MCCREARY COUNTY MUSEUM

STEARNS, KY

I miss your laurels and your redbud trees This native species is just about everywhere in the wild here.
I miss your laurels and your redbud trees Credit: sniggie

McCreary County Museum is a historical treasure located in Stearns, Kentucky. The museum is dedicated to preserving the rich history and culture of McCreary County and the surrounding areas. The museum houses a vast collection of artifacts, photographs, and documents that tell the story of the region from its earliest days to the present.

Visitors to the museum can explore exhibits on topics such as the logging industry, the Civil War, and the history of the railroad. One of the museum's most impressive displays is a collection of antique steam locomotives, including the historic "Old 97" engine.

In addition to its permanent exhibits, the McCreary County Museum also hosts a variety of special events and programs throughout the year. These events range from educational workshops and lectures to live music performances and art exhibits.

The McCreary County Museum is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in the history and culture of the region. With its impressive collection of artifacts and exhibits, the museum offers a fascinating glimpse into the past and present of McCreary County and the surrounding areas.

MCCREARY COUNTY MUSEUM is a History Museum in STEARNS KY. US MID #8402100309

The museum is classed as HST (History Museums). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Southeastern (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia). Total revenue from most recent IRS 990 Form: $ 1,042,163 from tax period 201212 (YYYYMM).

I miss your laurels and your redbud trees This native species is just about everywhere in the wild here.
Prometheus Instead of only looking at the awesome arch above, I took my own advice and looked down to the Appalachian forest floor below. Strange butterfly. Nope, that is not a butterfly antenna. A Google search says this is likely a Prometheus silkmoth from the east coast of the United States.
Forest floor in spring While looking up at an arch, I remembered my own advice to look down at the forest floor.
Another Kentucky canyon and rim I think I'm the only one here in yet another big Kentucky canyon. I like having the place to myself. If you are not into horses or fishing, there is no reason to come to Kentucky. It has nothing more to offer. I think I am going to nickname this part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, Canyonlands, because it seems like every river around here has a big long canyon. There is a less-traveled west rim and a more-traveled east rim in this large canyon– er, gorge. Kentuckians do not call such places canyons, which is a Spanish-Mexican word rooted in the Southwest, but rather call them gorges–even when a gorge is big and deep. Still, canyon is such a cool word. All these limestone and sandstone deposits from the eastern shore of an ancient inland sea have left arches bridges, rims bluffs, canyons gorges, and hoodoos tops under a dense carpet of forest. There's another place like this, far to the west on the Colorado Plateau. Its dry landscape resembles Mars. Utah and Kentucky made up opposite sandy shores of an ancient North American inland sea. This ancient shore on the Cumberland Plateau, part of the Appalachian Plateau that had its mountains emerge in the Paleozoic Era before even the first trees evolved, is primal. Don't get me wrong. The alien landscape of Utah is arid, crisp, and highly photogenic, while these crags of Kentucky are hazy. These rock formations are covered with old hardwood trees, fauna, wildlife, streams, and waterfalls. The air is obstructed by water droplets from the moist, life-giving breath of Mother Nature. Life has had a long time to evolve here and has developed into one of the most diverse biomes on the planet. So if photographing the grand, think also of the macro–what is around your feet. There are yet-to-be-discovered species in these woods. When you think of Mother Nature, you should think of Utah, not Kentucky. If you want this kind of backwoods scenery then Eastern Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Northern Georgia are better known with more amenities, although Kentucky has more of these vertical sandstone/limestone formations than any state east of the Mississippi. It should be noted that Utah is twice Kentucky's size so there's more space to visit. If you do come here, watch out for hungry bears and strange-acting hillbillies.
Another Utah-like Appalachian natural arch An old inland sea left behind compact sand, which eroded to become arches and canyons on its western (Utah) and eastern (Kentucky/Tennessee) shores. One set of arches and canyons are in a desert landscape and the other set of arches and gorges are under cover of a dense Appalachian forest, which is one of the richest and oldest biomes on the planet. The arches in the West on the Colorado Plateau are famous. The eastern ones on the Cumberland Plateau are not. Shhh, don't tell anyone. I like having this beautiful place all to myself. If you come, watch out for bears.
She calls Big South Fork of the Cumberland River
Appalachian train tracks
Boone winter blues
University of the Cumberlands Lacrosse game
Cold Kentucky Crag Darn natural arches keep photobombing my Daniel Boone Forest winter shots. That white fog is falling snow as it drifts by. I'd guess many of the trees are ~150 ft (45m) tall. They're tall.
Longest night of the year; Goodbye sun Technically, this is the day after the moment of winter solstice in the western part of the northern hemisphere, which occurred at 10:37 pm EST on December 21. But this will be the first full night after the event. Friday, Dec. 22 at 3:27 am UTC was the moment of winter solstice in Europe. Around Christmas the days will start to creep back enough for those who can technically gauge a few seconds of difference.
North arch of Twin Arches

Contact MCCREARY COUNTY MUSEUM

MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC
PO BOX 452
STEARNS
KY
42647-0452

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MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC

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MCCREARY COUNTY MUSEUM Information

MID # 8402100309
Name MCCREARY COUNTY HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC
Alternate Name MCCREARY COUNTY MUSEUM
Classification History Museums, , Southeastern
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) 611136227
NTEECC A54
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM) 201212
INCOME 1,087,079
REVENUE 1,042,163
LAT/LONG 36.696649, -84.492342
CODES FIPS State Code: 21
FIPS County Code: 147
US Census Tract: 960300
US Census Block: 3014