My Old Kentucky Back Roads

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2011-12-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

Amos Shinkle Town House, Circa 1854

2011-11-20T16:33:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-20T15:39:00.001-05:00

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.

Boone Tavern- Berea, KY

2011-10-24T15:34:00.001-04:00

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."

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

2011-10-21T21:12:00.000-04:00

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...

Once Upon A Place

2011-10-17T14:15:00.001-04:00

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

"The Grange"-Bourbon County

2011-10-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

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

V.P. Richard Mentor Johnson's Choctaw Academy

2011-09-05T14:53:00.001-04:00

Located between Great Crossing and Stamping Ground in Scott County.

William C. Craig House - Scott County

2011-09-05T14:46:00.001-04:00

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.

Phillip's Folly-Maysville,Mason County, Kentucky

2010-12-21T12:14:00.004-05:00

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.

Old Crow Inn, Danville, Boyle County

2010-08-24T18:48:00.004-04:00

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

2010-08-24T18:39:00.003-04:00

Dr. Basil Duke Home-Mason County

2010-07-12T13:23:00.003-04:00

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'

Carrie Nation House- Garrard County

2010-06-09T13:58:00.005-04:00

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

2010-06-09T13:39:00.002-04:00

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.

Pope Villa, Lexington

2010-05-28T12:17:00.002-04:00

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

Crawford House, Perryville Battlefield, Boyle County

2010-05-23T16:36:00.006-04:00

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

2010-05-23T16:17:00.002-04:00

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

2010-05-23T16:00:00.003-04:00

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

2010-05-23T15:51:00.005-04:00

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

2010-05-23T15:45:00.002-04:00

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.

Nina Ridge Old Country Store!

2010-05-07T13:47:00.004-04:00

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

Grand Theater Restoration

2009-11-18T13:39:00.005-05:00

The Grand Theater in Lancaster is now undergoing reconstruction.

HISTORY

The Grand Theater was opened in February of 1925, commissioned by J.R. and S.G. Haselden. Local furniture raftsman J.A. Trumbo was hired to do much of the interior woodwork, and the original lamps located in the box seats were made from Model T car casings. The theater originally held 750 customers, and the stage and screen were complimented by large pipe organ and piano located in the pit in front of the stage. The Central Record described the opening this way: “The Grand Theater and picture house are thrown open to the public Thursday night, February 12, 1925. Lancaster and her citizenry can point with pride at one of the handsomest, most commodious, and up-to-date show houses in central Kentucky, comparing favorably with many of the more pretentious houses in Louisville or Lexington…”

My Old Kentucky Home

2009-11-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

A great rendition of My Old Kentucky Home by Nathan Mick,Economic Development Director for Garrard County, at the dedication of the new Judicial Center

Adams-Thompson-Gabbard House Near Lancaster in Garrard County

2009-09-29T14:37:00.005-04:00

CIRCA 1798

Colonial brick house on Crab Orchard Road five (5) miles from Lancaster.One of the early owners was a John Q. Adams (1811-1865) who is believed to have been related to the famous Adams family of Massachusetts,possibly a nephew.

Adams, a Southern sympathiser and slave holder,was ambushed by Unionists on his way to Crab Orchard in 1865.

Farmington: Joshua Speed House, Jefferson County

2009-09-29T10:39:00.005-04:00

Built in 1810 by John Speed from a Thomas Jefferson design, this Federal style house has 14 rooms, and twin octagon rooms. The house is furnished in period.

This restored brick Federalist style mansion was the childhood home of Joshua Fry Speed, considered to be Lincoln's closest friend. His parents, John and Lucy Speed, built the house in 1810 (the year after Lincoln was born) with plans from Thomas Jefferson. The architecture features typical Jeffersonian touches, with its classic symmetry and two octagonal rooms.

