Appalachian Dream Property- Chenoa KY

Property is located in historic southwest Bell Co. Bell Co. is located in very southeast Kentucky. Known as the tri-state area, with Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky converging in Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Daniel Boone blazed the wilderness road through Cumberland Gap, opening up westward expansion to the Bluegrass area of Kentucky and beyond, westward. Cumberland Gap National Historic Park is 26 miles (35 minutes) from the property. Between 1780-1810, between 200,000 and 300,000 people crossed the Gap heading west.

On Oct. 25, 1805, the U.S. Government signed a treaty (Treaty of Tellico) with 33 Cherokee Chiefs, opening up southwest Bell Co. to settlement (cit:The Best of Gateway: Stories from around the Cumberland Gap).

The Property is located on State Highway 190 between the small communities of Chenoa (pop.114) and Frakes (pop. 544). Chenoa is 2 ½ miles east of the property on Hwy 190. Frakes is 4 miles west of the property on Hwy 190. This area in the early 1900's was known, by locals, as “South America”, because of it's remoteness (cit: Images of America: Bell Co. by Tim Cornett). Hwy 190 was a dirt road until it was paved in 1946. My father told me that when he was a boy they delivered mail to the region via mule and wagon.

In 1925, Hiram Frakes established a Methodist mission 4 miles beyond the property, known as Henderson settlement, named after one of the land donors, Bill Henderson. The community was named Frakes in honor of Hiram Frakes. There is an existing school there, grades 1-8. (Cit; Fire in the Hills: The Story of Parson Frakes and the Henderson Settlement, by Lee Fisher).

The property is 180+ acres. There are fields, but most of the land is wooded. The southern boundary is ¼ mile + 460 ft.. 365 feet of this boundary borders State Highway 190. The eastern boundary is 1 mile + 562 feet, running from Hwy 190 to the top of Pine Mountain. The northern boundary runs 2,790 ft (½ mile + 150 ft) along the ridge of Pine Mtn. The western boundary runs from the top of Pine Mtn. back to Hwy 190. This boundary is 181 feet short of a mile.

Pine Mtn. parallels Cumberland Mtn., with a valley between which is approximately 15 miles wide. These mountains are fault line mountains. They are 125 miles long and straight as an arrow. From the property line about 12-15 miles northeast, along the ridge of Pine Mtn., is Pine Mountain State Park.

Big Clear Creek, which is a year round creek, runs approximately ¼ mile through the property. There is a tributary creek known as Sam Lewis Branch on the property, which starts near the top of Pine Mtn. and empties into Big Clear Creek. Over the years, I drank many times from this creek with no ill-effect. The water tastes very good. There is also a spring near the top of the mountain that becomes another creek which runs a distance on the property then flows onto adjoining property and empties into Big Clear Creek.

Historically, there were several moonshine stills on the property during and after Prohibition.

There are beautiful cliffs and overhangs. The locals called them “Rock Houses”. The ceilings have black on them from the fires of Native Americans, Long Hunters and early settlers.

There are whitetail deer, bear, wild turkey, cottontail rabbits, groundhogs, grey squirrels, chipmunks, grouse, quail, red-tail hawks, crows, ravens, etc. on this plot. Elk have also been spotted on the property. Elk became extinct in Kentucky in the 1800's. Between 1997 and 2002, 1,541 elk were released in eastern Kentucky. Donor herds came from Arizona, Kansas, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. By 2017, the Elk population had grown to 10,000.

Some of the trees on the land are; hemlock, pine, poplar, black locust, black oak, white oak, chestnut oak, sassafras, sourwood, paw paw (fruit bearing), spanish oak, spruce pine, black gum, several varieties of hickory, maple, linden, etc. There is also mountain laurel and rhododendron, plus many varieties of flowers, medicinal herbs, mosses and lichen.

There are several locations for a house site on the property. One of the nicest being the ridge of the far back field. This field is much higher than and the farthest field from Highway 190. This location provides sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Immediately bordering the field is a narrow belt of woods that slope down behind the field terminating in cliffs that drop down to Big Clear Creek. Under these cliffs are some of the overhangs mentioned earlier. Another option for a home site could be adjacent to Highway190.

As mentioned earlier, Frakes and Chenoa are very small settlements. The next sizable towns are Pineville (pop. 1,732), 15 ½ miles away and Middlesboro (pop. 10,334), 24 miles (30 min.) away. The closest cities are Knoxville, Tennessee, 80 miles south and Lexington, Kentucky, 125 miles north.

This land would be excellent for eco-farming and /or homesteading. The soil is very fertile and we had excellent gardens there. It would be good for horses, cattle (we had 43 head of Herford in the 70's), goats, sheep, chickens, etc. It would be excellent for outdoor recreation, hunting, etc.

This property has been in our family for 55 years. In that time period, there has been no logging, no coal mining or any other mining, no gas or oil wells. We do not want to sell this property to anyone who would exploit it in this way. We want someone to buy this property who would love and cherish this land and leave it as natural as possible. There are fewer and fewer places like this in our world.

We recently deeded 13 acres of the property to my daughter. The property is bordered by very good, helpful neighbors. We live out of state now, but the neighbors are willing to show this property to anyone who wants to view it in person.

We are asking $450.000 for this beautiful, amazing land, rich with history and the abundance of nature, unspoiled.