King referred to his new venture as Ancient Buried City. Newspaper articles from the 1930s refer to it as a major tourism attraction for this region, with one stating 20,000 vehicles visited the site in 1937.
King and his wife operated the site until 1946. Another article appearing in the Feb. 24 edition of the Paducah Sun-Democrat reports the Kings were looking the sell the 25-acre Ancient Buried City for $400,000 (or $5.7 million in 2021 dollars) due to Mr. King’s poor health. The article states 40,000 visitors came to the site annually.
Later that year, the Kings donated the site to West Kentucky Baptist Memorial Hospital as a fundraising effort to build a new facility in Paducah. The Kings were to receive an annuity with the profits benefiting the hospital.
After Mrs. King’s death in 1983, the hospital donated the site to Murray State University. MSU students carefully continued to research the mounds with Director Dr. Kit Wesler overseeing. Additional studies revealed new clues about Wickliffe Mounds.
In 2004, MSU transferred the site to the state with the Kentucky Department of Parks taking control. It was designated the Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site. A museum and “Lifeways Building”, which is situated on the residential mound, displays the ancient artifacts found.