Kentucky

"Soon after, I returned home to my family, with a determination to bring them as soon as possible to live in Kentucky, which I esteemed a second paradise, at the risk of my life and fortune.
Daniel Boone

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/kentucky.html#t7s02wxFgEaYyJHC.99

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Phillip's Folly-Maysville,Mason County, Kentucky




Phillips Folly - 227 Sutton St, Maysville. Built by William B. Phillips between 1828-1831.Phillips was the Second mayor of Maysville. Phillips traveled to New Orleans and won
enough money to finish the home.This home was possibly a stop on the Underground Railroad.


On March 2011, Ghost Adventures from the Travel Channel filmed at Phillips' Folly. The episode aired on Friday May 13th, 2011. It featured current owner and Underground Railroad historian, Jerry Gore. Phillips' Folly is said to be haunted by William B. Phillips and his dog, by a guest of the house who committed suicide while staying there and the ghosts of slaves who were tortured and murdered in a makeshift jail in the basement of the building.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Old Crow Inn, Danville, Boyle County


Nestled on twenty seven acres of pastoral splendor stands Old Crow Inn, the oldest stone house west of the Allegheny Mountains. Encased by black post and board fencing and old stone fencing, the Inn is surrounded by mature shade trees and carefully manicured lawns. Lovely dogwood and redbud trees line the long oval drive to the main house.

The Inn itself is an architectural delight. Constructed in 1780 using stone taken from a quarry on the farm, the 24” thick walls stand two stories high behind massive Doric columns which support a Greek Portico. All of the rooms have walnut doors and woodwork, ash floors, and cherry beams, native timbers cut from virgin forests of the late 1700’s. Old Crow Inn is on the Kentucky Register of Historic Homes and the National Register of Historic Places.

History


The CROW-BARBEE House is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as the oldest Stone structure west of the Allegheny Mountains. Today it is called “Old Crow Inn” in honor of John Crow, who settled here in 1776. The estate was called “Oakland” by the Barbees who lived in the house from 1781 to 1874.

Old Crow Inn is a 7 bay asymmetrical two story structure with the front door located in the fifth bay. Walls of the structure are of 24” dry-stacked limestone, reaching from the foundation to the roof line 40 feet above. The interior beams, floors, woodwork and doors are fashioned from cherry, walnut and ash cut down on the property. Most of the rafters and floor beams throughout the house are 3” by 12” Cherry. All of the woodwork and doors are made from Black Walnut and the floors are White Ash. There are stone fireplaces in each room on the first and second floors as well as in two of the three basement cellars. The third basement cellar was the cold storage used to store dairy and vegetables.

Historians believe that Crow built a log cabin on the property in 1776 when he planted his first corn crop to claim the property. A land court record also states that he improved the property in 1777 when he built a 1 1/2 story stone cottage at the rear of what is now the main house. The stone cottage, approximately 19 feet square has walls of 18” thick dry stacked stone. All of the beams are 3” x 12” Cherry. The rafters in the half-story attic are 4” x 5” Cherry pegged at the peak and at the knee walls with Walnut pegs. The rafters have been marked with Roman numerals so as to properly align the mortise and tendon joints on the ground prior to pegging in place at the roof peak.

There is some disagreement as to who constructed the main Stone Manor House. There is some evidence to indicate that Crow built the central portion in 1780 since the construction of the stone walls, Cherry beams and Walnut woodwork and doors is nearly identical to the craftsmanship in the stone cottage. Crow sold the property to James Wright in 1781. However, Wright was killed by Indians before he and his family could move in. After his death, his heirs sold the property to Thomas Barbee in the mid 1780’s.

Thomas Barbee, a landed statesman of that time, rose to the rank of General in the Kentucky Militia and became the first Post Master west of the Alleghenies. Thomas and his youngest brother, Col. Joshua Barbee, added the two wings onto the house as well as the 4 foot thick brick Doric columns and the triangle pediment Greek Portico. Thomas started on the project in 1786 and the construction was finished in 1797.

Construction of the two wings, first the left and then the right, confirms the above historical view. The stones for the two wings are cut and dressed in a much more sophisticated manner then those in the central portion. The beams for the two wings are Chestnut, not Cherry. Finally, the nails and other details indicate a difference in construction style and technique.

