River Side Park

River Side Park, formerly known to all us locals from this area, as the Dam 50 site.

Much work over the past several years has been taking place at the old Dam 50 Park area.

Once the home site of the workers of the Lock and Dam 50 site, it was abandoned in the fall of 1980 as the new dam was built at Smithland. Over the years the homes were vandalized and some sold to local residents and moved to other sites in the area.

The County and Fiscal Court has been working on trying to renovate and put new life back into this beautiful Ohio River setting. Rest rooms facilities, picnic sheds, camper sites, boat launching site, and permanent benches set to over look the scenic Ohio River have recently been completed. It looks like once again this forsaken area will be a vital part of our community and will be used again for enjoyments of local families and visitors.

Saturday, July 4th, was to start a new era for the site. A fireworks display was set for Saturday night. Although the raining weather dampened some of the planned activities, people turned out in numbers to set up their campers and camp site under the old spreading shade trees. As you can see in the picture, the wet weather hadn't stopped the people from coming to the area.

It's great to see a former favorite picnic area restored to it's former grandeur and be available for family picnics, and family reunions. All we need to complete this beautiful river scene would be the Delta Queen cruising with the current playing her Calliope to Camptown Races.