JASPER, Tenn. — Marion County Highway Department Superintendent Cory Pickett is pushing back against rumors and concerns surrounding the road around Ketner’s Mill, emphasizing that Ketner Mill Lane remains a county-maintained public road and has not been closed to the public.
In a statement released Tuesday, Pickett said the recent closure of public access to the Ketner Mill property itself involves private property, noting that the Marion County Highway Department has no authority to perform work on privately owned land.
“Ketner Mill is privately owned and the Highway Department does not work on private property,” Pickett said in a statement on the department’s social media page.
“Ketner Mill Lane is one of 506 roads that we maintain. It remains a county-maintained road and is not, nor has it ever been, closed to the public.”
He added that the Highway Department has no intention of abandoning Ketner Mill Lane, despite confusion that may have arisen following the closure of the privately owned mill property.
The clarification comes days after the owners of the historic Ketner’s Mill announced that public access to the property would be discontinued because of liability concerns following legal correspondence from attorneys representing individuals involved in a recent incident at the site.
Pickett said the county has continued to maintain Ketner Mill Lane as part of its regular road system and has no plans to abandon the roadway.
Some residents were curious about the status of the road, since the closure of the private property has now happened and also following recent paving of the road by the county.
According to the superintendent, the county had originally scheduled paving of Ketner Mill Lane during the 2024-2025 fiscal year. However, the project was delayed after county officials learned that a resident in the area was having multiple loads of dirt hauled along the road, a situation officials believed could damage newly installed asphalt.
The paving project was later rescheduled, and the road was ultimately paved during the current fiscal year.
Pickett also noted that the Highway Department operates under strict guidelines governing everything from mowing to paving and is permitted to temporarily close roads only when necessary for repairs or maintenance.
The statement he posted on the department’s Facebook page serves to distinguish between the closure of public access to the historic mill grounds and the status of the county roadway leading to the site. While visitors may no longer have access to the privately owned mill property, county officials say the road itself remains open and maintained as part of Marion County’s transportation network.
