Kentucky Hidden Wonders

Unearthing Shelby County's Past: Tunnels, Time Capsules, and Hidden Stories

• Kentucky Hidden Wonders • Episode 7

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Deputy Judge Jon Park takes us on a journey through Shelby County's hidden gems and historical treasures, revealing surprising discoveries and community stories along the way. He shares his path from Illinois to Kentucky and explains how his background in ministry and public service prepared him for his current role.

  • Born near Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois, with a deep appreciation for history and civic engagement
  • Served as Executive Director of Constituent Services under Governor Matt Bevin, helping citizens navigate government resources
  • Spearheaded the Gold Star Family Memorial at Veterans Park, honoring families who lost loved ones in military service
  • Workers discovered what appeared to be a child's casket during excavation, which turned out to be a misplaced time capsule
  • The historic courthouse, built in 1912, revealed a hidden tunnel beneath its front steps during renovation
  • Colonel Sanders and his wife Claudia made Shelby County their home from the mid-1950s until their deaths
  • Ongoing restoration projects include the courthouse windows and the old stone jail with a $150,000 Brownfield grant
  • Describes Shelby County as "Mayberry" – a close-knit community where people work together to preserve history

Join us at the Kentucky State Fair to visit the expanded Shelby County booth and possibly meet Colonel Sanders and Abraham Lincoln reenactors!

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Do you know someone who would be an excellent guest on Kentucky Hidden Wonders? You can nominate them by filling out the form linked HERE or going to visitshelbyky.com/podcast and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

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🎙️ Kentucky Hidden Wonders is hosted by Janette Marson and Mason Warren and edited by Mason Warren.

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Janette Marson:

Welcome to Kentucky Hidden Wonders. I'm Janette Marson.

Mason Warren:

And I'm Mason Warren.

Janette Marson:

Together, we're uncovering the secrets, stories and hidden gems of Shelby County,

Mason Warren:

From unforgettable places to off-the-beaten-path adventures. Join us as we explore Kentucky treasures and Shelby County's best-kept secrets.

Janette Marson:

Today, our guest is Deputy Judge Jon Park and Jon, thank you so much for being here with us. We're thrilled to have you. Thanks for having me. Well, why don't we start by you going ahead and telling the listeners a little bit about yourself and your background and let them get to know you just a little bit better?

Jon Park:

Well, originally I'm from Illinois. I was born and raised in Springfield. My home was about three miles from Abraham Lincoln's home. I know he was born here in Kentucky. He ended up in Springfield, called it home and growing up that was every field trip, school function, everything was all about Abraham Lincoln and so that's where I got my love for Lincoln and loved to study him, for Lincoln and loved to study him. My mother and father both worked for the state of Illinois and met working in the Capitol and later married. And then I was born after that. But growing up it was all public service, interest in politics and just our civics learning both sides. We watched both sides during conventions and debates and I got a really good education in that. So that was my early bringing.

Jon Park:

I was called to the ministry. I went to school to be a minister. Then later on in life I was a pastor for a while and in the ministry, but then I went to work for healthcare and worked with hospice patients and so those two things. I look back and see how God kind of moved me to where I am today. I still consider this to be a mission field, but service and being a servant to the people around me, so that's how I got to where I am today.

Janette Marson:

Well, you make a wonderful deputy judge and we're very thankful for you, yeah.

Mason Warren:

So you've talked a little bit about what sparked your interest in working in public service, but what are some of the roles you've had in that sector?

Jon Park:

Well, early on, like I said, ministry and then after that in health care, became involved in different aspects of county politics and all that that goes with it. But Matt Bevin, after he won the nomination and won the governor's race, called me and asked me if I'd come to work for him. He had a perfect job for me His words, not mine but said that he wanted me to be his executive director of constituent service.

Janette Marson:

What is that? What does that entail? But said that he wanted me to be his executive director of constituent service. What is?

Jon Park:

that. What does that entail?

Jon Park:

Jokingly, that's the complaint department. But people have issues and concerns and they will call the governor's office, thinking that's the place to call and sometimes it is and we were able to help those people with concerns. Other times we would have to direct them to their local county government or their federal delegation to answer those problems. But any time we had the opportunity to help somebody and that was our goal we solved problems. That was our motto in that office and we loved helping people. Sometimes it was education for them to learn how this all works and whose authority is where and that sort of thing.