Joshua was born here in 1814, the fifth of ten children (including his older brother James, who became Lincoln's second Attorney General). Like scores of other Kentuckians, Joshua went into business in Springfield, Illinois. He recalled that Lincoln walked into his store on April 15, 1837, looking for bedding. "As I looked up at him I thought then, and think now, that I never saw a sadder face."

Joshua offered him free lodging above his store and their friendship flourished. After Joshua returned to Farmington, he invited Lincoln to visit in 1841. Lincoln's six-week stay was intended as an antidote for depression following his break-up with Mary Todd, who became his wife in 1842.

During Lincoln's visit, Joshua's mother Lucy gave him an Oxford Bible. Lincoln later wrote to Joshua's half sister Mary, "Tell your mother that I have not got her 'present' with me; but that I intend to read it regularly when I return home. I doubt not that it is really, as she says, the best cure for the 'Blues' could one but take it according to the truth."

Patti's 1880s Restaurant: Grand Rivers, Kentucky

2009-09-29T10:27:00.005-04:00

From the Maysville Ledger-Independent:

Grand Rivers is a small town with a population of a little over 400 and is located in the western part of the state of Kentucky.

The two rivers, the Cumberland and the Tennessee, join at Grand Rivers. At Grand Rivers you will find one of the best restaurants in Kentucky -- Patti's. Patti's restaurant is a popular stop for the locals and tourists. It has been the recipient of many awards throughout the years. I was most impressed with the establishment being voted number one restaurant for tourism by the state of Kentucky and number one Restaurant Association by Southern Living Magazine's Reader's Choice Award for Best Small Town Restaurant in Southeast United States.

Patti's opened as an ice cream shop in 1977 and it seated 20 people. It featured hamburgers, a variety of sandwiches and homemade ice cream. The most expensive item on the menu was $1.95. How times change! Now the restaurant Patti's 1880 Settlement Restaurant has expanded to include antiques, a gift shop, farm animals out back, stained glass, Indian Joe, shopping and gazebo. It is very family oriented and a great place for wonderful food. When we were there a few years ago, their pet pig out back was a favorite spot for the children to visit. Calvin was a miniature African pig who lived in total luxury. He had his own house, his own wardrobe, drank lemonade and sometimes took leisurely walks around town on a leash. He also walked in the town parades on holidays. He was truly spoiled.

In the restaurant specialties include 2-inch grilled pork chops, flower pot yeast bread with strawberry butter and pie piled a mile high with meringue. It is estimated that they prepare over 200,000 pounds of pork chops per year.

Newdigate Tavern/ Justice Stanley Reed Summer Home

2009-08-31T15:34:00.007-04:00

The Old Newdigate Tavern was built in the late 1700s in Maysville,Mason County on what was once known as Zane's Trace and the Maysville-Lexington Turnpike, now old US 68.

The building was purchased by Stanley Reed in 1915 and was used as his summer residence when he served on the US Supreme Court.

1811 Augusta City Jail- Bracken County, Kentucky

2009-08-28T13:21:00.002-04:00

Unlocking the past

Michael Moore paints the exterior of the historic Augusta jail Wednesday. -- Terry Prather/Staff

1811 jail's restoration nearing completion

By WENDY MITCHELL, Staff Writer
Published:
Friday, August 28, 2009 1:18 AM EDT
AUGUSTA -- A step into the lower portion of the 1811 Jail in Augusta takes a visitor back in time when getting into trouble meant meager accommodations and a cold cot.

Thanks to community support, the work of historians and the Augusta SHARE group, visitors can see what life behind bars meant for more than 150 years in Augusta.

Thick stone walls, complete with iron barred port-hole size windows and austere accommodations greeted wrong doers in the past. Within the walls is another log room, rebuilt representing a holding pen, which contains a chair, lamp and area for prisoners to be shackled.

Near the door hangs a shotgun, now locked in place, with Augusta City Jail carved in the stock.

Opposite the holding cell is another room with barred cells and metal cots.

Names, assumed to be created by former prisoners adorn the cell walls, which date from 1840 to the 1970s.

