It was a real Disney-looking town. Blair [West Virginia] got much coverage when the land company associated with the mine bought out more than half the residents, with many vacant homes quickly falling to an unknown arsonist. Some landowners in the county said they were hopeful that the new federal strip mine law could help reclaim the land. Residents who sold homes to Massey also signed documents in which they agreed not to sue, testify against, or “make adverse comments” about coal- mining operations in the area. He looked like Uncle Remus and hung out with my Granddaddy Ham, my mom’s dad, all day fishing for catfish. All they need is to get the Judge to write a letter and we have to let them strip. Mister Peabody’s coal train Although the neck surgery had altered Prine’s voice, giving it a gravelly quality, he continued recording and touring. Paul McRee, “Book Inspired by Western Kentucky Coal Mining,” SurfKy.com, October 25, 2013. When residents would hang their wash out to dry, it would often turn gray with fly-ash. Lindytown.

song notes. “It’s unreal,” Lora Webb remarked to a local newspaper reporter in the fall of 2008.

Note full-size commercial bus at bottom of photo. the Green River At the time, surface coal mining was very weakly regulated – and in Kentucky even less. (For more on Prine’s career & albums scroll to end of story). Two mines for extracting iron ore have been attempted, at Old Airdrie on the banks of the Green River, and at Buckner Furnace south of Greenville, Kentucky. “The Plight of the Paradise Cemeteries,” TheStoms.com. let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam “The fear is terrible, the fear of blasting on the mountains above you. One who decided to stay was Quinnie Richmond, 85, who lives in a solitary home that displays five generations of family portraits in its small living room. And when residents agreed to sell to Massey, many also signed documents in which they agreed not to sue, testify against, seek inspection of, or “make adverse comments” about coal-mining operations in the area. In 2005 Drakesboro Elementary School was closed, with students first attending Hughes-Kirkpatrick Elementary and then Muhlenberg South Elementary School (2006). amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; And daddy won’t you take me back to Street scene from a portion of Paradise, KY, circa 1958. When I recorded the song, I brought a tape of the record home to my dad; I had to borrow a reel-to-reel machine to play it for him. google_ad_client = "pub-6626803245257925"; The southern part of the county is dotted with deep gorges. He has turned out more than 20 albums in his career, at least a dozen of which have appeared on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In fact Anka, along with Kristofferson, is said to have helped Prine land his first recording contract. At the time he spoke with McCowan in 2008, the town’s population had fallen to ewer than 100. Copyright: Writer(s): John Prine Lyrics Terms of Use, Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County “New ‘Coal Country Music’ CD Benefits The Alliance for Appalachia,” I Love Moun-tains.org, Friday, November 20th, 2009. Yet, it was a place that had several generations of families, a town with a church and a school bus that picked up kids for school. Thanks for visiting – and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research, writing, and continued publication of this website. “It is important to note that none of these properties had to be bought,” Mr. Harvey said. At the powerplant, meanwhile, they built a third coal-fired boiler, “Paradise Unit 3”. Among those covering the song in 1972-1973, for example, were: Jackie DeShannon, John Denver, the Everly Brothers, the Country Gentlemen, and the Seldom Scene. Repeat Chorus: Just five miles away from wherever I am. Mister Peabody's coal train done hauled it away, When i die let my ashes float down the Green River

In the 1990s, as the Arch Coal Company was strip mining the mountaintop near Blair, West Virginia, it faced periodic complaints from residents who were being harassed by the constant dust and periodic rock fragments pelting their homes from strip mine blasting. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Since Kentucky law prohibits strip mining within 100 feet of a public road, coal companies must persuade the County Judge to declare the roads of no use to the county and send a copy of this declaration to the Division of Reclamation. When I was a child my family would travel Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered So many times that my memories are worn. Penny Loeb, “Shear Madness,” U.S. News & World Report, August 11, 1997. Paradise ©John Prine.

Peabody’s Coal Train.” John Prine was born in … When I was a child my family would travel

They buried the other half next to his parents in Chicago. See also at this website: “Mountain Warrior: Harry Caudill, 1950s-1980s,” about Kentucky author and strip-mine activist; “GE’s Hot Coal Ad,” about a General Electric TV ad touting coal use; “Sixteen Tons,” famous song from 1950s singer “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, also used in the GE coal ad; and, “Giant Shovel on I-70,” about strip mining in southeastern Ohio during the 1960s and `70s. In 2004, the school board began consolidating the elementary schools, closing Graham Elementary School and transferring students to Longest Elementary Greenville Elementary Schools; closing Lake Malone School and transferring students to Hughes-Kirkpatrick Elementary School. too late in asking Theresa Dowell Blackinton, “How A Town Called Paradise Turned into Hell,” Moon Kentucky (Moon Handbooks Series), Avalon Travel, 2014, p. 399. Both iron ore mines were extant in the late 19th century and early 20th century; neither were successful.

5 on the Billboard 200, No. We asked a Division of Reclamation official about Peabody’s success in the Morehead venture: Q: How Many people live there? Peabody’s coal trains want to haul our community away.”. google_ad_height = 60;

Where the air smelled like snakes and But in Paradise during the 1960s, some residents, fed up with the pollution, began leaving of their own accord. One reason for this is the willingness of utility operators to install flue gas cleaning systems so that bituminous coal can be burned with fewer airborne contaminants. I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin' Several magistrates in Muhlenberg County work for Peabody.