About Willow Shoals

Willows Shoals is a now-defunct community located in Lee County, Kentucky. Situated on the North bank of the Kentucky River between the towns of Yellow Rock and Old Landing, Willow Shoals lies within the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Willow Shoals was settled in the late 1890's as a lumber town, with plentiful native growth of White Oak, Chestnut Oak, and Poplar. In January 1904, a banker from Virginia named Isaac Patrick Kane, joined with parters John W. Stephenson, R.F. McConnell, James Church, and John Church, to form the Willow Shoals Lumber Company, which operated here for approximately eight years.

In 1912, the partners sold their 1460 acres to Wilburn P. Head, who continued lumber operations in addition to a rock crusher operation. The rock crusher supplied crushed stone from the Kentucky Stone Company's nearby Yellow Rock Quarry for construction of the US Government's Kentucky River Lock and Dam #13 project from 1909 through its completion in 1914. The foreman at the rock crusher, Cicero C. Carter, remained at Willow Shoals with his family until his death in 1917, after which he was laid to rest beside his wife and two of his children at the Willow Shoals Cemetery. His daughter Callie May was born here in 1911. In a discussion with her in 2016 (at the age of 105), Callie fondly recalled seeing her first automobile while at Willow Shoals, it being tethered on the deck of a steamboat coming up river. She also related stories of her father taking their horses and mules from the barn, which still stands here, down to the river for water. At that time, over a dozen homes stood here, as well as a school and numerous other buildings.

Railroads played a key role in the early years of Willow Shoals. In the 1880's, the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville Railroad (affectionately dubbed the "Riney-B") began plans to build a rail line along the banks of the Kentucky River, connecting Lexington and the existing rail networks to the Kentucky's prosperous Eastern Coal Fields Region. This expansion would allow the more efficient export of Coal and Timber from the area. The Railroad completed construction of 60.76 miles of track between Versailles and Irvine in 1890, connecting freight and passenger service to the Louisville Southern Railroad at Versailles. As a result of financial woes experienced during construction of the route and multiple legal battles, the railroad went into receivership on December 2, 1891, and was sold at foreclosure auction in 1897. On August 19, 1899, the railroad was conveyed to the Lousville & Atlantic Railroad. The L&A completed the 34.74 mile section of track connecting the existing Riney-B line at Irvine to the town of Beattyville, which ran directly through Willow Shoals. Looking to gain their share of profits in the Eastern Coal Fields, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad purchased the L&A on July 1, 1909. The L&N eventually discontinued passenger service on the "Louisville and Atlantic Divison", but continued carrying freight through this route. At one time, as many as 14 coal trains traversed this line daily. After a number of mergers, acquisitions, and name changes during the 1970's and 1980's, the line became CSX Railroad's Eastern Kentucky Subdivision. The "EK Sub" saw its last coal train rumble through in October 2016. The line has been "mothballed" by CSX, and a large section of the main (from Athol, KY through Beattyville) now serves as storage for hundreds of CSX's unused boxcars, coal hoppers, gondolas, and bulkhead flat cars.

With daily freight and passenger service along the L&A's new "Kentucky River Route", near the turn of the century, Willow Shoals thrived. A railroad depot was built here, and a post office was established on September 20, 1905 with John W. Stephenson as Postmaster. On November 14, 1905, for reasons yet unknown, the name of the town was truncated to "Willow", though many maps continued to reflect the name as Willow Shoals. In 1928, following Wilburn P. Head's death, his widow sold approximately 1000 acres of his land to the US Government for the Cumberland Forest (later renamed to Daniel Boone National Forest), and sold the remaining acreage to brothers James Wesley Spicer and Robert Spicer for $5000. The Spicers farmed the rich bottoms-land along the banks of the river. J.W. Spicer assumed the operation of the store and post office, and served as Postmaster from 1924 through 1953, when his son Shelby Spicer took over as Postmaster. When Shelby went off to the war in 1956, his sister-in-law Betty Spicer briefly assumed the role of Postmaster until the post office was discontinued on July 31, 1956. J.W. Spicer and his wife Casie raised 10 children at Willow Shoals.

After the lumber industry began to dwindle at Willow Shoals, the L&N built several "Section Houses" on land here, housing the crews who maintained the rails between Pryse and Heidelberg. These houses were 3 of the last 4 residences at Willow Shoals, and stood until at least the late 1960's. The only remaining home at Willow Shoals, a nearly 3000 square foot, two story brick residence, was built by J. W. Spicer in 1934 near the mouth of Big Willow Branch. It stands today, 300 feet from the banks of the Kentucky, as a reminder of the history of this amazing place. Also remaining is the train depot / general store / post office. The current building was erected in about 1950 to replace the original structure which stood in its place. Several barns (including the original "Company Barn" believed to have been built in approximately 1895), sheds, and an outhouse also remain. In 2016, the USGS Board of Geographic Names voted to restore the location to its original name of Willow Shoals, with the help of the current residents, and the Kentucky Geographic Names Committee.

A Bald Eagle soars over Willow Shoals

Isaac Patrick Kane

1924 Rand McNally Map depicts Willow Shoals

Cicero C. Carter & Victoria Fields Carter

1939 L&N Passenger Timetable shows
4 trains stopping daily in Willow, KY.