Jon Park:

Quick story to that when I was in the governor's office had a lady call Her mother and father. Both were in the military during World War II. Afterwards they went home like everybody else. They started a family. They were killed in a car accident. They lived in eastern Kentucky, a family of very little means, a family of very little means, and so for 50 years mom and dad were in a grave that was not marked and they found out that the military offers gravestones for these folks. They asked me, I got involved. I got involved with a congressman and within a matter of months there were gravestones on those graves because this person called the governor's office. We couldn't do it, but I knew who to call on the federal side and got it taken care of.

Janette Marson:

Well, that's an important job. I sure hope they have that position. Even still, they do Because, oh good, I'm so glad, I'm so glad. Well, you've done a lot of wonderful things for Shelby County and one of the most memorable maybe that I can think of is the Gold Star Family Memorial in the Veterans Park. Can you talk a little bit about that, how that came to be, and then we'll expound on it as you go.

Jon Park:

Well, to begin with, everybody needs to go and check out Woody Williams. Google his name. He's done TED Talks. He's an amazing person who during World War II, was a flamethrower and he ended up and saved a lot of lives. He was given the Medal of Honor.

Jon Park:

President Truman put that medal on him and later in life he got involved in doing things and he had a catchphrase the cause is greater than I. That was his thing, and so he began to realize that there was a need in his hometown in West Virginia for a monument for Gold Star families. It was going to be a one-time thing and then it took off and it began to go everywhere. That's how I got involved. He and his grandson, who incidentally lives here in Shelby County, chad Graham the two of them met with the governor's office military affairs and said we want to bring a gold star monument and put it on the Capitol lawn, and so we helped with that.

Jon Park:

I was honored that I, on that committee that I was on, I got to be the one to make that motion that we do this. Not done with any tax dollars, it was all donations. But when you pull into the Capitol now you see that Gold Star Monument. Later on, when I became deputy judge and working for Judge Eisen, looking across the street saw Veterans Park and I told the judge. I said you know, that'd be a great place for a Gold Star Monument. We started talking about it. I invited Chad and Woody to come. Woody Williams picked out the spot where he wanted that Gold Star Monument on that park. So he'd been here a couple of times and let me interrupt real quick.

Mason Warren:

Can you explain what a Gold Star family is?

Jon Park:

So a Gold Star family is someone who has lost a loved one who is in active duty, whether it was during World War II, you know, families would put a blue star in their window to let people know that their loved one was fighting for this country. Unfortunately, sometimes somebody would come to the house and they'd trade out that blue star for a gold star flag to put in the window that let people know that this family lost a loved one. And so that's what started it. And so there are Gold Star families, gold Star moms, gold Star children, extended family. So Woody Williams decided to recognize these families that have given up everything, losing a loved one, in the service of their country, and so that's what this monument is. You'll notice that there are no names on it. They want everybody to be able to come there, and this is for me and my family, whether they live here in Shelby County or Frankfurt or wherever. But that's what that is.

Janette Marson:

Well, it's wonderful. There's lovely seating you can sit and just contemplate, and beautiful um bushes and trees.

Jon Park:

It's a lovely, lovely lovely community stepped up and and not a, not one tax dollar was used for that Uh, there's a Mason uh uh, cement, uh, someone who works with cement, uh that came in and volunteered his time and the materials to put the walkway in. And then we had an electrician that came in, volunteered his time and material to put the lights around it. So it was a community effort and it was funded by just donations. Very good.

Janette Marson:

So when you were planning now of course our show is called kentucky hidden wonders there you um, when they were digging, there was something hidden that was surprising.

Jon Park:

So I like I like to mason and I like to highlight these hidden gems and little funny little stories, so talk a little bit about what was hidden as they were preparing the ground in veterans park to uh put this monument. Uh, they were out there and in our we had road department out there that was helping with this and uh, they called me and said you need to come down here, we have a problem. And so I went down there and they looked a little bit startled and concerned and, uh, as they were digging, they found what appeared to be a child's casket. And so we began to do a little bit of research. I talked to one of the magistrates at the time, ross Webb, and he said that's a time capsule, that an area funeral director donated that box to put the items for the time capsule in, and so that's what was there. So we have purposely moved that to another location. Sorry of the park but it's still there.

