Homeplace on Green River

Kentucky Life visits “Kentucky’s outdoor classroom,” a Campbellsville farm that combines history, agriculture, and outdoor recreation.

In Campellsville, residents have preserved a place that honors history and connects Kentuckians with the land. The 228-acre Homeplace on Green River is a joint project of citizens of Taylor, Green and Adair Counties that has become a valuable public resource known as “Kentucky’s outdoor classroom.”

The property is a farm that dates back to 1803 and remains a working farm to this day.

“We were aware that…young people were losing touch with the land and natural resources and how important they are to us,” says Billy Joe Fudge, Vice President of Homeplace on Green River. “We wanted people to have a place that they could come and experience life sort of the world that their forefathers had experienced.”

The farm is adjacent to Tebbs Bend Civil War Battlefield and includes a trailhead for the Tebbs Bend-Green River Nature Area trail system, providing additional resources for outdoor education and recreation.

Local farmers lease acreage at the Homeplace to grow crops, maintaining the land’s status as a working farm and providing visitors an opportunity to see where their food comes from.

“[Visitors become] aware that even though they get their food from Kroger and they prepare it at home, it comes from a farm,” says Fudge. “It comes from the land, and they’re just as dependent upon the land today as their forefathers were.

This segment is part of Kentucky Life episode #2002 which originally aired on October 11, 2014. View the full episode here.