Project Title: Payne Hollow on the Ohio

Community-engaged Ecosystem Research - June 10th – August 2nd

Partner: Payne Hollow on the Ohio

Purpose: Use ArcPro’s Field Maps and GPS devices to collect data of Payne Hollow’s structures, trails, geologic formations, and ecological inventory for the development of a GIS database to be used in land management and public engagement, as well as accompanying Story Maps exploring the relationship of the historical uses and the creative works of the Hubbard’s in context of the land of the Ohio River Valley.

Background: Payne Hollow on the Ohio, a 501c3 organization was formed in 2022 and purchased the 61 acres known as Payne Hollow, the homeplace and studio of Anna and Harlan  Hubbard. Over the next two years, an intensive planning process will be taken to develop land  management, programmatic and administrative plans to develop Payne Hollow into an  interdisciplinary center for understanding and promoting the confluence of art, culture, and the  environment along our waterways.  

The GIS database will be integral for the Payne Hollow plan and will be a way to track the progress made in community engaged ecosystem research for years to come, including the completion of the ecological inventory for use with the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Natural Areas Inventory and the Kentucky Heritage Council. The Story Maps will be used for community outreach and education of the site and to convey the data within the GIS alongside photography of the land and documentation of the project itself.

Research activities:

• Use ArcPro’s Field Maps and GPS devices to collect data points, lines and polygons of Payne Hollow’s structures, trails, geologic formations with specific metadata for use in a GIS.

• Summer Flora and Fauna Survey: Identify plants, insects, birds, mammals, amphibians using iNaturalist and Merlin apps for use in the GIS.

• Invasive Species Monitoring: Identify invasive species present on the property and current methods/technologies used for removal.

• Collect information on the Ohio River Valley and this region’s geographic, ecological, and historic influence on the Hubbard’s alongside the significance of their life, story and art to be used in Story Maps, one as an introduction to Payne Hollow on the Ohio and HollowPanyo, another for land management plans, iNaturalist and Merlin inventory, and invasive species management.

Logistics: Payne Hollow is located at 125 Hubbard’s Lane in Milton, KY. 1 hour from U of L campus. Three days a week, students will drive to Payne Hollow for on-site data collection. For the remaining two days a week, students will be on campus or at the project center organizing and analyzing data, planning for upcoming field work, and collecting articles and publications to inform their research.

Support:

• Payne Hollow on the Ohio Board of Directors and Advisory Committee - 22 individuals  dedicated to Payne Hollow and steeped in Historical Preservation, Ecological  Management and Curatorial skills https://www.paynehollowontheohio.org/about-us

• Deb White, retired Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission’s botanist. Deb has  begun the plant survey and is willing to work over the summer with the project to further  develop the inventory as well as recruit other research scientists for the Kentucky State  Nature Preserves Commission.  

• The U of L Center for GIS https://ulcgis.org/ This would need an arrangement between  the grant the U of L Center for GIS. The center could help the students design the data  base and initial lay map lay outs as well as the story maps. Here are Sample Story Maps from ESRI about land conservation. It would be great to publish on ESRI's website story  maps for both Payne Hollow and Beargrass.

• The Salt River Watershed Watch - would help the researchers document the health of the  stream and the riparian corridor.  

• U of L Harlan Hubbard Collection Archives & Special Collections (ASC) • U of L honors program. Several students in the current U of L honors seminar are  interested in participating. We are proposing to have another seminar in the fall of 2023  focused just on Payne Hollow. The summer research work would be continued as a part of the honors seminar. 

The map below describes the 61 acres and the adjacent land. One could also access the property by a 1-mile canoe trip.

Background on the Payne Hollow On The Ohio

Payne Hollow on the Ohio, Inc. launches phase II fundraising and mission  work

Payne Hollow on the Ohio, Inc. is a 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is  to sustainably preserve the structures and land at Payne Hollow, Trimble County,  Kentucky, as a means to protect and promote the legacy of Harlan and Anna Hubbard.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 14, 2022) – Payne Hollow on the Ohio, Inc. is proud to announce that the organization has met its Phase I fundraising goal and has officially closed on the Payne Hollow property in Trimble County, Kentucky. With gratitude to all of its Founding Partners, Payne Hollow on the Ohio is now ready to begin its next phase of fundraising and mission-driven work. The organization is seeking donors from the community who will be able to support the vital and ongoing preservation and restoration of the structures, land, and artifacts at Payne Hollow.

Payne Hollow on the Ohio’s founding Board members are Dr. David Wicks, Dr. Ted Steinbock, M.D., Joe Wolek, and Jessica Whitehead. Wicks, the Chair of the organization’s Board of Directors, says, “Payne Hollow on the Ohio is at the confluence of art, culture, and the environment along our waterways. As Mr. Hubbard has written, there are few wild places left on the Ohio River, and we plan on preserving his small corner of the world; a place for creative and reflective kindred spirits.”