Jon Park:

We just moved it so we could put the monument there and they'd have access to that time capsule later on.

Janette Marson:

Did it have a note on it? I mean so, of course, in my mind I'm thinking I could see the people. I'm not going to open it. Are you going to open it? I'm not going to open it. Are you going to open it? I'm not going to open it. Let's call Joe.

Jon Park:

There is something that's on that box that says time capsule, I think.

Janette Marson:

Did it say what year that was? I knew you were going to ask me that it's not due to be open yet, I can tell you that much.

Mason Warren:

I can't believe it wasn't marked. I mean, in the park there was a plaque, there was a plaque. There is a plaque, but it was in another part.

Jon Park:

They didn't bury that box where they buried the. You know, as I'm not saying coffin. They buried the box a little bit separate from where that plaque is. So now that plaque is directly over that capsule.

Janette Marson:

That makes more sense. You'd have to dig a whole lot of holes to find it Literally do some digging.

Mason Warren:

So moving back to the monument really quick. What was the response to that in the community, especially from we have a lot of military families?

Jon Park:

here? Yes, we do, so what?

Mason Warren:

was the response to that.

Jon Park:

It was. It was very moving. People stood up to write checks and to help pay for this and it was very well received. And, like I said, in the process of doing this we discovered that one of our county employees is a granddaughter I'm sorry, a niece of someone who was killed in battle, so she is a Gold Star family member. We have a family that's here that lost their son a few years ago and they were very much involved in this. In fact, those people were the ones that were invited to remove the covering when we did the unveiling.

Janette Marson:

Wow. Now, moving toward, I'm going to talk about the courthouse just a little bit, which is just right across the street from Veterans Park. You and Judge Eisen have been doing a whole lot of work on that beautiful, beautiful courthouse and talk a little bit about the history for listeners that don't know a lot about the courthouse. I mean, it is beautiful. For those listening that have not been in, I definitely invite you to take a peek inside. But what are some interesting facts and interesting stories about the courthouse?

Jon Park:

So the old courthouse, as we call it today, because we have a new judicial center blocked down the street, but the old courthouse was built in 1912. Or block down the street, but the old courthouse was built in 1912. It's the fourth courthouse for Shelby County and it's seen a lot of history. Early on during the suffrage movement, there was a well-known British woman, ethel Snowden, who came through Shelby County as she spoke across the country on giving women the right to vote, and the newspaper of the day said that the churches in the area closed. It was a Sunday night and all the churches closed so people could come and hear this woman speak. So that's an interesting part of history of this building. The courthouse was the actual judicial courthouse at the time when there was a very famous murder trial that took place and there's books about it. I don't remember all the details. I apologize, but there's a lot of history in that building.

Janette Marson:

Well, it's absolutely beautiful and I remember so. As I had said just a moment ago, the judge is doing a lot of work trying to fix it up. So when you were redoing the stairs outside the courthouse, there was another hidden gem, a hidden wonder that was discovered. Tell the listeners a little bit about that.

Jon Park:

So the architect that was helping us with all this he would come in and every time he came in he would find something else. And I got to a point where I said, look, we need to put a blindfold on you, because every time you come in you find something else. That's going to be a problem that we have to take care of. One of those things was the front steps of the courthouse, the granite steps that are out there. He noticed that they were turning in and kind of creating a valley in the middle. The supports underneath were disintegrating, and so he suggested we need to fix that problem. So they pulled all those steps off, numbered them, set them aside so they can get under there and fix that. When they did, they found an opening which led to a tunnel, and it's closed in now. But the story is that that tunnel was sometimes used to move prisoners that were there at the courthouse from the courthouse to the jail. That was about a block and a half away to the south of the courthouse.

Janette Marson:

And, of course, I wanted you to call me so I could go in it but I love things like that me, so I could go in it. But I love things like that, was it brick.

Jon Park:

What was like? What was on the inside? Was it dirt or brick? Well, the floor is dirt, and but the building itself, the entire building, is brick, but it does have the stone facade on the outside of it. So but yeah, it was interesting to look in there. None of us wanted to go in.

