About this property
Cherokee State Park was a blacks-only state park located in Marshall County, Kentucky, near Hardin, Kentucky. It was a complement to the then-whites-only Kentucky Lake State Park (now Kenlake State Resort Park), which was nearby. It was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which went along with the concept of the "separate but equal" doctrine. The TVA gave the state of Kentucky a nineteen-year lease, and promised to give Kentucky the area when it proved it could support the park. In its time it was dubbed "the finest colored vacation site in the South." This sentiment was echoed in a 1952 Kentucky state map. Opened in 1951, Cherokee State Park was the third blacks-only state park and the first such state park in Kentucky and the Southern United States. It was the only blacks-only state park Kentucky had. With a size of 300 acres (1.2 km2), Cherokee State Park had several amenities. These included a 200-person dining hall (1953), docks for fishing and boating, picnicking, a bathhouse for the lake's beach, and a restaurant. There was also twelve cottages (1953) for overnight lodging. It drew visitors from Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, and Northern Kentucky. Sand often had to be brought in to keep the beach usable, as it was rocky in nature. With the desegregation movements in the 1960s, Cherokee State Park was closed, and its cottages moved to Kenlake. In 1998 the sculling team of nearby Murray State University used the property to highlight its many rewards, but did nothing to note its history. It is now part of Kenlake State Resort Park. Few of the original buildings remain, but there are plans to reopen the area. On January 9, 2009, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Cherokee State Park
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Questions about this property
When was Cherokee State Park listed on the National Register?
Cherokee State Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 2009.
What type of historic resource is Cherokee State Park?
Cherokee State Park is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Cherokee State Park?
The period of significance for Cherokee State Park is recorded as the modern era, specifically around 1952.
Can I research the history near Cherokee State Park?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Cherokee State Park will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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An Aubrey US report for an address near Cherokee State Park will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.