Spirits of Tyrone

Shrouded in the spirits of their pasts, haunted by a history of violence and abandonment a community searches for peace.

Created by National Award Winning Journalist: Bryce Towle

Under the early morning mist amid Kentucky’s rolling hills lies what Donnya Shryock says is a “secret place” called Tyrone.

What was once referred to as a “knife and gun club” by Shryock is now described by Jessica Stratton as “the best place in the world.”

Steve Shryock unloads his shotgun as smoke and shells are expelled after skeet shooting on his property on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.

However, Jessica, who was born and raised in Tyrone, said people, nowadays, tell their kids not to drive through the community.

“They focus on every bad thing that's ever happened,” Jessica said.

With a former bar located “in the sticks” of Tyrone known as The Bloody Bucket, some may find it hard to imagine a safe and caring community.

The sound of gunshots and revving engines ring out in the distance as the elderly practice on their private gun range and the children ride dirt bikes.

Tears fall from Jessica Stratton’s face from the sunlight as she poses for a portrait on Oct. 24, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. 

“It’s the safest I've ever felt,” Jessica said. “All the people looking out for each other.”

Despite the safety Jessica said she enjoys now, Tryone did not always feel like this.

Jessica said, “Back then, it was like volatile, and wild, and unpredictable, like you never knew.”

While unpredictable can mean many different things, the community at the time had acclaimed somewhat of a bad reputation. Jarrod Stratton, Jessica’s cousin, who was also raised in Tyrone said he assumes the community had already gotten the reputation before he was born.

“There was people getting stomped and killed in the streets at that time, for what reason? I don't know,” Jarrod said. “You know it was a lawless community at that time.”

This unwanted reputation had cast a shadow on the community, leaving locals like Jarrod with only one response.

Abandoned cars fill the back lawn of a house in Tyrone secluded in a wooded area on Oct. 23, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. 

“If somebody took your job and your means of living, and took your this, and took your that,” Jarrod said, “You’re going to survival mode now, and once you get into survival mode, you might do some things a little different than you used to do.”

One thing the community did a little differently to survive was creating moonshine, or bootleg bourbon. Jarrod emphasized the bourbon industry's historical importance and the generational impact Prohibition had on Tyrone.

According to Jarrod, because Tyrone had a steamboat stop and was home to the Ripy brothers' distillery, bourbon was the main source of employment for locals.

But after Prohibition struck, distilling companies left, bringing their profits with them and ultimately leaving Tyrone behind.

Todd “Shaggy” Brown takes a drag from his cigarette during a conversation in front of Jessica Stratton’s mobile home on Oct. 23, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky. 

Jarrod said, “It was a boon town, the distilleries drove the economy, pretty much put food on everyone's plate, then it dried up. Prohibition hit, and from what I can gather, they took all their profit and started building Lawrenceburg.”

Jarrod said the companies would “use all the resources to make this worldwide bourbon, and then you build a town on top of the hill and forget about the people that you left behind underneath the hill.” 

The people underneath the hill are still in Tyrone, and according to Jarrod, some have suggested the community of Tyrone has still never recovered from the post-Prohibition era and refer to it as a black eye of Anderson County.

Donnya Shryock pets her cat Marlene on her wooded property as she looks for “puffballs,” on Oct. 24, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.

"All my life I've heard people talk about, well, they're from Tyrone, they’re this, they’re that. And you better keep your kids away from them, and you better do this, and don't let them go down there,” Jarrod said. “It was never like that.”

Jarrod said he believes Tyrone has been misunderstood and stigmatized by outsiders, but he also believes this “stigma” is what motivated him to become the person he is today.

“There’s a huge sense of pride that comes with being from there, and I think it stems from all that. It's a hard-nosed community, it's a gritty community,” Jarrod said. “You know, we may not have had a lot of the material things, but we had such a bond. And I'm not just talking about my family… everybody, everybody's family there.”

Today, Jarrod is an aspiring country musician, barber and co-owner of the oldest operating business in Anderson County, the Lawrenceburg Barber Shop. His reality today was shaped by his experiences of growing up in Tyrone.

Owners and partners Kevin Cornett and John Ireland laugh as they pose for a portrait with their mule Rona in front of their farmhouse property, on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.

He recalled a song he wrote named “Two Room Mansion.” The song details how Jarrod grew up in a two-room cinder block root cellar.

During Jarrod's explanation of the song, he reminisces on a childhood memory in which his father told him, “‘We’re moving to a mansion.’" Jarrod said. “I’m like, ‘OK, wow!’ You know I’m getting excited. Well, he drives around the block, and I see this cinder block structure. And I'm like, ‘What in the world?’”

While a two-room cinder block root cellar is certainly no mansion, Jarrod explained the bonds between his family and community were just as vital to his life.

Jarrod said his family didn’t have indoor plumbing until he was a sophomore in high school, but emphasized again that they “didn't grow up poor cause we was wealthy in a lot of ways.”

The Stratton cousins are just a few examples of the people that have and still do make up the “us” of Tryone. Despite the town’s past, these locals take pride in being Tyronians, looking into a future of Tyrone that is much different than the spirits it has in its rearview.

“We weren’t expected to make it,” Jessica said. “We were chalked up since day one, you know like, we never had a fucking chance. And, we're still here.”

The sun rises over Kevin Cornett and John Ireland’s property on Oct. 25, 2024, in Tyrone, Kentucky.