History
The Beginning
Around 1912, E.O. Robinson and F.W. Mowbray, Cincinnati area businessmen, purchased or leased great tracts of land throughout 29 counties in eastern Kentucky for logging.
See Beginning
Station Dedication
By the week after Labor Day in 1925, the Station was ready for dedication. The ceremony was one week after the dedication of the first Experiment Substation established in Kentucky, in Caldwell County.
See Dedication
Years: 30s, 40s and 50s
By the early 1930s, the work which Mr. Robinson envisioned a decade earlier was clearly resulting in better lives for families surrounding the Station.
See 30s, 40s & 50s
Years: 60s, 70s, and 80s
The 1960s evidenced a flurry of new activities at the Station. In 1961, the East Kentucky Resource Development Project (EKRDP) was started through a grant from the Kellogg Foundation.
See 60s, 70s & 80s
Years: 90s and 2000s
The university administration, along with three environmental groups, petitioned to declare 70% of the Robinson Forest holdings as unsuitable for surface mining under Kentucky law.
See 90s & 2000s
Present
The Robinson Center Research Farm has been faced with many challenges in recent years. The flooding event of 2022 forced reconstruction in several areas.
See Today