Janette Marson:

Yeah, I probably would stick my head in actually and say I'm good.

Jon Park:

Yeah, that's what we said.

Janette Marson:

But it's interesting, it's historical and it's neat that you found it so switching gears a little bit.

Mason Warren:

You've worked in state and local county government, and how has that shaped your perspective on what makes communities like Shelby County thrive?

Jon Park:

Well, when you're on the state level, you're dealing with 120 counties and there's a lot of different, varying situations when you get to the county. When I came here from working in the governor's office, well, I went from the governor's office to the attorney general's office and then Dan Isen called me and asked me to come to work for him. When I got here, I'd lived in Shelby County for a while. At that point I knew the community. I knew a lot of the people. But as I've gotten involved I've realized that this is more than just a county, it's a community. And do we always agree every bit of the time? No, we don't. But at the same time, we all have the common bond that we want to make Shelby County better and everybody's working that way. So we have a great relationship with our two cities and the other communities. We have a great relationship with our main street director. We have a great relationship with our tourism director and we all work together to do what we can to make Shelby County better than we found it.

Janette Marson:

And you may have already answered this question. This next one. So what would you say? You've lived here for a while. What makes living in Shelby County fabulous?

Jon Park:

for you personally. Well, I tell everybody, it's Mayberry. We have a sheriff who walks around. I don't know if I should say this or that, but he doesn't always carry a sidearm. He's a great guy, friendly to everybody.

Janette Marson:

But I think he could take you down without a sidearm. Yeah, yeah, shout out to Mark Moore, but to that I mean Shelbyville.

Jon Park:

Shelby County is Mayberry and you can't go in the bank without them saying your name when you walk in and they don't need you to fill out all kinds of information. They go right to work, take care of your business and move on. Everybody knows everybody here and Judge Isen will tell you there are no secrets in Shelby County. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's not so good, but it's a great community to be a part of and one of the things I do as deputy judge. When I talk to people I say, as deputy judge, I want to invite you to just come home to Shelby County.

Janette Marson:

Well, so I've been here three years and one of the first things my husband and I both said oh my gosh, they're just so nice. Everybody everywhere elected officials, the community, very welcoming. They're just so nice. That should be a slogan somewhere.

Mason Warren:

I think they tried that or something at one time, so I remember reading that somewhere. So you talked just a little bit about it just now. But what is your role as deputy judge executive? What do you do?

Jon Park:

I wear a lot of different hats. I'm the judge's chief of staff. I'm the guy that steps in when he can't be there. My hand hurts because I'm the one that signs all the checks, and there's a lot of checks. We have a $40 million budget for Shelby County, and so there's a lot of good things we do, but I get to be a part of that. And again, I'm also constituent service. I'm the complaint department. I'm the guy that they call when they have an issue with a pothole on their county road or a dog running loose, whatever. Read Facebook and you'll see some of the complaints that we hear or don't read.

Mason Warren:

Facebook for that Peace of mind. Maybe don't.

Jon Park:

But I get to do. It's not a job where I just come and sit and do the same thing over and over and over again. Everything. I don't know what I'm coming into sometimes when I come to work.

Janette Marson:

Well, I see you out and about in so many different areas so I know definitely you wear a whole lot of hats, a whole lot of meetings, and we are lucky to have you and Judge Eisen both. So is there anything surprising or little-known facts that you want to share with the listeners, or something that you have recently learned about Shelby County that maybe listeners don't know, about some historical fact? I've shared some of that.

Jon Park:

But the courthouse initially, like I said, it was the courthouse. When they built the new judicial center they kind of abandoned the old courthouse for a while. It became a storage unit for all intents and purposes. But when Judge Eisen came in he believed that the courthouse needed to be the seat of county government and went in there and started from the inside, started kind of cleaning things up and restoring it, and then we moved to the outside. The historic California tile roof was broken and leaking, causing problems in the building. We fixed the roof. There's gunshot holes around the top of the building. I tell everybody that even though it was built in 1912, it was involved in a series of Civil War battles. It wasn't.

