Training at the Mushroom Mines

The Lawton Limestone Mine has gone through several owners over the years. The Lawton Limestone company was incorporated in 1910 when according to abandonedonline.com, “A ledge 30-feet in thickness was quarried with the purest limestone shipped to the Ashland Iron Works for flux, with the refuse used for railroad ballast and agricultural purposes.”

Sometime later (1917) businessman Watt Hillman operated an open-pit limestone company named the Tygart Limestone Company and eventually opened an underground mine at the quarry. Using gunpowder, mules, and wagons, Hillman’s company drew rock from 2.6 million square feet of tunnels. But with the end of World War II the Tygart Limestone Company ceased operations and the mines – as well as the jobs they represented – ended their significant run.

The location was abandoned until the mid-1960’s when it was considered as a growing location for a group of eastern Kentucky mushroom growers and canners. The abandoned limestone mines were considered to be an ideal location for mushrooms due to their cool and constant temperatures that ran along a range between 50 and 58 degrees, as well as a high humidity of 85 percent.

Other characteristics that lent themselves to this use were the high ceilings, wide aisles, and vast chambers of the mines. And not only were the growing conditions thought to be an ideal match, but geographic and infrastructure benefits existed as well, checking off requirements to make the business viable. The Carter County mines were also near railway access so farms and racetracks could easily provide poultry and horse manure for the growth process.

Securing a loan from the EDA (Economic Development Administration) in the amount of $376,000 in 1967, as well as additional funds from state and federal sources, Kentucky Mushroom Farms, Inc. began operations with 68 employees. Growing operations began in June of 1968, and the first shipments were sent out on Christmas Eve. The operation also boosted the Carter County economy in other ways as well, such as in the case of a local sawmill increasing its own number of employees to 50 to meet the needs of the growing operation.

Sadly, Kentucky Mushroom Farms. Inc. ceased operation in the mid 1980’s, and the location once again was abandoned. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the location was embroiled in tragedy when the bodies of Gary and Cheryl Young, a missing Carter County couple, were found deep inside the mines. A grim note to a location that had provided so much for so many. But in 2006 it seemed as though the location would once again take an active part in the history of Carter County.

The location that had been both limestone quarry and mushroom farm was set to contribute to the Information Age when it was purchased by a California company, Global Data Corporation, for $996,000. Global Data Storage billed itself as a high-tech data storage company, and declared their intent to construct a secure, underground data storage center that would be one of the largest in the world. It was estimated to create between 1,200 and 1,500 good paying jobs in an area that historically needed jobs.

But the jobs it did create in the early phases of development and construction soon proved problematic. Many contractors reported not being paid by GDC for months, and soon allegations of malfeasance and fraud became a common discussion. Property transfers and sales, and unfulfilled bankruptcies followed, ultimately ending in the auction of the property.

Still, the history of the mines was not through being written. Local real estate agents JD and Debbie Rayburn, of Scenic Hills Realty, became involved with the property, knowing its true worth and value to not only Carter County but the City of Olive Hill as well.

“I had it listed for seven years,” Rayburn said. “And there were a lot of problems with it. Jeffrey Scott Law Office helped me straighten a lot of that out.”

Scott, he said, helped clean up all the legal red tape that GDC had embroiled the property in.

“After all that hard work, we finally found a buyer that had the patience to see it through,” Rayburn said.

He also credited Danny Sparks, who was invaluable with supplying the history of the property. Others involved were Kentucky State Senator Robin Webb and Olive Hill Mayor Jerry Callihan, Carter County District Five Magistrate Harley Rayburn, Carter County District Four Magistrate Danny Holbrook, and Olive Hill Council Member Eric Rayburn.

“There were a lot of people who helped me,” JD Rayburn said.

He also credits the late Harley Williams and his sons George Williams and Cooper Williams, who let him begin dealing with the property years ago.

“I have been in real estate 29 years,” Rayburn said, “and this is the hardest one I have ever worked on.”

All of the hard work by Rayburn and others ultimately produced not only a sale of the property, but a future for it in the Olive Hill area. New Horizons Resources, LLC purchased the property and have announced plans to build a state-of-the-art training complex at the location. In a recent press release the Kentucky based company said, “Our vision is to transform this unique underground facility into a cutting-edge training complex designed to support various local, state, and federal entities in immersive underground training environments.”

One of the company’s three investors, Donnie Gatten, (along with David Ward and Brad Eschman) is a fourth generation Kentucky miner, and he said that he was thrilled to bring new purpose to the abandoned mine as well as a new name that he intends to be associated with the site for years to come, The Lawton Training Complex.

“What we are looking at doing is mine engineering, mine safety, and mine rescue,” Gatten said. “We will be partnering with the University of Kentucky for some mine engineering training in two weeks, and then we will be partnering with the Kentucky Department of Mine Safety. They are planning on doing some mine rescue training there as well. And we will also be partnering with various state and federal agencies for training at the Lawton Training Complex.”

“I was made aware of that site just sitting there vacant, and that it was for sale,” Gatten said of how the purchase of the property began.

Jeb Jarrell, who is Gatten’s Son-In-Law and whose family has been in the area for generations, was the first one to bring it to his attention.

“When I came and looked at it, I knew it would suit our needs. Even though it looked pretty rough, I knew it had potential,” Gatten explained.

What followed the purchase of the property was a lot of cleaning, and removal of the refuse that had built up over the years. There was also a need for fencing for safety and security reasons, because during the years that the mine was abandoned there were those who had used it as party spot of sorts. Now there are gates at the property entrance, along with razor wire topped fencing, and gates blocking access to the underground area.

There are also over 20 security cameras and security lighting, Gatten said.

“When we are doing some of this training, we can’t have people wandering in because they could get hurt,” he explained.

The potential danger is real, and warning signs shouldn’t be ignored, he said. Some of the training, such as in the case of the University of Kentucky training, involves underground explosive testing.

Gatten, who is from the western part of the state, says that he has lived in Kentucky his entire life and is glad to have something like the Lawton Training Complex in the state.

“And I can’t say enough about all the people in the area,” Gatten said. “All the neighbors there have been very friendly while we were doing all the work to open up. And they have all had good things to say about us rehabbing that place.”

Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com