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St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Land Between The Lakes
| Around 1900, German Catholic immigrants to the Barnet Springs area in Lyon County built St. Stephens Catholic Church on land donated by the Emberger family. The church was used until 1945.
In 1963 the US Government acquired all the land currently known as the Land Between the Lakes. The residents and landowners were evicted and almost all of the buildings razed. St. Stephens was apparently overlooked. The original road leading to the church was flooded by Lake Barkley. Another road was built by TVA for cemetery access (many cemeteries in LBL mark the locations of former church buildings).
In 2000 the group Between The Rivers, Inc, in cooperation with the US Forest Service, restored the old St. Stephens.
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| On this particular visit we were out on our annual Christmas Tree hunt (LBL allows people to harvest one cedar tree per year - free permit required). We've been to the St. Stephens site many times but we like to visit during our tree runs and we happened to have a digital camera with us today! |
 | St. Stephens is located at the end of road #415, about two miles from road #122, which is off Old Ferry Road in Northern Land Between The Lakes. Some parts of #415 can be fairly treacherous and today was one of those days. It's a very peaceful, secluded place and one of our favorites in LBL. |
| Inside the church. This is likely a recreation of the altar. I would suspect when they stopped using the church they removed the original altar. |
| Looking at the front of the church. |  |
| Around the back toward the cemetery. |
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