In 1929, Mr. Robinson persuaded Miss Lula Hale to leave her position at the University of Kentucky and set up an extension service and community center at Ary, Kentucky, in Perry County. Poultry farming was the first undertaking. Later there was livestock and hydroponic gardening. A log house was erected in 1930 as Miss Hale’s residence. Homemaking classes were taught by a Berea College graduate, Willie Faye Spurlock. The traveling library began and continued for forty-one years. Mr. Robinson’s advice to Miss Hale was “be a good neighbor.”
After the devastating flood of 2022, a number of the buildings were razed. The Hale log house was carefully disassembled and moved to a museum site at Cornettsville where a one-story house was constructed.
A new residence for the director was constructed on higher ground and out of the floodplain. Also, a new community building was completed in 2025 to accommodate activities, such as weddings, showers, birthday parties and family reunions.
Homeplace offers to the community a standard-size gymnasium where leagues practice and compete, as well as a baseball field, a fishing pond, a picnic pavilion, walking track, a cross-country track and playground.
The Directors are Nathan and Christa Gay.
Christa Gay on Facebook Messenger