In a common area there is an ornate carving apparently done by a prisoner who was there from Dec. 17, 1974 - Feb. 25, 1975; and there is no visible heat source in the prisoner areas of the building.

A man known as "John Ike" was apparently jailed for a short time in the 1970s for streaking, and another time for 120 days according to the jail cell graffiti.

Comment: I was City Attorney for Augusta in the 1970's and remember this old stone jail very well!

William Whitley House- Lincoln County

2009-07-26T15:57:00.003-04:00

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.

Lexington Cemetery Spring 2009

2009-05-23T20:38:00.001-04:00

Bracken Baptist Church 1793 - Minerva,Kentucky

2009-05-23T20:24:00.005-04:00

James Ellis Stone Tavern

2009-01-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

The old stone inn was a stagecoach stop on the Maysville-Lexington Turnpike and was operated by Revolutionary War soldier,James Ellis. Located on US 68 in Ellisville in Nicholas County.

House built ca. 1807 by James Ellis, Revolutionary War soldier; it was well-known point on "Smith's Wagon Road" and Ohio-to-Alabama mail stagecoach line. Ellisville named county seat of Nicholas Co., 1805. Across road stood county's first courthouse, 1806-1816. Seat moved to Carlisle.

John Soper Home,Bourbon County

2008-12-10T17:45:00.004-05:00

This home was built by John Soper circa 1803 after he migrated to Kentucky from Montgomery County,Maryland.

It is located on Soper Road in "The Pocket" area of Bourbon County between Jackstown and Little Rock, f/k/a Flat Rock.

Daniel Boone's Cabin,Nicholas County

2008-12-10T17:39:00.004-05:00

Daniel Boone's cabin now stands on private property on Highway 68, three miles from the traffic island on Highways 68 and 36. A gravel road close to the historic marker sign leads to the cabin. Visitors are asked to park to the side of that road, in order not to block access.

He or his son Daniel Morgan Boone built this cabin in 1795 on Brushey Creek and lived there until they moved to Missouri in 1799. The site, Boone's last home in Kentucky, is now on Forest Retreat Farm.

Revolutionary War Hero Jack Jouett's Home

2008-12-02T22:57:00.003-05:00

Located just off McCowan's Ferry Road in Woodford County

Elmwood Inn,Perryville,Kentucky

2008-12-01T15:44:00.004-05:00

The Elmwood Inn was built in 1842 as the home of John Burton. It served as a field hospital during the 1862 Battle of Perryville, Kentucky's largest Civil War battle. The Greek Revival home became Elmwood Academy in 1896 and served as a prestigious boarding school until 1924.Guests of the Elmwood Inn have included Ronald Reagan, Colonel Harland Sanders, and Lynn Redgrave.

Elmwood was rescued by preservationists in 1974, placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and designated as a Kentucky landmark by Governor Wendell Ford.

It was christend Elmwood Inn in 1973 and became a regional restaurant. Shelley and Bruce Richardson purchased and restored the mansion in 1990. They began serving afternoon tea at Elmwood Inn in 1990 at a time when few Americans were drinking hot tea, and before the American tea renaissance began. People from across the country made their way to the historic village of Perryville, Kentucky as word spread through magazine stories and the three Elmwood Inn tea cookbooks. In 2000, the National Historic Landmark became the first North American tea room included in the British Tea Council’s Best Tea Places, a guide to a select 100 tea rooms throughout the world that “pass an exacting and incognito inspection by acknowledged tea tasters.” TeaTime magazine photographed their charter issue at Elmwood Inn in 2003.

After 14 years, the tea room closed to the public on July 31, 2004 to make way for the offices of the expanding tea importing business of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas. Benjamin Press, the publishing division of Elmwood Inn, is also housed in the historic building. All the Elmwood Inn tea books and magazine articles are photographed and edited there.

Governor William Owsley Home: Pleasant Retreat

2008-11-30T22:48:00.014-05:00

Located on US 27 in Lancaster,Garrard County.

