This Geocache is part of an annual Geocache Challenge put on by the Heritage Program at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area as part of our outreach to the public, to get people to explore their forest and their history, and to share the unique heritage of the families from Between the Rivers.
This Geocache is part of the “2023 Land Between the Lakes Heritage Geocache Challenge: Communities Between the Rivers”. There are 6 geocaches placed across Land Between the Lakes related to the history of some of the historic communities. If you locate each geocache, and collect a numbered aluminum tree tag from each cache, you can turn them in at the Golden Pond Visitor Center for one of 100 Challenge Coins created for this event.
The Geocache is a 6” x 6” orange watertight plastic box marked “Heritage Geocache” on the top. The geocache is placed at the base of a tree.
The Community of Energy
Located 5 miles north of Golden Pond, the community of Energy took its name from the Rev. F.M. McCawley, who is said to preach with an excess of energy! Rev. McCawley preached at several community churches, operated a general store, a farm, a mill, and was Energy's first postmaster as of June 1893. Excess energy indeed!
The community pretty much became a part of Golden Pond in 1929 when the post office was closed and service was moved to Golden Pond. But residents still considered themselves part of the Energy Community through the 1960s.A prominent member of the community was A.J. (Jack) Franklin, who was a renowned breeder of fine mules. He likely earned respect from the manner in which he took care of his stock, which had ample grazing areas, fresh springs for water, and underbrush and ticks were managed with early spring burns.
Local lore has it that Jenny Ridge was named for the Franklin mules. There may or may not be something to this, but it's worth knowing that the female donkey is considered a "jenny" while the male is a "jack." Jacks are often mated with female horses (mares) to produce mules. No doubt this was part of the Franklins' methods. The less common hybrid of a male horse and a jenny is a hinny. Hinnies can be stubborn like mules but typically they're less prone to being spooked.
Maple Syrup. The year is unknown, but before the 1960s, Silas Turner extracted maple syrup from the sap of maple trees in the Energy community. Maple syrup is produced from sap by boiling over an open fire, which boils off the water leaving behind the sugary-syrup mixture which is then filtered to remove the "sugar sand" and leave behind a marketable maple syrup.This is a good example of the sorts of opportunities that many people living betweenn the rivers found to make money or produce goods for trade.
The prolific forest that abounded between the rivers was an important economic asset to the entire region and Energy was no exception. With the Center and Fulton Furnaces just a few miles away in Hematite, the charcoal industry probably had it's share of hearths here. When pig iron became too expensive to manufacture, the timber industry switched to creating railroad ties. Tie hackers, as they were known, could make up to $2.00 per day.