Backcountry Explorations

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Mount Vernon, KY
Backcountry Explorations

Exploring the backwoods of America, showing the history of us all and keeping the memories alive.

01/07/2026

We have officially moved to a new area, can't wait to bring updates as we start exploring more often

09/14/2025

After a few years of chasing this property, with help from my sidekick, we were finally able to get permission to photograph this historic house in Garrad County.

Built in 1838 by Thomas Salter, son of Revolutionary War Veteran Michael Salter, who was a member of one of the most prominent families in Garrard County. Thomas Salter was one of the wealthiest men in the county. The largest part of his fortune was in the business of slave-trading, which was conducted on the public square of Lancaster. Emancipation of slaves during the Civil War, separated Mr. Salter from his fortune and divided family loyalties. He was left with very little of the power and prestige he had in early years of his life.

The farm was divided, and the home was purchased by Augustus Babcock, an extremely wealthy Canadian. Nancy and Ellen Babcock, daughters of Augustus Babcock were both married on the Salter-Babcock farm in 1866 on the exact day, marrying the Lee brothers.

The farm was later owned by Bruce Thompson. In 1896 the farm was sold to O'Bannon Perkins, he brought his wife Emma Land to the Salter House, after the death of O'Bannon Perkins, his widow Emma Land married Josh Daniel from Virginia and raised three children in the home. The Salter House remained in the Perkins-Daniel family for the next 70 years.

04/01/2024

Found this old beauty while exploring Kentucky, not a lot of information about it yet other than it is rumored that it will be torn down soon

12/25/2023

Merry Christmas from us here at Backcountry Explorations, we hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season!

08/27/2023

The historic Great Saltpetre Cave - Livingston, KY (Closed to the public)

Discovered in 1798 by Robert Baker, this cave was used to collect calcium nitrate also known as saltpetre which is the primary ingredient in gunpowder. This cave was particularly important during the war of 1812, when Great Britain decided to stop selling gunpowder to the Americas. It is rumored that more than 1 out of 3 shots fired during the war of 1812,, was fired using gunpowder manufactured from this location. By 1815 the war was over and it became cheaper once again to purchase gunpowder from Great Britain than to buy domestic made gunpowder, which resulted in production ceasing, and all the saltpetre miners to go back home. This of course resulted in the mine to become basically abandoned (locals and some Kentuckian visitors still visited from time to time).
In 1938, Dr. Walker Owens and Mary Alice Barnett purchased the property and started letting visitors tour the cave. By 1939 the property was bought by John Lair and started promoting the cave from nearby Renfro Valley. In 1963, Mr. Lair began renovations to the mine, which included lowering the floor at the entrance and also leveling the floor in the Echo Auditorium to allow easier access for visitors. In 1967, powered lights were brought into the cave system, with the ticket house being built in 1968.
The property was sold again in 1989 to the Felburn Foundation (a foundation that believes in the preservation of natural resources), and then leased to the greater Cincinatti Grotto to see the management of the preserve, assisted by both the Blue Grass Grotto and the Dayton Underground Grotto. In 2006, the preserve was given to the then newly formed Rockcastle Karst Conservancy with the conditions that RKC acquire and continue to manage other cave properties, continuing to protect them for future generations to be able enjoy. The Great Saltpetre Cave is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

07/05/2023

Abandoned theme park - Six Gun City - Honeybee, KY
Old west style theme park, with everything from shootouts to the train to the theme park near here. Unfortunately there is very little information about this abandoned theme park, and what is available is contradictory to each other source.

07/03/2023

Backcountry Explorations has a new home! We're excited to bring everyone new history from a different part of the U.S.

05/23/2023

Caldwell Family Homestead- La Pine, OR circa 1904-1911
This homestead sits on 1,099 acres of land just north of La Pine, OR. Originally settled by a father and his four sons from California, the Caldwell family wanted to try their hand at homesteading and from what we could find on the property, which isn't much unfortunately, another family, the Rease family (George Guy and Denison Rease) also had a claim to a part of this land around the same time. Both families are buried in the small Cemetary just behind this house. The property changed hand to a few prominent families in the Central Oregon area before being bought by the Deschutes Land Trust in 2022.

10/08/2022

Maps dated 1881 and 1900 - what the desk looks like when you're finding towns that aren't on any current maps for the next exploration

10/04/2022

Mother Lode Mine
This mine was originally developed in 1899 by H.S. Cram as a gold and copper prospect only to have discovered quicksilver in 1900. IN 1901 the American Almaden Quicksilver & Gold Mining Co. was organized to oversee operations at this site. The Mother Lode mine was in operation for 60 years where it produced 352 flasks of Mercury. The site changed hands a total of 9 times in its lifetime, and the best year of production was in 1940, where the mine produced 60 flasks in one year. At that time, the mine had a Gould rotary furnace that was capable of processing 12 tons of material a day. However, that furnace was removed sometime around 1950. In 1960 a new Herreshoff furnace (currently at the site), which was capable of processing 50 tons of material a day was installed, unfortunately it saw very little use. 1960 was the last year of recorded production at only 5 flasks.

Address

Mount Vernon, KY
40456

Website

https://linktr.ee/backcountryexplorations

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