thursday, November 11th there was the first ever Veterans Day Parade with Bob Smith being chosen as the first Grand Marshall of the parade. Smith is not only a veteran but also the president of the Three Forks Museum Board and owner of the Three Forks Tradition Newspaper. He also oversees the veteran memorial wall, the 4th of July fireworks and is on the Woolly Worm Festival Committee. 

The parade traveled by police escort from the rail yards at the red light in Beattyville up to the museum. Once inside Bob led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. He also spoke to the group and read a poem he had written. Avis Thompson prayed over the meal and then the ladies of the club served Veterans and families soup, sandwiches, desserts and drinks. 

It was a great afternoon of fellowship. Also it was the first organized event to take place inside the museum after the flood in March. The museum volunteers had worked hard to arrange items and displays in the Veterans Wing for the event. 

Bob Smith reading the poem he wrote for Veterans Day 2021. 

We at the Three Forks Historical Center were sad to hear that the West Liberty Military Museum located in the jail next to the Courthouse downtown was closing. Our President Bob Smith's sister Alane called and arranged a few pick up days for volunteers to take trailers and trucks to West Liberty to load up on display cases, artifacts, and more. We can not thank you enough Tony and Alane for thinking of us. We are sad that you had to close down, but feel honored that we can help display the artifacts you loaned and donated to the Three Forks Historical Center. 

Thank you Jon Allen, Lee County EMA, Chuck Caudill, Lee County Judge Executive, Josh Caudill, Lee County Schools, and museum board members Kenneth Isaacs and Dedra Brandenburg who traveled and loaded artifacts several Fridays in a row. 

This year will be the 16th Annual Three Forks Old Engine, Tractor Show & Fish Fry. It will be hosted at the Three Forks Historical Center on HWY 11 North, Beattyville, KY. 

All day Saturday, September 11th, 2021 there will be a display of old tractors and engines. Registration starts at 9am. The first 25 engines to register will receive a dash plaque. The show will go on throughout the day with participants parading their antique tractors down Main Street at 3 p.m.
The fish fry will follow directly after the tractor parade. The meal will consists of fried fish, hushpuppies, cole slaw, french fries, baked beans, desert and drink. The cost will be $8.00. Children 6 and under eat free. 
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Accepting donations to place into a silent auction fundraiser. If you have items to donate please call 606-464-2888 or 606-464-5038. Silent auction will close on the event day at 5pm. 

Farmers, Arts and Crafts vendors are welcome to set up. If you would like to set up, give us a call at (606) 464-2888 or (606) 464-5038
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Come out and support the museum!

The flood alert for the area went from moderate flooding alert with a crest of 24 feet to a major flooding alert in 5 hours time with waters cresting at 35 feet. In Beattyville, it was a few inches larger than the flood of 1957. All of town was submerged in river waters and mud by Monday morning March 1st. All through the night rescue teams had worked tirelessly to evacuate residents in danger of the riding floodwaters. There was not enough warning for businesses to get their valuables out such as their computers and account books. The water receded by Wednesday and everyone gasps at the damages. Once the images and stories of the flooding hit the news and social media, groups and individuals starting donating their time, supplies, and most of all prayers for everyone effected. 

The Three Forks Museum did not escape harm. The waters rose to about 2 to 2.5 feet high inside the building. The log benches from the front porch were recovered from over 100 yards away. The museum board members waited until water receded on the Wednesday afternoon to go inside and assess the damages. The first priority was to empty the closets and pick up everything off the ground. Then we worked at emptying the bottom shelves of the display cases and setting everything out in the sun to dry. Next is was bringing in 2x4s to lift and place the display cases off the floor for air to circulate underneath. We also bought four dehumidifiers to place around the building and in the bathrooms were drywall is present. Thanks you to WSKV 104.5fm and Grace Baptist Church for donating totes and fans. Also for delivering the dehumidifiers we purchased from Lowes in Winchester. Also thank you to Tony Pence and the fraternity from Morehead State University who came down to help. 

Commonwealth Systems were in the area doing free HVAC assessment and we were able to have Nick come over to look at our system. The key to drying everything out would be warm dry air so we needed our units working. Nick came back another day and dismantled and cleaned both outdoor units and installed a new fan motor into one. More repairs are needed to the HVAC as the heating elements are shot. We are in need of new flame sensors, thermocouples, and igniters. 

On the floor we placed the Floor Sweep compound. John David was concerned about adding more water in there and he though this compound would keep the dust down and we could scrub it around to pick up the dirt before mopping. It has worked wonderfully so far. We also put a call out for Murphy's Oil Wood Soap, as the majority of the museum walls are wood. There were also pianos, and other furniture that will need a good cleaning. 

With everything we can get into totes, the next step is to clean out the garage area so we can use it for storage until we can get the main museum cleaned and straightened back up. Thank you to all the volunteers who have came to help so far. John David Sipple, Kenneth Issacs, Suzy Booth, Kim Oliver, Anita Brandenburg, Kendra Savage and her son Maddox, Kristy Dunaway and her daughter Lacy, Sheerree Nations,  Emma and Larry Adams, Trina Gipson, Shirley Reece, Ila Cox Nickel, Amy Parrott, and more. Also thank you to everyone who has brought supplies. Bob & Linda Smith, Evelyn Jenkins, Allison and Luke Catron of Georgetown, Shanna Charles, Jim Cable, Ernie Childers, Linda Botner, Yvonne Stamper, Marcella Fox, Masters of Disaster, and more. Sorry if I didn't get everyone's names. 

Below is a slideshow of photos. Donations Appreciated. We are trying to apply for any funding we can find for non-profits. There is a lot more work to be done and volunteers are welcome and appreciated. If you would like to help call Dedra at 606-560-9059. Donations can be mailed into P.O. Box 1033, Beattyville, KY 41311 or use the PayPal link on this website to make a donation online. 

Without question, the year 2020 was difficult for families, jobs, and everyone's mental and emotional health. To bring some joy to the holiday season, the Christmas Spirit Committee put together an enjoyable evening for the community. With many sponsors, the funds were used to light up the museum, Main Street, and the North Fork Bridge. Characters dressed up and danced as the cars went by in a reverse parade. Elvis sang from the porch of the museum and his music made it into everyone's car radios by way of a FM transmitter. The Grinch was as tall as the porch roof and waved at kids from on top of his stilts. Santa and Mrs. Clause handed out candy canes and chocolate to families who drove by. Down on Main Street at the courthouse, the Beattyville Kiwanis Club did a drive through treat bag giveaway. They have been giving away Christmas treat bags for 100 years and continued the tradition this year. For a night, it almost seemed that the world was back to normal. The kids also loved looking at all the fire trucks lined up on the property. Thank you Beattyville/Lee County Fire Dept for participating.

Here is a video slideshow of the decorations and activates during Christmas Spirit 2020.