The Keg

In my younger days, on the route to Dewey Lake you turned at the stop where Brandy Keg Creek met the Levisa. After the turn, and not quite a mile up Brandy Keg, you arrived at Landon Charles’s(?) bait, tackle and grocery store. Here you could head on straight to Dewey Lake or turn right to head up Corn Fork.

If you turned right, you were now heading up Corn Fork but, according to the maps at the time, the creek along “Corn Fork” was Brandy Keg Creek. Less than two miles up Corn Fork along Brandy Keg, you came to Corn Fork Hollow, then a tributary of Brandy Keg. I had a friend who I used to stay with up Corn Fork way.  His name was Chuck. He lived on Corn Fork but he lived by Brandy Keg Creek.  So, in my way of thinking, Landon Charles’s store was at the intersection of “Brandy and Corn”.  Still, had you not made the turn up Corn Fork, you passed over the Brandy Keg Dike on your way to the Brandy Keg Boat Docks. Old maps confirm this. Some memories as well.

There is no “Landon Charles” now. The building remains. Brandy Keg Boat dock is now Jenny Wiley Boat Dock and Brandy Keg Dike, unchanged through the years, retains the name but not the popular identity.  Newer maps show that from the Levisa to the turn at the old bait and tackle, it remains Brandy Keg Creek but after the turn at the branch, it is now Corn Fork Creek. If you follow Corn Fork Creek up two miles or so, you will come to Ham Hollow, formerly known as Corn Fork Hollow.

I reached out to Floyd Davis, a local historian of note, inquiring about the origin of the name Brandy Keg. His response: “I referred to Robert Rennick’s book “Kentucky Place Names” and he indicates it was named by an individual who lost a keg of brandy in the vicinity in times past.” He went on to add that Robert Rennick was a supervisor of a mine long ago and the book was his master work. I don’t know Robert Rennick but I trust and respect Floyd, so a story of a lost keg of brandy satisfies me.  Makes sense too. Losing a keg of brandy in a time when there were kegs of brandy would be a pretty big deal. If it had been me, I would have searched, bitched and complained so much that the resulting action would have become a place name as well. Much more has been named after much less. I now find myself wondering if the brandy keg of lore was lost on the part of Brandy Keg that is now Corn Fork? Corn Keg just doesn’t have the same appeal.

I can show you a recent map that shows Jenny Wiley Boat dock, Brandy Keg Dike, Corn Fork Creek, flowing past Ham Hollow to its confluence with Brandy Keg Creek, which then makes its way on to the Levisa. Yet, on the other side of the dike now, in a different watershed, a tributary, coming from the hollow that held hole number 6, on a golf course that is no longer, now bears the name Brandy Keg Branch. This branch technically drains into Johns Creek.  Why can’t we make up our mind? One damn keg of brandy can sure stir up quite a fuss.

I am tired of changing maps. The madness must stop. What are we going to do? Corn Fork is going to remain Corn Fork. Of that, I am certain. The section of Brandy Keg Creek, joining Corn Fork and the Levisa will continue to retain its name too, I think. I also don’t think the name Brandy Keg Dike will ever be changed because most don’t refer to it as so and it is hard to change somehting that has been forgotten. As far as Brandy Keg Branch of Johns Creek, I dont really care. However, if I miss anything other than the passing of the bait, tackle and grocery store, I miss the boat dock being named Brandy Keg. It was a place and besides, there is way too much stuff named after Jenny Wiley already.

All of this now leads me back to one thing: What if the keg had never been lost and whatever happened to the damn thing? My money says it was found by someone. Would you have told? If not, it has long since rotted or floated away. There is no keg but It is too good of a story to die. Corn Fork has earned its glory but “the keg” needs to live forever. Much like the Curse of the Bambino, order must be restored. I am tired of changing maps. A “Keg” in spirit is better than no keg at all.  I think I have found The Keg. It is just a little piece past the intersection of Brandy and Corn. We shall soon see. I wonder what a hound looks like carrying a keg?