The Ghosts Of Butcher Holler

                                                            The Author at Butcher holler


I hate to break it to many of you but you have to face the fact even if you were born in KY you are not completely a Kentuckian until you have been to Butcher Holler.My old Pal Cecil Lawson and I made the pilgrimage in 2013 .Lynn was raised in Van Lear, Kentucky, a mining community .

GETTING THERE  -Drive past the Coal mining museum in Van Lear ,There are a few signs that guide you to the Webb Cabin where Loretta Spent her childhood .

The Coal mining museum  

 

 

THE ROAD TO BUTCHER HOLLER

 

 

You definitely will want to stop at the Webb Grocery which was once the Coal mining

''Company store''  

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Loretta's Parents  -

Melvin "Ted" Webb      -      Clara Marie (Ramey) Webb 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARRIVING  - You really don't have to make an appointment but it does not hurt to call ahead.Most days you just drive up to the cabin at the very end of the road,Wait on the porch until the next tour begins .It is about 10 Dollars per person. 

 

 

  

 

The Inside is now filled with memorabilia But You can see the that Cabin Built for the Movie in COAL MINERS DAUGHTER  [which was filmed in Whitesburg KY instead] was a dead ringer for the real thing.Not Sure what happened to that set which was built specifically for the movie but there is also another Replica cabin in Hurricane Mills in TN .

Herman Webb Loretta's Brother Gives the Cabin tour pretty much every day . 

 

 

 

 

The View from the cabin [ back in the 40's there were no electric lines ]

 

 

The Homestead is  rumored to be haunted ,Lynn has stated in the past she saw ''People who had passed on ''  when she was a child .I personally did not get any vibes while down there,but Herman stated he only ever saw Ghosts at the Webb Grocery just up the road .

 

We took a tour of the Coal mining museum afterwards which I recommend while you are in Van Lear .There are not a whole lot of working mines left in this area actually so it is interesting to see the History in Pictures and actual Mining paraphernalia .

 

A hand cranked air pump