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A reproduction of McHargue’s Mill in Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park, located in London, Kentucky. The reproduction was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1939 on the banks of the Little Laurel River. The historic Wilderness Road (and Boone Trace), pioneered by Daniel Boone were the main southern routes used by settlers moving west through the American frontier, from Virginia to Kentucky beginning in 1775. The early route was steep and difficult to traverse, making it only accessible on foot and by horseback, but eventually the trail was improved and extended to reach Louisville, Kentucky on the Ohio River. The route is sometimes called the Cumberland Route because it traversed the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains. The park is named after Levi Jackson, a prominent settler, whose family moved to Kentucky from Tennessee in 1825. The land on which the park is built was farmed and owned by Levi Jackson and his descendants until 1931, when the land was donated to the state of Kentucky. A number of buildings in the park, including the mill were built during the Great Depression, by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and funding from the National Park Service.

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A view of the Ohio River at sunrise, with Jeffersonville and Clarksville, Indiana on the north shore, and Louisville, Kentucky on the south shore.

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A view of the 14th Street Railroad Bridge, the McAlpine Locks and Dam, and the Falls of the Ohio, on the Ohio River. As seen with Clarksville, Indiana, with downtown Louisville, Kentucky seen in the distance.

The Fourteenth Street Bridge, also known as the Ohio Falls Bridge, was completed in 1870, by the Louisville Bridge Company. It was originally operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad, but is currently owned by the Louisville and Indiana Railroad. The drawbridge portion on the south side of the river, which allows barges to pass through the McAlpine Locks and Dam, was built in 1918, and operates as a vertical-lift span. The McAlpine Locks and Dam, were built to allow ships to navigate past the Falls of the Ohio, a series of rapids in the Ohio River that pose a serious obstacle to boat traffic in this section of the river.

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