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

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Amos Shinkle Town House, Circa 1854

Townhouse at located 215 Garrard Street, Covington, Kentucky was once the residence of Covington businessman Amos Shinkle. It is now a bed and breakfast.


Grand Foyer


Amos Shinkle, a long-time Covington resident, was active in the area during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. His contributions are many. As a businessman, he helped to organize a bank, to build steamboats, to bring gas lighting to Covington and to build approximately 30 to 40 houses in Covington as a developer.

Shinkle’s most substantial contribution to northern Kentucky was as the guiding light behind the Covington and Cincinnati (now John A. Roebling) Suspension Bridge. A bridge, which was first envisioned as early as 1839, was recognized by civic leaders as being vital to the continued development of Covington and northern Kentucky as it would link Covington, which was northern Kentucky’s financial, commercial and mercantile center to downtown Cincinnati.

Amos Shinkle Summer Residence Circa 1866



Italianate residence in South Fort Mitchell,Boone County,Kentucky(Adjacent to I-275 West) built in 1866 as a summer residence for Covington developer and builder, Amos Shinkle.Added to National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Boone Tavern- Berea, KY



Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant was built in 1909 at the suggestion of Nellie Frost, the wife of the College president, William G. Frost. Until then, guests of the college had been welcomed into the president's home for lodging and meals. However, as the reputation of Berea College grew, so did the number of guests that Mrs. Frost received, reaching a total of 300 guests in one summer, thus came the idea for a College guest house. Boone Tavern Hotel – named for Appalachian hero Daniel Boone – has been hosting visitors of Berea, Kentucky, ever since.
Construction of Boone Tavern began in 1907 based on designs by the New York architectural firm of Cady & See at a cost of $20,000. The building, made of bricks manufactured by students in the College's brickyard, was constructed by the College's Woodwork Department. The "Tavern" portion of the name derives from the historic definition that refers to a public inn for travelers rather than the modern definition related to the sale of alcohol.

Built at a prominent location on the College Square in the heart of Berea where the old Dixie Highway intersected with the campus, this historic hotel and restaurant became a popular destination with the traveling public from the beginning of the "automobile age."

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Kaintuckeean: NoD: Oregon is a place inside Kentucky. Huh?

The Kaintuckeean: NoD: Oregon is a place inside Kentucky. Huh?: Landing at Oregon, Kentucky When you think of Oregon, you probably conjure up an image of a western state with beautiful panoramas of th...

Monday, October 17, 2011

Once Upon A Place



Once Upon a Place: The Fading of Community in Rural Kentucky was written by Kenneth Tunnell, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Eastern Kentucky University.

Rural communities are undergoing profound change. Within the United States, these changes are tied to the demise of the family farm—the decline in family farming and the “development” of the country-side race along. Small businesses are dying as big-box retailers dominate local economies. People are leaving their homes where their families have lived for generations. In his new book titled Once Upon A Place, author Kenneth D. Tunnell vividly presents The Fading of Community in Rural Kentucky.

Packed with photographs, Once Upon A Place documents these shifts within Kentucky. The author has paid visual attention to the downturn in family farming and to the closing of local businesses, schools, post offices, and churches; to the influx of big-box retailers; to symbols of community awash in change; and to indications of social disorganization played out as social problems. Observations of these events within Kentucky are described in this book. The many photographs record vast changes to geographical and cultural features of rural life.

Highly descriptive and very informative, Once Upon A Place is a fascinating book that will help readers understand the changing of times through the well-presented graphics and writings

Monday, October 3, 2011

"The Grange"-Bourbon County





Edward Stone began building the home that he called Oakland in 1800 on land his father received for Revolutionary War service. Construction took nearly 20 years, and Stone spared no expense. One of his professions was builder, and he apparently wanted to advertise his workmanship.

The Grange is considered one of Kentucky's finest Federal-style homes. The five-bay front façade is flanked by pavilions with elaborate Palladian windows set in gently curved brick. The main floor has 14-foot ceilings and is trimmed with lavish woodwork and mantles. A leaded-glass fanlight and sidelights around the front door illuminate the main hall's grand staircase.

But Stone was better known for his other profession: slave trader. Even many slave owners of that era looked down on slave traders because of their cruel methods. Few were more infamous than Stone, who might have been the inspiration for Mr. Haley, the unscrupulous slave trader in Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential 1852 novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Source:Tom Eblen Lexington Herald Leader

Monday, September 5, 2011

V.P. Richard Mentor Johnson's Choctaw Academy


Located between Great Crossing and Stamping Ground in Scott County.



William C. Craig House - Scott County

















Greek Revival house built for William Craig in the 1840's near Richard Mentor Johnson's Blue Springs Farm and the Choctaw Academy.


Kentucky contains many versions of the Craig House architecture including Waveland and the Noah Spears home in Paris.