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Chaumont is a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
in far eastern Edmonson 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 on the county's eastern boundary with
Barren County Barren County is a county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,485. Its county seat is Glasgow. The county was founded on December 20, 1798, from parts of Warren and G ...
, it was one of several communities that dissolved for their area to become a portion of
Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central 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 Sout ...
.


History


Early settlement

The community of Chaumont shares the name of a French family that settled in the area at some point in the late 1800s. It was a farming community that consisted of a
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
, a general store,
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 ...
, a church, a school building and a
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
shop, not to mention a few dozen homes. The Chaumont Milling Company was a successful local business during the heyday of the town.


Demise

Between 1933 and 1936, the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
(NPS) began purchasing the farmsteads in the areas using funds donated by the Mammoth Cave National Park Association, a private organization that was formed in
Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
by private wealthy citizens in 1925; other tracts were acquired by means of
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
. Like those of other nearby communities such as Union City, Elko, and Good Springs, all of Chaumont's residents were relocated from the area no later than 1937 or 1938. The Edmonson County half of the area where the community was located had officially became a portion of
Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central 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 Sout ...
upon its dedication on July 1, 1941, while some nearby households on the Barren County side were left intact as they were just outside of the park's final boundary.


Wondering Woods

About 30 years after Mammoth Cave became a National Park, the community has had a sense of a revival in the form of a tourist attraction. The Village of Wondering Woods, later known as The Historic Wondering Woods and Tranquil Valley Village, was a
living history museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recre ...
that operated on a site just outside of park boundaries on the Barren County side of the Chaumont area during the summer months from around 1973 through as late as the Summer of 1992. It featured replicas of the milling company, a
covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
, a doctor's office with early-20th century medical equipment, a school house and the Locust Grove Methodist Episcopalian Church. It also featured live entertainment by regionally and nationally known
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
musicians such as
Bobby Mackey Robert Randall "Bobby" Mackey (born March 25, 1948) is a traditional country music singer whose career has spanned 40 years. His musical style can be described by his loyalty to Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Buck Owens, Conway Tw ...
, and
Minnie Pearl Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (1940–1991) and on the televisio ...
, and several
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
music bands such as The Estes Family, and several others; their performances at the village are usually tied in to festivals held each operating season. A tour of a cave and a trolley was added to the attraction in 1987. The Wondering Woods village property was donated to the Conservation Fund in 1992 only to be given to the NPS. After the attraction closed down, most of the buildings were demolished in December 2003. However, in 2019, the park service purchased the property where the Wondering Woods village stood to bring back the tours of the cave that was part of the attraction.


Present day

Aside of very few ruins of the old Wondering Woods and Tranquil Valley Village (one building is now serving as a bat sanctuary) and the Wondering Woods cave (which is accessible only through a cave tour group), the Locust Grove Cemetery is the only remaining landmark of the town that still remains intact in the present day.


Geography

Chaumont is located about west of Cave City, and northwest of
Park City Park City may refer to: a city in Utah. Places * National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London in the United States * Park City, Illinois * Park City, Kansas * Park City, Kentucky * Park City, Montana * Park City, ...
at the present-day junction of
Kentucky Route 70 Kentucky Route 70 (KY 70) is a long east-east state highway that originates at a junction with U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Smithland in Livingston County, just east of the Ohio River. The route continues through the counties of Critten ...
(KY 70) and KY 255; portions of both highways west and south of Chaumont are currently considered a part of the
Mammoth Cave Parkway The Mammoth Cave Parkway is a major roadway located in the Mammoth Cave National Park in west-central Kentucky. It encompasses parts of Kentucky Routes 70 and 255 within the park in northwestern Barren and eastern Edmonson Counties. It close ...
. At the time that the town dissolved, KY 255 was the sole highway traversing the area until KY 70 was rerouted onto its current alignment through the southern segment of the park sometime in the 1970s. The community was also previously one of a few towns located along the Mammoth Cave Railroad, which ran from Park City (known as Glasgow Junction at the time) to Mammoth Cave until it ended service in 1929. The Mammoth Cave Hike and Bike Trail runs through the area on most of the railroad's original path.


In popular culture

The Historic Wondering Woods village was an ideal location for filming two movies; it was one of two locations (the other was 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
Fort Boonesborough State Park Fort Boonesborough was a frontier fort in Kentucky, founded by Daniel Boone and his men following their crossing of the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775. The settlement they founded, known as Boonesborough, Kentucky, is Kentucky's second oldest Eu ...
) where the
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
musical film, ''
The World Through the Eyes of Children ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', was filmed in 1974. The village was also one of two locations (the other was the
Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its rol ...
area) where the
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
comedy film, ''
Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly kn ...
'', was filmed in September 1987.


References


External links


Original 1973 Wondering Woods Brochure
{{Barren County, Kentucky Mammoth Cave National Park Ghost towns in Kentucky Geography of Edmonson County, Kentucky 1937 disestablishments in Kentucky