Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Kentucky

Description

About Jenny Wiley State Resort Park:

Make plans to enjoy the Jenny Wiley Theatre this season, a showplace for the performing arts!

History of Jenny Wiley State Resort Park

Established on January 1, 1954

Originally known as Dewey Lake State Park (named in honor of Admiral George Dewey of Spanish-American War fame), Jenny Wiley State Resort Park became part of the Kentucky State Park System on January 1, 1954. The construction of the Dewey Reservoir project begun in March 1946 created the 1,100- acre, Dewey Lake. Dewey Lake is 18 ½ miles long and has fifty-two miles of shoreline. It is approximately 50 feet deep at the base of the dam. Although not one of the commonwealth’s larger man-made lakes, Dewey Lake has some of the most magnificent scenery in Kentucky. The lake has a marina with 199 boat slips. Fishing is excellent for bluegill, catfish, crappie, largemouth, smallmouth and rock bass. The lake area is also in an excellent location for visitors. It is close to a tri-state area that includes Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In the late 1950s, Dewey Lake State Park became Jenny Wiley State Park. The name change honored one of the frontier&

Wikipedia Description

About Jenny Wiley State Resort Park:

Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, originally known as Dewey Lake State Park, located at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, is a mountain resort park located on the shores of Dewey Lake. It is named for Virginia "Jenny" Wiley, a pioneer woman and Indian captive. The park opened on January 1, 1954. Taken captive by a group composed of (two Cherokees, three Shawnees, three Wyandots, three Delawares) in 1789, Wiley endured the slaying of her brother and four children and escaped after 11 months of captivity. However, the Cherokee had intended to punish the Harmon family for killing two Cherokees, and had mistakenly attacked the Wileys on October 1, 1789. Despite having given birth during the captivity, and seeing her three-month-old child murdered by the Cherokee by tomahawk, she learned Cherokee lifestyles until her rescue in the spring of 1790. Of the park's 2,871 acres, 1,100 of them comprise Dewey Lake. The Kentucky record for largest tiger muskie has been caught in Dewey Lake. Dewey Lake was na