Hey, Mitch McConnell, are you sure you’re from Kentucky?

February 7, 2009 at 6:34 pm | Posted in Economy, Historical, politics straight up | Leave a comment
Tags: Civilian Conservation Corps, Farm Security Administration, Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, obstructionism, Republicans, Tennessee Valley Authority, unemployment, Work Projects Administration, Works Progress Administration

Jeffersontown, Kentucky. The Jefferson County community cannery, started by the WPA, now conducted by the state (?) vocational education department. Women pay three cents each for cans and two cents per can for use of the pressure cooker. Canning beans and greens raised in a victory garden, June 1943; Howard R. Hollem, photographer.

(Kentucky.gov) [Civilian Conservation Corps] crews built a lodge at Cumberland Falls (that later burned down), along with cottages, shelters, trails and a fire tower. There are CCC buildings and projects still in use today at several Kentucky State Parks.

About 80,000 Kentuckians served in the CCC, and nearly 100 camps were built across the Commonwealth. For more information on the Civilian Conservation Corps visit http://www.cccalumni.org.

Many drainage ditches have been made and creeks cleaned out and land cleared on the creek bottom land of the farms of FSA borrowers. Southern Appalachian Project near Barbourville, Knox County, Kentucky. November 1940. Marion Post Wolcott, photographer.

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Cumberland Falls is described as the “The Niagara of the South” plunging 65 feet – nearly seven stories — into a boulder strewn gorge. Every month, the unique “moonbow” is visible at the falls, weather permitting.

The park includes historic DuPont Lodge (built in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration), cottages, Riverview Restaurant, gift shop and visitor center, campground, hiking trails and fishing.

Kentucky Dam, close to the mouth of the Tennessee River, will be one of the biggest projects of the Authority and will back the water up for a distance of 185 miles. It will be completed in 1944. This photograph shows a partial view of the lock operation building, with the commanding officer's work space, shaped somewhat like a control cabin in the foreground on the second floor. The near wing contains visitors' rest rooms while the lock switchboard is in the far wing, entered through the door in the foreground of the picture. Visitors are admitted to the various roof levels to watch the locking operation (between 1933 and 1945)

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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 53 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges — more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $317 million to the economy.

Josh Calahan's new home and new barn. Southern Appalachian Project near Barbourville, Knox County, Kentucky. November 1940. Marion Post Wolcott, photographer.

The newly authorized Mammoth Cave National Park was the site of the first CCC camp in Kentucky. Camp 1 was established in May of 1933 on the site of the former Bluegrass Country Club. Eventually three other camps would be established. In a collaborative effort of the Department of the Interior, the Labor Department and the War Department, the CCC program laid the foundation for Mammoth Cave National Park. By the time the park was dedicated in 1941, the CCC had constructed water lines, a modern sewage system, telephone lines, picnic areas, maintenance buildings and park residences. Miles of park roads were improved. Cave tour route trails were constructed and hiking trails on the surface were established. Thousands of acres of former farmland was reclaimed by controlling erosion, planning trees, and removing hundreds of structures and miles of fences.

Mammoth Cave National Park and millions of people who have since come and enjoyed the wonders of the world’s longest cave continue to benefit from these efforts.

So am I to understand that Senator McConnell will be declining any assistance for Kentucky this time around?

Mountaineers and farmers trading mules and horses on "Jockey St.," in front of Wolfe County Office WPA Project Superintendent, Campton, Wolfe County, Kentucky. September 1940. Marion Post Wolcott, photographer.

(AP) – Officials say Kentucky’s jobless rate has reached its highest level in more than 20 years.

Office of Employment and Training spokeswoman Cathy Lindsey says unemployment reached 7.8 percent in December with job losses in eight of 11 nonfarm job sectors.

The state reported job losses totaling 15,800 for the month. The construction and manufacturing sectors were hardest hit with a combined loss of 9,900 jobs.

Kentucky’s chief labor market analyst, Justine Detzel, said the state’s economy continued to suffer under tight credit, anemic consumer spending and manufacturing cuts.

Three job sectors bucked the trend. The government sector grew by 1,200 jobs in December. Education and health services added 800 jobs. And leisure and hospitality ended the month with an additional 500 jobs.