PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The past, present, and future all converge in the tiny lakeside town of Burnside in Pulaski County.
"I was born and raised here, been here nearly 90 years," said former mayor Jim Brooks. "I served every office they had, I was a fire chief, city councilman, city judge and mayor, for about 40 years.”
Brooks remembers when Burnside had triple the population than it does now - in the 1930s and 1940s.
“I just never did have a desire to leave,” said Brooks.
In 1950, the US Army Corps of Engineers flooder the river, creating Lake Cumberland.
“The lake really changed Burnside," said Brooks. "We were a river town, there used to be river boats that came to Burnside real often from Nashville, all the products from Burnside to Nashville and back."
The industry now is tourism, thanks mostly in part to General Burnside Island State Park. Burnside is one of the few state parks in Kentucky that's in city limits.
“Burnside was a busy place back in the 30s and 40s, we’re still busy, it’s just a little different business,” said current mayor Robert Lawson.
Mayor Lawson is also Brooks' son-in-law.
“We’ve become a vacation town, we still have around 1000 citizens here, but we have a lot of short term rentals and we have a lot of vacation homes," said Mayor Lawson.
In Burnside, there's one traffic light for 1,000 people. However, Lawson tells LEX18 during the summer season, that number grows to 30,000.
Lawson says present day Burnside is great, with plenty of mom and pop food options, two marinas, and the state park. He says they're now looking to the future by improving critical infrastructure.
“I’m looking past when I’m not mayor, I’m looking at future generations, for the kids that are growing up now," said Lawson. "It’s important that we get that infrastructure done now because if you don’t have infrastructure that industry is not going to happen.”
Mayor Lawson and Brooks say they agree that the town's year round population needs to increase.
“My hope is it just keeps growing, more homes built and more businesses,” said Brooks. "We’ve got a better fire department, we’ve got a better police department, everything is better.”
Lawson created the Dream Big Burnside board in recent years. The goal is to bring a resort to town.
“We want to bring a conference center, a lodge, and amenities that the public can use,” he said.
Burnside's upcoming festival called Thunder Over Burnside falls over Labor Day weekend. It's free to the public.