This unique English Manor house built in a Greek revival style, has been most widely known throughout its 20th Century history as an inn and restaurant. In 1899, the Adams family bought the house and grounds, with its farm acreage to be used for agricultural purposes. But in 1934, upon the advice of friends, Miss Mary Adams opened the inn for meals and overnight accommodations. For the next 40 years, Miss Mary, as she was known throughout the Bluegrass region, operated a restaurant in the inn. She also hosted Weddings and Receptions, class graduation parties, teas, and other social events. In addition she also provided some overnight accommodations to travelers. The name “Old Crow Inn” was chosen by Miss Mary. Her research, through correspondence with various Historians around the country as well as her interpretation of court documents, indicated that John Crow had much to do with the establishment of the House known as Old Crow. She was in the process of committing all of this to paper at her death.

The Old Presbyterian Meeting House Stanford, Lincoln County


Monday, July 12, 2010

Dr. Basil Duke Home-Mason County


Located in Old Washington in Maysville, Kentucky. Its early history traces back to circa 1800. Dr. Basil Duke moved to Mason County in 1798 and practiced medicine in the community for 30 years; he died in 1828. Local history indicates the property was also a school/boarding house owned by a Rev. Robert McMurdy in 1849. Dr. Duke was the Grandfather of Confederate General Basil Duke,brother-in-law of General John Hunt Morgan, the Thunderbolt of the Confederacy'

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Carrie Nation House- Garrard County


Carrie Nation's birthplace is located in northern Garrard County near the Kentucky River.

* Born: 25 November 1846
* Birthplace: Garrard County, Kentucky
* Died: 9 June 1911
* Best Known As: Hatchet-wielding champion of alcohol prohibition

Name at birth: Carrie Amelia Moore

Carry Nation joined the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1899 to help in the fight against alcohol. By 1900 she had made a name for herself as an aggressive supporter of prohibition who would use use rocks, hammers or hatchets to destroy saloons and their liquor. Nation and her tactics were controversial even within the temperance movement. She was arrested 30 times between 1900 and 1910, but her antics drew national attention to the issue of alcohol prohibition in the United States. She died in 1911, but her efforts paid off in 1919 with the passage of the 18th Amendment banning "intoxicating liquors." The era known as Prohibition lasted until 1933, when the 21st Amendment repealed the ban. Her memoir, The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, was published in 1905.

Nation was married twice: to the alcoholic Dr. Charles Gloyd (1865-69) and then to David A. Nation (1877-1901). Some confusion exists over the spelling of Nation's first name; official records seem to indicate that she was originally named Carrie, but in later years she adopted Carry and liked to say that her movement would help carry

Hartland Mansion-Fayette County


Hartland Mansion is an antebellum home ( private residence) that was once the focal point of Hartland Farm in Lexington. It has been preserved and now sits in the middle of a huge residential development off Tates Creek Road in southern Fayette County.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Pope Villa, Lexington


The Pope Villa, Built by Benjamin Henry Latrobe & Located In Lexington Kentucky


The Pope Villa is Latrobe’s best surviving domestic design. Its plan is unique in American residential architecture: a perfect square, with a domed, circular rotunda in the center of the second story. Latrobe drew inspiration from 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, but unlike Palladio’s villas, the cubic mass of the Pope Villa conceals within itself a surprising sequence of rectilinear and curvilinear rooms, dramatically splashed with light and shadow. Latrobe called these interior effects “scenery”; they reflect this reliance on the compositional principles of 18th century Picturesque landscape design. Latrobe’s fusion of classical sources and Picturesque theory places the Pope Villa among the most important buildings of Federal America.


Owned and being restored by The Blue Grass Trust

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Crawford House, Perryville Battlefield, Boyle County


Located near Perryville Battlefield, US 68 & KY 150

Used by Confederate General Braxton Bragg as headquarters during the Battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862. Crawford Spring back of the house furnished vital water supply to CSA troops on the drought-stricken battlefield.

Henry Clay Law Office,Lexington









Erected 1803-04, this is the only office standing used by Clay; he occupied it from 1804 until circa 1810. During these significant years in his career, Clay was elected to successive terms in legislature and to unexpired terms in the United States Senate. Builders Stephens and Winslow used their characteristic brick basement. Original floorboards remain.