Harlan Hubbard (1900-1988) was considered by many to be a modern-day Thoreau.  Hubbard is widely beloved for his writing and art, but he and his wife, Anna Hubbard, captivated the public imagination when, after years of living on a shantyboat, they settled down in Payne’s Hollow–later shortened by Harlan to “Payne Hollow” along the banks of the Ohio River. There they built a charming, bespoke homestead where they lived for thirty-five years. The Hubbards spent their days living sustainably–foraging, fishing, gardening, chopping wood, as well as writing, artmaking, and playing music.  They were unique in twentieth-century life, choosing a life of quiet solitude, foregoing electricity and running water, shunning modern tools and amenities, all to live “on the fringe of society.”

Board member Ted Steinbock says, “I read Harlan Hubbard’s Shantyboat as a high school student in 1967 and he became my hero, embodying an alternative lifestyle that was self-contained and self-sustaining. He lived simply yet richly with Anna at Payne Hollow using water from a gravity fed spring and shunning electricity. Here they made music, inspired his art, cultivated the land and fished the river. I had the good fortune to visit Anna and Harlan when my parents took me there by houseboat. I was too shy to speak much with Harlan, but Anna made me feel comfortable and at home as we sat on their stone steps on a crisp fall day. An unforgettable memory that comes back whenever I now visit the serene solitude of Payne Hollow.”

Bob Canida, close personal friend of Harlan and Anna Hubbard and an advisor and major donor to Payne Hollow on the Ohio says, “Anna and Harlan Hubbard were reclusive in some ways, but they were also so humble, inviting, inclusive, and admired by everyone who came in contact with them. Part of their mission was to showcase a simpler way to live, and most visitors left with a new sense of understanding and a desire to change the direction of their lives in some way. Even years after their death, people still associate with the message of their lived lives and desire to experience some flavors of their lifestyle.”

When the Hubbard’s died in the 1980s, Paul Hassfurder, a friend and fellow artist, inherited and maintained the property. Now that responsibility has passed to Payne Hollow on the Ohio, an organization which seeks to honor the Hollow’s former owners  by tirelessly bringing the land and structures back to their former glory.

Payne Hollow on the Ohio’s goals for the next two years are:

• To safeguard, catalog, and digitize the historically significant artifacts and archives on the property.

• To nominate Payne Hollow to the National Register of Historic Places.

• To conduct comprehensive flora and fauna studies and explore future designations as a nature preserve.

Board member Joe Wolek says, “As a recent returnee to Kentucky after decades of being away, Payne Hollow has been a beacon in how to firmly belong to and be a part of this region again and a guiding light of how I want to be involved in the community. I believe that the same can be had for many other Kentuckians as they get to know more about the actual place and the couple that lived here. There is something quite special—downright magical—about this place that give all who learn about, visit and cherish it a calmness, grounding and unique sense of self.”

Strategic planning is also beginning for post-2025. Board Member Jessica Whitehead says, "We are actively planning for what the future holds, and hope to engage our Board, volunteers, donor base, and community in that visioning process. But common threads run through the ideas we have already discussed for Payne Hollow's future:  threads like creativity and sustainability. I think it is the common goal of all of us at Payne Hollow to educate and inspire the community--through the instructive example of Harlan and Anna Hubbard's life at Payne Hollow--to understand how culture and ecology can find a place in their lives."

That instructive example is best expressed through the words of Harlan Hubbard, himself, who wrote about his and Anna’s life at Payne Hollow, “We were both led on by  a common desire to get down to earth and express ourselves by creating a setting for

our life together which would be in harmony with the landscape. The ripening of the earth, from the green summer to the varied and bright colors of autumn, affords a  glimpse of life on a higher plane than we know. It is marvelous that our daily lives go on amid this splendor....I wonder and enjoy as I go through the day.”

To learn more about Payne Hollow on the Ohio’s goals, work, team, and future, or to  make a donation to our ongoing projects, visit www.paynehollowontheohio.org or follow  us on Facebook and Instagram @paynehollowontheohio. Donations and gifts of any  amount will help Payne Hollow on the Ohio meet its Phase II fundraising goals. They  can be made through the website or via check.

Due to the severe topography, habitat concerns, historical landmarks, and management, access to Payne Hollow on the Ohio is by permission only. Guided tours and events on the property will be announced in the coming months, and property  access will be limited to those events.

For photos and videos from Payne Hollow on the Ohio for use in media stories, visit:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KLKhoEWt5_GfWpq6vMo2f2WMF1On31iO?usp =sharing

Contacts:

Dr. David Wicks

Adjunct Professor at The University of Louisville and Chair of the Payne Hollow on the  Ohio Board

Email: David.wicks@louisville.edu

Amelia Wise

CEEEM 2023 Payne Hollow Team

Project Coordinator of Payne Hollow Artifact Inventory

Email: amelia.wise@louisville.edu