When William Owsley began building it in the early years of the 19th century, he was a young, up-and-coming lawyer. During the time he and his family lived in the home they called Pleasant Retreat, he was elected to two terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives; named to the state Court of Appeals, where he served for 15 years; and sent back to the House and then to the Senate. He and his wife, Elizabeth, also raised six children. And the house, a three-story brick structure in the Federal style, grew with the family and with its patriarch’s political ambitions.

Owsley moved his family to Frankfort around 1834, when Gov. James T. Morehead named him secretary of state. Soon Owsley himself was being talked about as a possible gubernatorial candidate. In 1843, he even had a new county named for him.

Nominated for governor by the Whigs in 1844, Owsley won a close election against a hero of the War of 1812. But the former occupant of Pleasant Retreat found life in the governor’s mansion not nearly as pleasant. Though he became known as a champion of public education (the one cause for which the fiscally conservative Owsley seemed willing to spend money), he drew controversy for the way he handled the selection and provisioning of volunteer companies for the Mexican War; for pardoning Delia Webster, who had been convicted of aiding and abetting runaway slaves; and for a bitter and very public dispute with his own secretary of state over political patronage. Leaving the governor’s office in 1848, he said, caused him “no emotions of regret.”

Gov. Owsley spent his retirement in Boyle County, where he died in 1862. Meanwhile, succeeding owners of Pleasant Retreat expanded it still further. Today it is open to the public for tours, and visitors can see portraits of the Owsley family as well as two other governors from Garrard County. Another outstanding feature is the dining-room wallpaper. Hand-painted in France, it depicts a large-scale stag hunt.

Source: Kentucky Life KET

Associate Justice Stanley F. Reed Of Maysville

2008-11-24T16:42:00.002-05:00

Stanley F. Reed (1884 -1980), at the time of his death, was the longest lived Supreme Court Justice in American history. He lived in Maysville Kentucky before heading off to the University of Virginia to study law. He also studied law at Columbia University and later in France, but strangely he never actually obtained a law degree. In fact, he was the last person to serve as a Supreme Court Justice without possessing a law degree.

Duncan Tavern Paris,Kentucky

2008-11-23T23:44:00.002-05:00

Duncan Tavern is a three-story stone tavern located in Paris that was built in 1788 by Major Joseph Duncan. In its early days it served as a gathering place for local citizens and early pioneers such as Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton.

It is the Kentucky Headquarters of the DAR.

Johnston Inn & Tavern Bourbon County

2008-11-23T21:23:00.003-05:00

Johnston Inn is situated on US 460 in rural Bourbon County between Paris and Georgetown. In its heyday it was a busy tavern offering a respite for the weary traveller. It appeared on Filson's 1784 Map of Kentucky.

Robert Johnston, a Revolutionary War captain, was born in Virginia in 1749. He and his wife operated a tavern in their house here from 1796-1812. Located on what was the main road between Maysville and Lexington, this inn served stage and horseback passengers in its 30-foot tavern room with sleeping accommodations overhead.

Hopewell Presbyterian Church 1787

2008-11-23T21:15:00.007-05:00

Old Hopewell church still holds Sunday services and is located on the Paris Pike (US 68) between Paris and Lexington in Bourbon County.

Hopewell, one of the oldest Presbyterian churches in Bourbon County, has held worship services since 1785. The first congregation included Dutch settlers. It was recognized by the Transylvania Presbytery in 1787. Original church was located near Grant's Fort, one mile from this site. After fort and church burned, the church was rebuilt here in 1823 and in 1904.

St. Hubert's Episcopal Church, Clark County

2008-11-12T22:09:00.009-05:00

A picturesque stone church of simple design stands in the heart of the rolling hunt country in Clark County. It is named St. Hubert in honor of the patron saint of hunters

History Of Guyn's Mill- Woodford County

2008-11-10T15:48:00.007-05:00

The old mill (Circa 1840-1870)and blacksmith shop and residence (across the road), is located on the banks of Clear Creek in southern Woodford County.

