Central City in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)

John Prine

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, December 1, 2025

1. John Prine Marker

Inscription.

"The Mark Twain of American songwriting."
- Rolling Stone Magazine (2017)

Singer, songwriter, poet, icon. John Prine was an artist's artist with a list of admirers and collaborators that cut across musical genres and generations - names like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Brandi Carlile, George Strait, Miranda Lambert, the Everly Brothers, and Alison Krauss, among others. Though he was born in Maywood, Illinois, in 19476, John declared himself "pure Kentuckian" throughout his life. His parents, William & Verna, were natives of Paradise, Kentucky. The family would spend summers here in Muhlenberg County where John listened to Bluegrass music and studies the guitar styles of Country music hero Doc Watson with his older brother, Dave Prine. In Maywood, he worked as a postman before being drafted into the army in 1966. It was as a mailman that John began to write the songs that would connect with so many. He started singing at Chicago folk clubs where he was introduced to singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson who invited John to his upcoming show at the Bitter End in New York. He ended

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up joining Kristofferson onstage at the event and performed three songs for an audience that included Jerry Wexler, President of Atlantic Records, who offered John a recording contract. His self-titled debut album, released in 1971, featured a list of songs now regarded as classics, including "Paradise," "Angel from Montgomery," "Illegal Smile," "Hello in There," and "Sam Stone." John received the first of his 13 Grammy nominations in 1972 for the best new artist. He would record three more albums for Atlantic and another three with Asylum. His profound impact on American music was amplified in 1981 when John co-founded Oh Boy Records, an independent label where he released most of his subsequent work and which gave voice and respect to so many fellow singers and songwriters. In his distinguished career, John won four Grammys and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2020). He was a three-time recipient of the Artist of the Year Award at the Americana Music Honors & Awards, Pen New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award (2016) and was enshrined in the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2019). In addition, John was named Honorary Poet

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, December 1, 2025

2. John Prine Marker

Laureate of Illinois (2020). John Prine Memorial Park is located "down by the Green River" at Rochester Dam where John's ashes were spread.

Paradise When I was a child, my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn

An Daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Airdrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill

And Daddy… Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they worte it all down as the progress of man

And Daddy…
When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam
I'll be halfway to heaven
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, December 1, 2025

3. John Prine Marker
with paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am
And Daddy…

Music & Lyrics by John Prine (1971) • Walden Music

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. In addition, it is included in the Grammy Award Winners series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1966.

Location. 37° 17.608′ N, 87° 7.472′ W. Marker is in Central City, Kentucky, in Muhlenberg County. It is on East Broad Street east of South 1st Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 108 E Broad St, Central City KY 42330, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Tri-State Region

and specifically in the Pennyroyal Region.

It is also in the American Midwest,

in the South,

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, December 1, 2025

4. John Prine Marker

are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Everly Brothers (a few steps from this marker); Mount Zion Presbyterian Church (approx. 1.7 miles away); Jonathan E. Spilman (approx. 6.3 miles away); Muhlenberg Hero (approx. 6½ miles away); Airdrie Furnace Site / Iron Made in Kentucky (approx. 6.7 miles away); George Short House / George W. Short (1805-1863) (approx. 6.9 miles away); Greenville Methodist Church (approx. 6.9 miles away); Old Greenville Cemetery (approx. 7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Central City.

Another marker is no longer nearby. John W.I. Godman (was approx. 3.6 miles away but has been confirmed missing).

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, December 1, 2025

5. John Prine Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on December 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 15, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 58 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 15, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.