Interview with R.E. Nightingale

Partial Transcript: You remembered camping on the river when you were a kid down at Brooklyn Bridge.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale briefly touches on camping on the river, Colonel Chinn, and a recent boating trip down the river.

Keywords: Brooklyn Bridge, Kentucky; Colonel Chinn

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: With the locks closed, it seems like the river is filling up more and more.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale talks about the build up of sediment and the overall condition of the locks.

Keywords: Heidelberg, Kentucky

Subjects: Dredging--Kentucky River (Ky.); Kentucky River (Ky.); Locks (Hydraulic engineering)--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do many people have boats around here?

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale talks about the different types of fish that can be caught in the river and where they are typically found. He also comments on the improvement in the quality of the water and fishing.

Keywords: Kentucky bass; buffalo suckers; catfish; large-mouth bass; rock bass; water quality

Subjects: Boats and boating--Kentucky River (Ky.); Fishing--Kentucky River (Ky.); Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: What kind of condition is that lock in?

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale describes the condition of the lock at Heidelberg. The Corp of Engineers had recently done some work on it.

Subjects: Locks (Hydraulic engineering)--Kentucky River (Ky.); United States Army Corp of Engineers

Partial Transcript: That flood in 57 was one of the worst here that I ever seen.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale compares floods from different years and the effects that they had on the river. He claims that Buckhorn Dam saved Beattyville from the flood of 1978.

Keywords: 1957 flood; Beattyville, Kentucky; Buckhorn Dam; Camp Nelson, Kentucky

Subjects: Floods--Kentucky; Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Back in 51 or 52, Bill, I was living in Jessamine County.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale tells a story about seeing a fire in the distance when he was in high school. His father and he tracked it down and discovered that a local distillery was on fire and the barrels of whiskey had lit the river on fire. He claimed that drunken catfish were pulled from the water.

Keywords: catfish; distillery fire

Subjects: River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: This, uh, lock at Heidelberg, is that stonework or is this all concrete?

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale describes how the later locks were built. Concrete shells were made and filled with river gravel.

Keywords: lock construction; lock master

Subjects: Locks (Hydraulic engineering)--Kentucky River (Ky.); United States Army Corp of Engineers

Partial Transcript: Who's been involved in this area in barging coal on the river?

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale talks about efforts by a company to retrieve sunken coal from the bottom of the Kentucky River.

Keywords: Submarine Coal Company; coal barge; coal scavenger

Subjects: Barges--Kentucky; Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: What are some prominent makers along here that you've been by?

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale lists and describes several prominent markers along the North Fork of the Kentucky River, including: Maloney Bridge, Tea Table, Hurricane Branch, and the Devil's Backbone.

Keywords: Devil's Backbone; Hurricane Branch; Maloney Bridge; North Fork of Kentucky River; Tea Table

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.); Rivers--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Now, I don't know what year it was, Bill.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale describes seeing and hearing an ice tide. He also describes the effects of an ice tide on the river.

Keywords: Ice flow; Ice tide

Subjects: Ice on rivers, lakes, etc--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Kentucky River is one of the few rivers in the United States that flows in the direction it flows.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale briefly describes the geography of the river and how creeks enter it.

Keywords: Camp Nelson, Kentucky; Kentucky River Distillery

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: People told me years ago you used to find a lot of big stores along the river.

Segment Synopsis: Nightingale talks about a store owned by the Updike brothers in Heidelberg that would ship product farther up the river to smaller areas.

Keywords: Heidelberg, Kentucky; Updike Brothers' Store

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.); River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)