History of Mook

Forty years ago, I came home from Vietnam to continue the family farming tradition. I grew tobacco, corn, soybeans, cattle, pigs and goats. Now I also maintain a lodge in the old Mook Store, and invite you to join me for a one-of-a-kind experience in the heartland of Kentucky.

I consider myself a farmer, a host and a historian. As such, I see history as more than textbook facts. Real history is the story of people’s lives; stories of their friends, families and neighbors; and the tales of the places they inhabited. Everyone has a unique and compelling story to tell. I want to share my story with you.

The history of Mook is the story of my family’s quest.

From Normandy to America

My oldest traceable ancestors were Norsemen in the 10th century. They were independent men with large families. My direct ancestor swore allegiance to Rollo the Norse King, and helped him conquer Normandy. This old Father settled in the village of La Pyle in Normandy, near Bayeux. He married a French woman, enjoyed life and flourished.

Three centuries later, another old Father, relocated to Winchester, England. His family grew large in the counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire in Southern England.

In the late 17th Century, my sixth great grandfather Richard Pile, emigrated to the new world to become a tobacco planter in Maryland. His father, Francis was one of several younger sons of Richard Pile, a farmer living near Ashe in England.

Revolution

My cousins and I still talk of Richard Pile’s great, great grandson William (my great, great grandfather) who joined the Virginia Riflemen of the Continental Army. After their hasty march from Virginia to Boston, General George Washington is said to have wept upon reviewing Lieutenant Pile’s squadron of kinsmen—all over six feet tall, wearing tattered buckskins and a ribbon emblazoned with “Liberty or Death.”

Captured at the Battle of New York, William Pile escaped from a British prison ship when a guard—Williamrsquo;s Tory cousin—turned a blind eye. William rejoined his unit and was captured a second time by the British, and imprisoned till the end of the war. What a yarn…

William Pile was the first of the family to settle in Kentucky. After marrying Lucretia Keys in Virginia, he received a land grant at Buras in Breckinridge County, Kentucky for his service in The Revolutionary War. His son, Henry Gant Pile, married Hannah Duncan, and my cousins still live on this land.

Connections to the Gold Rush

William’s eldest son Edward Gant “Grandpa” Pile led wagon trains from St. Joseph, Missouri to California before The Great Gold Rush. The infamous Donner Party was a breakaway group from one of his trains.

“Grandpa” Pile settled in Santa Clara County, California. His wife, Rosanna McMahan Pile is buried under the streets of Sacramento at Sutter’s Fort, where they were staying when gold was discovered.

The Founding of Mook

On the day in 1864 that General William Tecumseh Sherman seized Atlanta, the Pride of the South, my Grandfather Christopher and his brother, John bought adjoining farms a mile from Buras.

Christopher purchased his land from Scotsman Edinburgh Smith, an avid abolitionist who provided a safe-haven for runaway slaves heading north for freedom across the Ohio River using the Underground Railroad. One hundred yards from my house, in a fencerow, lie the graves of two children who died while traveling the Underground Railroad. (Underground Railroad graves are on many farms in this area.)

Christopher, also known by family and friends as *ldquo;Uncle Shug,” married Bettie Bruner. Bettie’s grandfather, John Bruner floated down the Ohio River in the 1770s to Breckinridge County on a flatboat with “Indian” Bill Hardin and the first group of Breckinridge County settlers. Christopher and Bettie produced nine children: Joel, Mary, Gilbert, Oather, Wade, Victor, Homer, Ova (my father) and Eliza.

Christopher built tobacco barns, the farmhouse, and the original store at a buggy crossroads. Sixteen years after the brothers established their farms, a post office was opened in the general store. It was named Mook, in honor of Charles Mook, a traveling candy drummer, and that is how the tiny crossroads town got its name.

My Uncle Wade Pile built a new modern general store, and house at Mook in 1903.

From the 1904 World’s Fair in Saint Louis to the Great Depression

In 1904, my Uncle Victor took his little brother, my father, Ova H. “Bill” Pile, to the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair. Impressed and dazzled with the state-of-the-art agricultural machinery on display, the brothers vowed to become innovative farmers for the coming age.

The depression hit farmers in the early 1920s, years before the Stock Market crashed. The brothers nearly saw their dreams come crashing down. However, thanks to Bill Pile’s renowned business acumen, Mook survived to become a bustling tobacco and trade center—a bright spot in the county during the Great Depression.

At thirty-six years of age, Bill married my mother, Ora “Janie” Armes.

My siblings are Harold H. (Tobe), Anna Louise (Jim), Alyne (Moss), and Bettie Sue (Tom)—all deceased”and Franklin (Dusty). My dad nicknamed everyone; my name was Joe Dig. My brother Dusty lives on the John Pile Farm with his family. He is a true conservationist and steward of his land.

In 1948, my dad died suddenly. Even though I was only three years old when he passed away, I came to know him intimately from the stories our friends and neighbors told of Mr. “Bill” Pile, local folk hero, known for his generosity.

A New Era of Innovation

In 1970, Mook Farm passed to me.

I planted corn, tobacco and soybeans, using the latest technology and farming practice espoused by the University of Kentucky and its Cooperative Extension Service. I was among the first farmers to raise PIC (Pig Improvement Company) breeding stock. (PIC was an English company with American headquarters in Franklin, Kentucky.)

I raised my own family on this land. My children are Henry Gant, Nancy, Joseph and Alexander Pile.

In 2005 a tornado wrecked many trees in Dark Hollow, the name given to the north woods by some of the movie crew.

The tornado blew away my father’s huge mule barn and knocked the old store off its stone pier foundations. I decided to save and preserve the store building, and to share my farm experience and story with other people.

I strive to provide the kind of solitude and adventure I would want from a farm vacation.

Mook is my home. Four generations of my family have toiled here, and the land has provided for us. This is the story of Mook.

This is my story.

Gary Joe Pile

Timeline of Piles at Mook

• 1864: Christopher and John Pile purchased adjoining farms. Christopher built tobacco barns, a farmhouse and the original general store at a buggy crossroads.
• 1880: The post office was established and Mook got its name.
• 1903: Wade Pile built a new general store at Mook.
• 1904: Victor and Bill Pile attended the St. Louis World’s Fair.
• 1920: Mook passed to Bill Pile, and prospered during the Great Depression.
• 1948: The general store closed.
• 1957: The Mook post office closed.
• 1971: Gary Joe Pile began farming.
• 2005: The tornado came, and the repairs and renovations began.
• 2010: The general store reopened as a Lodge—The adventure begins!

Make a Reservation Learn more