It is the only documented water powered sawmill which still survives in Kentucky.Guyn's Mill was strategically positioned along the early trade routes between Lexington,Mundy's Landing (On the Kentucky River)and Harrodsburg.

Guyn's Mill,Woodford County

2008-11-10T14:55:00.009-05:00

Guyn’s Mill was built circa 1850-1870 by William Rankin Guyn (1839-1927), adding on to the existing businesses the family owned. He was the grandchild of Robert Guyn (1744-1818) who was one of the first to settle this portion of the county. Over time, he helped to develop a bustling community, starting with a sawmill. William Guyn built the gristmill and blacksmith shop, operating them with the help of his brother Moses. Eventually, his children took over the two businesses, as the sawmill and general store, all owned by the Guyn family.The mill operated until 1920.

The old mill is allegedly haunted and if you look real close at the left of the building in the photo showing the creek you can see an apparition of an old man and to the right some see a little girl on a swing.The first photo shows the wooden cog wheel,beveled gearing and massive timber support framing in the basement of the old mill.

The B/W photos were taken in 1980

Located on Mundy's Landing/Pauls Mill Road near Troy,Kentucky of of KY 33.

Colville Covered Bridge,Bourbon County

2008-11-07T09:50:00.001-05:00

Historic Home In Ruddle's Mills

2008-11-06T14:04:00.007-05:00

Circa 1780

Ruddles Mills is the third oldest settlement in Kentucky and the oldest continuously inhabited community in the state. In the late 1700's there were four working mills in the village. Ruddles Mills was once considered as the location of the county seat of Bourbon County.

Ruddle's Mills Bourbon County Kentucky

2008-11-06T13:44:00.011-05:00

Isaac Ruddle (1732-1812)is buried in the Mouth of Stoner Presbyterian Cemetery in Ruddle's Mills.

Captain Isaac Ruddell was a 18th century American Virginia State Line officer during the American Revolutionary War and Kentucky frontiersman. He was an officer commanding a company under BGEN George Rogers Clark (1777-1782). He was the founder of Ruddell's Station, one of the earliest settlements in Bourbon County, Kentucky. During the American Revolutionary War, the settlement was destroyed by a joint Canadian and Shawnee party under British officer Captain Henry Byrd in 1780. He and his family were held prisoner in Detroit for over two years before their release.

He was also a brother-in-law to Kentucky pioneers Isaac, Joseph and John Jacob Bowman. His grandson, John M. Ruddell, was a prominent Kentucky statesman and landowner.

Isaac Ruddle returned to Kentucky after the Revolutionary War and established a mill town a few miles upstream from the station he lost to Captain Henry Byrd and the Shawnee. Nestled in a valley at the confluence of Stoner and Hinkston Creeks, Ruddles Mills is still going, though in reduced circumstances. Other settlers didn’t fare so well. Some 200 were held at Chilicothe for 15 years. Two of Ruddle’s sons were adopted by the Shawnee and took native wives.

Old Iron Furnace Near Owingsville In Bath County

2008-10-21T19:54:00.004-04:00

2008-10-17T15:05:00.004-04:00

Views of Castleton Lyons farm in Fayette County on Iron Works Pike.

In 1793, a Virginian by the name of John Breckinridge was to buy 2,467 acres of prime Kentucky farmland. He named the farm, which would later become known as Castleton, “Cabell’s Dale.” Breckinridge was a dedicated thoroughbred breeder who would himself go on to become a United States Senator and to serve as Attorney General in the cabinet of President Thomas Jefferson. Upon his death in 1806, he would leave one of the country’s finest thoroughbred broodmare bands behind him.

On his death, the property was inherited by his daughter, who was to marry a David Castleman in 1816. It was the Castlemans who would hold title to the land through most of the nineteenth century. In 1840, Castleman built the Greek revival mansion that is still a landmark of the farm. He also gave the farm a name based upon his family’s name—he called it “Castleton.”

