53. Epler Distillery "Tour"

There are lots of unknowns at the moment. All of this could change in a matter of weeks as we start to investigate the site, but here is a rough tour of the Epler Distillery and the little that we know at the moment.

LiDAR by Carl

Mr. Whiskey Digger, Carl Shields, processed some LiDAR data to make a topographic map of the Epler Distillery (Thank you Carl!). The white in the image above is the highest elevation and each line is a 6in contour. The white line that runs diagonally from upper left to lower right is a road that appears on historic maps that we use to hike down to the site. The yellowish area is where the site is located. Toward the top of the image you can see a few high spots that correspond with the stone ruins of the house and other structures.

LiDAR by Carl

This image is oriented as if you are flying through the valley toward the distillery. The road is visible on the right and the mounds of stone rubble are easier to see. The creek is on the left side.

Structure # 1

 This stone structure is at the top of the hill just before you start down the road. I'm not sure how waterproof this could have been, but it looks as though something may have been inserted between the stone abutments to control the water flowing from a spring or a pond just behind the photographer. Although there is a spring that constantly flows (at least every time that I've seen it) down the hill closer to the site.

Structure # 2

Structure # 2 a different angle

The first structure that you encounter on the site looks like it might be the J. Epler house. The largest pile of stones is where a chimney collapsed. A stone rectangle is visible around that. There would be at least two rooms (two pens) here. In Bill Macintire's The Pioneer Log House in Kentucky the floor plan to this house looks like a Saddlebag House Type as it is two pens with a central chimney. That is just a guess at this moment though.

And there is something going on next to this structure (another possible chimney fall?) maybe a different building or an addition connected by a dogtrot? Lots of things going on in this area.

There is another stone ruin (Structure 3) visible as you move along the site, but I don't have a decent picture handy.

Moving a tree so the total station could finish a shot Structure 4 in the background

Just past those ruins is a large stone pier about 5' tall. There are several overlapping stone outlines here (more foundations?) it isn't clear if there is one or multiple structures in this area. It isn't clear if the pier is associated with them or if it stands alone. This is in the area labelled 'distillery' on the historic maps.

Structure 5 another road leads up to the top right side of the structure

Near the pier is this interesting building (structure 5). This is still in the area labelled 'distillery'. There is a road that runs the length of the site that ends right at the top of this building. I've always imagined that it might be where the distillers parked a wagon full of grain to unload to begin distilling. The pier and other things are down hill from here so gravity would be working with them... more research is needed.

At the end of the site is this structure. It might just a fancy rock wall, but it falls in the area labelled grist mill. The column that Mom is trying to hide behind is surrounded by metal straps and other materials and the creek is just to the right of this photos. It is extremely deep in this particular area. Perhaps the Eplers modified the creek to better suit a wheel?