Mountains of Mystery:
The Putney Ranger Station is Kentucky’s oldest ranger station and is adjacent to Kentucky’s oldest state forest at Kentenia. With the thick forests throughout Harlan County, it was imperative that forestry officials have an outpost on Pine Mountain. The station was constructed in the late 1930s with half of it serving as an office and the other half as a home for the ranger. How could a place that was built for the protection of the community become a place with spirits that were a threat to the people within?
Historical Context: Ancient Forest. New Deal.
Pine Mountain is known for its thick, old growth forests, including Kentucky’s largest old growth forest. When Roosevelt launched The New Deal, the Civilian Conservation Corps was established to both employee Americans who were struggling economically while also improving America’s public lands. Pine Mountain was a prime location for CCC development. The materials for the the station were sourced from the surrounding forest so the logs and stone are all local to the area. The Putney Ranger Station is one of several CCC projects in Harlan County.
Paranormal Activity: Still on Duty
Some think the rangers who worked at the station in life are still on duty there long after they have died. People who have lived or spent time in the station report items flying on their own, sounds that sound like rangers at work, unexplained winds, and people being touched. It is a haunting truly so terrifying to the people that experienced that some things they won’t even recount because they’re too scary to speak. photo from the Pine Mountain Settlement School Archives
The Persistent Presence of Pine Mountain
Adventurers who undertake the entire tour of Haunted Harlan County will notice the recurring presence of Pine Mountain in many of the stories. The Ranger Station lies on the south side of the mountain with Pine Mountain Settlement School on the north side. The station is just west of Laden Trail and the infamous stories of Rebel Rock and Lura Parsons. It is just to the south of Little Shepherd Trail where the body of the “Unidentified Girl” was found decades before modern science would give her a name. Some may attribute the many stories of Pine Mountain to the sheer size of the place but others believe it is uniquely composed of natural elements that form an energy that invites these terrible events.
——Evidence—–
A man who grew up in living in the Ranger Station tells a few of his stories.
The Ranger Station is not open to the public. Visitors should not approach. You can park at the locked gate and enjoy your spooky stories from the edge of the property.
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