Orlando Brown House,Franklin County

Orlando Brown, the second child of John Brown and Margaretta Mason Brown, was born September 26, 1801 in Frankfort. He arrived only a few months after John, Margaretta, and eldest son Mason moved into Liberty Hall. As a child, Orlando was probably educated at home by their mother or by private tutors, but as a teenager, Orlando went to Danville, KY, to study with renowned educator Kean O’Hara in preparation for college. Like his father, Orlando attended Princeton University in New Jersey and graduated with an A.B. in 1820. After Princeton, Orlando attended Transylvania University in Lexington, KY, and graduated with a degree in civil law in 1823.


Orlando seems to have been popular with both his friends and female society, although he only had eyes for his first cousin, Mary Watts Brown, who was seven years his junior. They began a cat and mouse game when he was eighteen and she was only 12! When Mary announced to Orlando that she “did not and could not love him” in 1824, Orlando moved south to Tuscumbia, Alabama in an effort to forget about her, and practiced law there for several years. He moved back to Frankfort in 1929 when his law partner died. Orlando and Mary Watts were finally married July 29, 1830 and had five children together: Euphemia Helen (1831-1891), John Mason (1834-1835), Mason Preston (1836-1874), Orlando Jr. (1838-1891) and a stillbirth in 1840.

In order for Orlando to have the same inheritance as his older brother Mason, Senator Brown built a home for Orlando and Mary in 1835, next to Liberty Hall. The house, designed by Gideon Shryock, was completed at a total cost of $5,000. In 1841, Mary’s health began to decline and she passed away in August of that year. All reports say that Orlando was absolutely devastated by Mary's death.

Although trained as a lawyer, Orlando’s true passion seemed to be writing. In 1833, Orlando became the editor and joint proprietor of The Frankfort Commonwealth, a newspaper with a Whig bias. Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, told Orlando that he shouldn’t be wasting his talent on newspapers, but should be writing books of literary merit “to delight and educate his age.” In 1836, Orlando joined his father in the creation and organization of the Kentucky Historical Society and acted as the Society’s first corresponding secretary. In 1848 Orlando served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State under Governor John J. Crittenden, but resigned the post in 1849 to accept a position in President Zachary Taylor’s cabinet as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The job did not suit Orlando, and his reputation was badly tarnished when his superiors used him as a scapegoat. Orlando quickly resigned in 1850 and went home to Frankfort.

Orlando married Mary Cordelia Brodhead, the widow of his close friend Lucas Brodhead, on October 12, 1852. Cordelia and Orlando had no children together, but they raised her six children and his three living children as a family. During the Civil War, Orlando served as a recruitment officer and was awarded the rank of Colonel. He has the distinction of being the first honorary Kentucky Colonel, serving as a symbolic guard for state events and social functions. Orlando partnered with Mason on several ventures around Frankfort – together they helped create the Frankfort Cemetery and owned a theater.

Orlando died on July 26, 1867, probably from tuberculosis, and is buried in the Frankfort Cemetery. There are no living descendants representing Orlando’s branch of the Brown family.



Circa 1835

Maplewood,Bourbon County



Circa 1850 located on the US 68(Old Maysville-Lexington Turnpike & National Road) near Millersburg in Bourbon County.Millersburg is a northern Bourbon county town located where US 68 crosses Hinkston Creek. It is named for John Miller, who founded the town on his farm in 1798. The post office opened in 1804 as Millersburgh, changing to Millersburg in 1893. The population in 2000 was 842.

Cave Spring,Fayette County


Home of Capt. Robert Boggs, born 1746, Mill Creek Hundred, Del. Moved to Va. Soldier in Revolution. Came to Ky., 1774, as chainman on Col. John Floyd's survey party. One of founders of Boonesborough. Officer, Cherokee Expedition, 1776. Under Washington, 1777-81. Took up Ky. land totaling 2,276 acres. Cave Spring was begun 1784, completed 1792. Quaint, substantial Georgian stone house.

Located on Athens-Walnut Hill Road in Fayette County,near US 25.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Nina Ridge Old Country Store!





Reconstruction of a country store established in 1926. Three country meals served daily. Old store displays antiques and collectibles from the area with groceries available.

779 Nina Ridge Rd
Lancaster, KY 40444