Willow Shoals is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lee County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, United States. Located about 2 miles above Lock and Dam #13 on the North Bank of the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

, at the mouth of Big Willow Shoals Branch, a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

was established at Willow Shoals on 20 September 1905 with John W. Stephenson as Postmaster. On 25 November 1905, the post office name was changed to Willow. The post office was discontinued in 1956, with mail then routed to Heidelberg, Kentucky. Willow Shoals (or Willow) appeared as a passenger stop on the Louisville and Atlantic Railroad, and later the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

, until at least the 1930s. The tracks passing through Willow Shoals are currently owned by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

, and are part of their now-idle Eastern Kentucky Subdivision. Little remains of the original town, with only one residence, two barns, and the building which once served as General Store, Post Office, and Railroad Depot still standing. On 14 July 2016, the place name was restored to Willow Shoals by the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

Board of Geographic Names. Willow Shoals is within the boundaries of the

Daniel Boone National Forest The Daniel Boone National Forest (originally the Cumberland National Forest) is a national forest in Kentucky. Established in 1937, it includes of federally owned land within a proclamation boundary. The name of the forest was changed in 1966 ...

. Willow Shoals appeared in Season 10, Episode 6 of Homestead Rescue on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Lee County, Kentucky Unincorporated communities in Kentucky {{LeeCountyKY-geo-stub