Old Stone House Newtown Pike Scott County

2008-10-17T14:50:00.006-04:00

Blue Grass Trust stone house (late 1700s) on Newtown Pike(Ky 922) between Lexington & Georgetown near the site Johnson's Mill on Elkhorn Creek.

"The Elkhorn"

In the Bluegrass
Of Central Kentucky
In silence and solitude
An ancient wanderer
Timeless and tireless
Moves through our lives
He is a wanderer
A traveler among green hills
Ancient among the ancient
Timeless and tireless
Here before our time
Here after our time
Timeless and tireless
An ancient among the ancient
A wanderer in the Bluegrass

Offutt-Cole Tavern Woodford County

2008-10-17T14:38:00.006-04:00

Located at intersection of Old Frankfort Pike and US 62 near Midway presently being restored by ehe Woodford County Historical Society

Mill Ridge Farm-Lexington,Fayette County

2008-09-16T13:42:00.007-04:00

Mill Ridge Farm is a 585-acre racing, breeding and sales consigning operation located near Lexington, Ky on Bowman Mill Road. Owned by Alice Chandler ,the daughter of Hal Price Headley, co-founder of Keeneland and the track's first president. She inherited the property on which Mill Ridge is situated when her father died in 1962. Her husband, Dr. John A. Chandler, is a native of South Africa and is racing manager for the North American division of Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms

Cedar Hall-Helm Place On Bowman Mill Road,Fayette County

2008-09-16T13:21:00.004-04:00

CEDAR HALL-HELM PLACE

This antebellum Greek Revival home was part of Bowman estate. Col. Abraham Bowman commanded 8th Va. Regt. in Revolution. Behind house was Todd's Station, built 1779 by Levi Todd, grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln and Emilie Todd Helm. Mrs. Helm, wife of CSA Gen. Ben H. Helm, bought house, 1912. Later owned by William H. Townsend, Lincoln authority. Listed on National Register, 1978.

2575 Bowman's Mill Rd., Lexington, Fayette County Kentucky

Historic Augusta,Kentucky

2008-08-07T13:55:00.005-04:00

Augusta is located in Bracken County, Kentucky, at the convergence of the Ohio River and Bracken Creek, approximately 42 miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Ohio River borders the northern part of the City; it flows in a straight westerly direction for nine miles without the obstruction of a floodwall. Riverside Drive in Augusta offers an incredible long-range view of this picturesque river valley. Many people believe it is the most beautiful view of the valley in the entire state of Kentucky.

The area was part of a Revolutionary War grant by Virginia to Capt. Phillip Buckner, who first visited here in 1781. Buckner returned in 1796 with 40 Virginia families. Augusta was named in honor of his former home, Augusta County, Virginia. The Legislature of Kentucky issued its charter on October 2, 1797. At the request of Capt. Buckner, the town trustees were chosen and Buckner deeded them 600 acres of land on which the city is located. They were sold as “in lots” in 1795.

Vahalla Farm- Woodford County

2008-08-07T13:31:00.007-04:00

The farm is located West of Troy on Paul's Mill Rd., Troy,Kentucky.

Breeder and seller Ben Walden Jr., has just purchased 235-acre Valhalla Farm near Midway, Ky., where he will continue to operate his commercial breeding program.

Walden sold his Gracefield property near the Kentucky Horse Park to a show jumping operation earlier this year.

His plans are to build a new yearling barn, install an Aquaciser underwater treadmill for yearling sales-preparation, and expand the existing foaling barn at Valhalla from 10 to 20. He also will rename the farm Paul's Mill, which he said restores the original name its founders bestowed on the property some decades ago.

Walden expects his first Paul's Mill consignment to sell at Saratoga in 2009.