Jon Park:

But it makes for a good story Back in the day to get rid of the pigeons and we had nothing to do with this, just full disclosure. But they would come in on Sundays and have pigeon shoots just to try to reduce the population. So when we restored the building, we restored all that facade, that's on the outside, the stonework, 100-plus-year-old building. So the stone was starting to deteriorate. You could put your hand along the wall and sand would just come off. We've restored some of those stones. We've sealed it, of course, the steps, like you mentioned earlier. We've got a new project getting ready to start putting in new windows. It's still a historic building and they will be accurate to the time period, but it's a functioning building, and to have windows sliding out of their frames and getting very cold in the wintertime, that's our next step. We put new doors on. We've spent quite a bit of money just to but it's important.

Janette Marson:

I remember, right before we started the podcast, the funding. A lot of that funding came from our tourists that come in Absolutely so the hotel tax.

Jon Park:

we ask you all to help us and guide some of that funds to us as you can, and that was through the interlocal agreement too, yes.

Janette Marson:

To be clear, oh, very good. So at the back is the old stone jail, which is really amazing. Um, which is a hidden gem, a hidden wonder, definitely. And I know because you and judge Eisen are so good about, uh, funding. You had gotten a grant, I believe, to fix up the jailer's house. How's that coming?

Jon Park:

It's slow because it's a Brownfield grant which is federally funded, and anytime you say federal government, that slows everything down. A lot of red tape, a lot of things have to happen. But we did get approved for $150,000 grant to abate that old building. It's an old building, so there's lead paint, there's asbestos. All that has to be remediated before we can move forward and repurpose that building.

Janette Marson:

But that is the plan. Well, very exciting. And one neat thing about Shelby County that we all know we're so good about saving historic buildings and saving history. Jon, do you have anything else?

Mason Warren:

that you'd like to. I don't have anything else for you, yeah.

Janette Marson:

Do you have anything else?

Jon Park:

Well, one of the things that we've teased about before, but one of the hidden gems or secrets of Shelby County is, while Cordon, Kentucky, is the birthplace of Kentucky fried chicken, Colonel Sanders found his way. He and his wife, Claudia, found their way to Shelby County Back in the mid-50s. They moved here and lived the rest of their life here, and so you can still go to Claudia Sanders' restaurant it's Colonel Sanders' chicken and enjoy that a little bit. As you drive in, you look at that house and realize, yep, Colonel Sanders lived in that house.

Janette Marson:

That's very historic. I wondered if you were going to bring old colonel sanders into the conversation, because you make a wonderful reenactor. Well, thank you of that, of that historic.

Jon Park:

I was just thinking about that and uh, you know, the fair is right around the corner, we'll be out there again. And uh, it's interesting to watch people come up and tell stories of how they met the colonel. Apparently he did a lot of plane travel because they met him on a plane or in an airport. A lot of people have good stories to tell about him and those who worked for him sometimes have a little bit more interesting story. But overall Colonel Sanders is still very well loved in Shelby County and to get to be a part of that loved in Shelby County and to get to be a part of that, and when you have two reenactors one who is looking kind of likes Colonel Sanders and the other guy is Abraham Lincoln and when the two of them are out at the fair together by accident, everybody stops and has to get a picture with both of them.

Janette Marson:

Oh, and he Larry. Um, yes, reenactor also. So those listening definitely join us at the Kentucky state fair. Um, shelby County always has a booth. We've expanded this year we're going to have a 10 by 30, inviting some partners to join us and hopefully the judge and deputy judge will be-. Colonel.

Jon Park:

Sanders will be out there, and Colonel Sanders, yeah, we'll be out there as well, well, john, thank you so much for joining us.

Janette Marson:

I love talking to you. You are so insightful of history and all that goes on in Shelby County. Thanks so much for being on the show. Thank you, I appreciate being here. Thank you, thanks for being here.

Mason Warren:

This has been Kentucky Hidden Wonders. Thank you to Shelby County Deputy Judge Executive Jon Park for coming on the show and thank you for listening. If you've made it this far, make sure you subscribe and leave us a review. It means the world to us. We'll return with a brand new Kentucky Hidden Wonders episode in two weeks. Bye everyone. Kentucky Hidden Wonders is a Shelby KY Tourism production. Your hosts are Janet Marson and Mason Warren. To learn more about Shelby KY Tourism and to start planning a visit, head to visitshelbykycom Music.

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Janette Marson

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