The Roller Coaster Yard Sale, sometimes referred to as the Roller Coaster Fair, is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for three days beginning the first Thursday in October. It takes place along several U.S. and state routes in southern Kentucky and northern middle Tennessee.
The event was started by Sarah Ann Bowers in 1986. The reason that Bowers started the event is that she wanted to improve the beautiful Cordell Hull Highway (Kentucky Routes 63 and 90 in Barren County) and needed to prove that the road was very well traveled in the area. [1] In 2001, over 140,000 travelers visited the area from miles around just to take in yard sales along the specific routes.
In 2002, the yard sale routes were extended onto Kentucky Route 163 south of Tompkinsville, and onto SR 51, SR 52 and SR 111 in parts of Clay, Overton, and Pickett counties in Middle Tennessee. Soon after that, US 127 in Clinton County, Kentucky and Kentucky Route 90 from Clinton County through Burkesville to Glasgow and Cave City, Kentucky were added to the Roller Coaster Fair itinerary to make the event go completely around the Dale Hollow Lake area. [2]
The current yard sale route for this event, in terms of mileage, in the present day, totals about 159 miles (256 km), covering five counties in Kentucky and three counties in Tennessee.
The Roller Coaster Fair takes place at several booths located along these routes listed below.
Barren County is a county located in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,485. Its county seat is Glasgow. The county was founded on December 20, 1798, from parts of Warren and Green Counties. It was named for the Barrens, meadowlands that cover the northern third, though actually the soil is fertile. Barren County is part of the Glasgow, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Bowling Green-Glasgow, KY Combined Statistical Area. In 2007 Barren County was named the "Best Place to Live in Rural America" by Progressive Farmer Magazine.
Burkesville is a home rule-class city in Cumberland County, Kentucky, in the United States. Nestled among the rolling foothills of Appalachia and bordered by the Cumberland River to the south and east, it is the seat of its county. The population was 1,521 at the 2010 census.
Fountain Run is a home rule-class city in Monroe County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 216 at the 2020 census.
Tompkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,309 at the 2020 census. The city was named after Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins who served under President James Monroe, for whom the county was named.
U.S. Route 127 (US 127) is a 758-mile-long (1,220 km) north–south U.S. Highway in the eastern half of the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at US 27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The northern terminus is at Interstate 75 (I-75) near Grayling, Michigan. Since 1987, it has been the core of the annual World's Longest Yard Sale, also known as the Highway 127 Corridor Sale, which now stretches 690 miles (1,110 km) from Addison, Michigan, to Gadsden, Alabama. The sale, held every August, was started to demonstrate that the older U.S. Highway System has something to offer that the Interstate Highway System does not. In Michigan, US 127 tripled in length in 2002, taking mileage from its parent, US 27.
The Highway 127 Corridor Sale, also called the 127 Yard Sale, is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for four days beginning the first Thursday in August along U.S. Route 127 (US 127). The event has been promoted as "The World's Longest Yard Sale."
WPBM-CD is a low-power, Class A religious independent television station in Scottsville, Kentucky, United States. The station is owned by Scottsville businessman and minister Marvey B. Wood and his late wife, Frances. They are the sole owners of the station, doing business as Proclaim Broadcasting, Inc.
Summer Shade is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 294.
Kentucky Route 90 is a major east–west state highway in southern Kentucky. The route is 134.734 miles (216.833 km) long, and it traverses Barren, Metcalfe, Cumberland, Clinton, Wayne, Pulaski, McCreary and Whitley Counties in southern Kentucky. It runs from the KY 70 junction near Interstate 65 in Cave City to US 25W about 8 miles (13 km) from Interstate 75.
Kentucky Route 70 (KY 70) is a long east-east state highway that originates at a junction with U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Smithland in Livingston County, just east of the Ohio River. The route continues through the counties of Crittenden, Caldwell, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Butler, Edmonson, Barren, Barren, Metcalfe, Green, Taylor, Casey, Pulaski, Lincoln and back into Pulaski again to terminate at a junction with US 150 near Maretburg in Rockcastle.
U.S. Route 127 (US 127) in Kentucky runs 207.7 miles (334.3 km) from the Tennessee state line in rural Clinton County to the Ohio state line in Cincinnati. The southern portion of the route is mostly rural, winding through various small towns along the way. It later runs through the state capital of Frankfort before continuing north, eventually passing through several Cincinnati suburbs in Northern Kentucky, joining US 42 near Warsaw and US 25 in Florence before crossing the Ohio River via the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.
Temple Hill is an unincorporated community in Barren County, Kentucky, in the United States.
State Route 111 (SR 111) is a north–south highway in Middle and East Tennessee. The road begins in Soddy-Daisy and ends north of Byrdstown in the community of Static, at the Tennessee/Kentucky state line. The length is 116 mi (186.7 km).
Static is an unincorporated community in Clinton County, Kentucky, and Pickett County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It is located on the Tennessee–Kentucky state line south of Albany, Kentucky, and north of Byrdstown, Tennessee.
Kentucky Route 63 (KY 63) is a north–south state highway that traverses Monroe and Barren counties in south central Kentucky.
Kentucky Route 163 (KY 163) is a 29.823-mile-long (47.995 km) state highway that traverses through two counties in south-central Kentucky. It runs from Tennessee State Route 51 at the Kentucky-Tennessee border south of Hestand to U.S. Route 68, Kentucky Route 80, and East Stockton Street in Edmonton via Tompkinsville.
The 400-Mile Sale, sometimes referred to as the Highway 68 Yard Sale, is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for four days, beginning in the first weekend of June. It takes place along U.S. Route 68 (US 68) in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is held in almost all areas along the US 68 corridor from the east side of Paducah through southern and central Kentucky, and ending at Maysville.
Willow Grove was a small town in eastern Clay County, Tennessee, United States. Named for the willow trees in the area, the town was located 13 miles (21 km) due east of Celina. It was located along the banks of Iron Creek, a tributary of the Obey River.