originally published in
One thing about Kentucky folks, they love fried chicken.
The relationship between its fame and its followers has perpetuated a self-fulfilling prophecy over the century, keeping the dream alive.
(In my Corbin blog, I mentioned that) it is home to the original / first Kentucky Fried Chicken location & Museum and Sanders Park, and I wrote about my distant relation to the Colonel.
What I did not know until about ten minutes ago is that he also helped his nephew Lee Cummings create Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken.
London is also the home of the Honey Bun, and I have to wonder why there is not any sort of delicacy in the area that combines fried chicken and honey buns. Are locals eating that, and just not telling us? Are you?
World Chicken Festival
London is just 20 minutes away from the Corbin KFC mecca and has earned its own cluck cred for hosting the annual World Chicken Festival.
Each September, people come in from all around the globe for the Colonel Sanders look-alike contest, beard and mullet contests, trivia, “Chick-a-lympics” and other games, karaoke, live music, and to gather around the world’s largest stainless steel skillet.
Civil War
London is also a rich resource for Civil War history, memorabilia, and reenactments.
Within Laurel County and London proper, you can visit the Laurel County Historical Society, Camp Wildcat Civil War Battlefield, the annual Camp Wildcat Civil War Reenactment, and the Laurel County History and Genealogy Center.
Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park
London was established in 1826 and is the county seat of Laurel County.
Visit the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park to catch a glimpse of what life was like back then by touring the Mountain Life Museum inside the park. This outdoor museum holds original buildings of the early settlers of the area that were relocated here, as well as replicas.
Pioneer Levi Jackson married Rebecca Freeman, whose family owned and farmed on this property. The couple eventually inherited it, and in 1931 their descendants donated over 300 acres to develop this park that has since expanded to nearly 900 acres. In 2019, the name was changed from Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park to Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park, to mark the occasion of it becoming owned and operated by the City of London rather than Kentucky State.
You can visit the Jackson family cemetery on Old Wilderness Road and his wife Rebecca Freeman’s family cemetery down the way. There is also a general store, campgrounds, event shelters, museum exhibitions, a gift shop, clubhouse, golfing range, swimming pool, amphitheater, and a Treetop Adventure course on site.
