The William Whitley House a/k/a Sportsman's Hill in Lincoln County is one of the first brick houses west of the Allegheny Mountains and the site of America's first circular racetrack with racing in a counter-clockwise direction was completed in 1794.
William Whitley (August 4, 1749 – October 5, 1813), was an early American pioneer born in what was then Augusta County, Virginia, the son of Solomon and Elizabeth Whitley. He was important to the early settlement of Kentucky and fought in both the Indian wars and the War of 1812.
In early 1775, he married Esther Fullen, and by the spring he set out on an expedition with his brother in law, George Clark, to explore what is now known as Kentucky. They chose a spot for a settlement near the Cedar Creek branch of the Dix River, and returned to Virginia to bring back settlers to establish a community. Returning in November of that year with his family and supplies, he planted 10 acres (40,000 m2) of corn and began to settle the area, but quickly moved to the newly built fort several miles away at St. Asaph's Creek, also known as Logan's Fort (now Stanford, Kentucky).
Referred to as the "Guardian of Wilderness Road", the Flemish bond pattern house was a gathering for early Kentuckians,including George Rogers Clark and Daniel Boone.
