The land
A place with deep roots
Springs, a homestead, a farm, a hospital campus, a state park. We're not the first stewards of these acres — we're the current ones.
Timeline
Everything that happened here before us.
Earliest stewards
Springs, shelter and fertile ground
Indigenous peoples were this land's earliest stewards, drawn by springs, fertile ground, and natural shelter from caves and limestone outcroppings.
Mid-1700s
Cave Springs
Much of the area was granted to Virginia militia officer Isaac Hite, who established a homestead called Cave Springs.
1861–1865
Quiet corridors
The wooded ridges, springs and caves served as encampments, staging areas and quiet movement corridors. No large-scale battles are documented on the parcel itself.
1873
The Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum
The Commonwealth of Kentucky established the Fourth Kentucky Lunatic Asylum here, later known as Lakeland Asylum. It grew from a single building housing roughly 370 patients into a self-contained campus of about 15 buildings serving up to 5,000 patients, staff and administrators — with working farms, orchards, and Tudor and Classical Revival architecture. Patients and staff worked the farms and grounds; natural springs supplied water and caves were used for cooling and storage.
Mid-20th century – 1990s
Decline and demolition
As mental health care shifted toward community-based models, Lakeland declined. Most of its buildings were demolished in the 1990s.
1974
A state park opens
Beginning in the 1970s the land transitioned to public use, and E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park officially opened in 1974, named for Judge Erbon P. “Tom” Sawyer, father of journalist Diane Sawyer.
Late 20th century – today
The woods nobody walked
Large wooded sections far from roads were never developed and became overtaken by invasive species over the following decades.
This is the chapter being written now. Help write it
What remains
The land still remembers.
Lakeland's buildings are mostly gone, but foundation stones, old access routes and natural features remain. We'll keep them as quiet parts of a walk through the woods — never as spectacle.
The next chapter
Restoration is how this land gets its next hundred years.
The project restores roughly 150 acres through invasive removal, native replanting, habitat improvement, trail-building, and improved access to Goose Creek. Disc golf is the long-term stewardship engine — a living connection between what this place was and what it becomes.
Be part of it
Add your chapter to this land.
Indigenous stewards, farmers, patients, park-goers — and now you. Choose how you'd like to help bring these 150 acres back.
Not sure yet? Start here and we'll figure it out together.