The Governor's Mansion

2008-08-07T13:27:00.002-04:00

Twenty-four Kentucky Governors have lived in the house that now sits at 704 Capitol Avenue in Frankfort, Kentucky. Since 1914 when the doors to the "new" Mansion were officially opened for the first time, celebrities, dignitaries and many who would be considered common have visited the "People's House" on a regular basis.

If the walls could talk we would no doubt hear lots of exciting stories - stories that tell of family celebrations and personal heartaches, political deals that result in triumphant victories and bitter losses and of course, plenty of the kind of gossip that seems to thrive in a town that is loaded with high political ambitions.

When a new first family moves into the Governor's Mansion one of the first signs of community they experience is a knock on the door and a hearty welcome from the town's folk. Tradition suggests the welcoming party bring a silver tray of food to present to the newest members of the community as a welcoming gift. This happens even before the newly elected Governor is ceremonially sworn in.

There are other traditions related to the Governorship and the Governor's Mansion. It is customary for the outgoing Governor to invite the Governor-elect and his family to dinner at the Mansion shortly after the election and during the time of transition. There is also the tradition of the first spouses. This custom has the spouse of the retiring Governor leave for the spouse of the incoming Governor a platter of baked ham with beaten biscuits and a white cake on the dining room table.

Grave Of Richard Mentor Johnson

2008-07-13T14:53:00.002-04:00

Grave of Kentuckian and Vice President Richard Johnson in the Frankfort Cemetery

JOHNSON, Richard Mentor, (brother of James Johnson [1774-1826] and John Telemachus Johnson, and uncle of Robert Ward Johnson), a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky and a Vice President of the United States; born at “Beargrass,” Jefferson County, Ky., near the present site of Louisville, October 17, 1780; attended the common schools and Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky.; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1802 and commenced practice in Great Crossings, Ky.; member, State house of representatives 1804-1806 and again in 1819; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Tenth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1807-March 3, 1819); chairman, Committee on Claims (Eleventh Congress), Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Fifteenth Congress); commissioned colonel of Kentucky Volunteers and commanded a regiment in engagements against the British in lower Canada in 1813; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. Crittenden; reelected as a Jackson Republican (and later Jacksonian) and served from December 10, 1819, to March 3, 1829; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1829; chairman, Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses); elected to the Twenty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1829-March 3, 1837); chairman, Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-first and Twenty-second Congresses), Committee on Military Affairs (Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses); was chosen Vice President of the United States by the Senate on February 8, 1837, no candidate having received a majority of the electoral vote, and served under President Martin Van Buren from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841; member, State house of representatives 1850; died in Frankfort, Ky., November 19, 1850; interment in the Frankfort Cemetery.

McConnell Springs Lexington,Kentucky

2008-04-24T21:39:00.002-04:00

In June 1775, William McConnell and his fellow frontier explorers camped at a natural spring in the wilderness of the Virginia territory known as Kentucky. Word came from nearby Fort Boonesboro that the first battle of the American Revolution had been fought in Lexington, Massachusetts. In honor of the battle, the group named their future settlement “Lexington”.

McConnell Springs is located off Old Frankfort Pike inside New Circle Road near downtown Lexington. From either direction on New Circle Road, take Old Frankfort Pike toward Lexington. Turn right on McConnell Springs Drive (directly across from the Fire Training Center). Turn left at the dead-end onto Cahill Drive, then turn right on Rebmann Drive and enter The Springs parking lot.

Jenny Wiley Grave:River, Kentucky

2008-04-24T15:00:00.005-04:00

Jenny Wiley (born Jean "Jenny" Sellards in 1760 in Pennsylvania - Died 1831) was a legendary pioneer woman who was taken captive by native Americans in 1789 in Virginia. Wiley endured the slaying of her brother and five children and escaped after 11 months of captivity.Her husband Thomas Wiley fought in the Revolutionary War and they returned to Kentucky in 1800 to raise a family in a cabin near her grave site in rural River,Kentucky(Johnson County).

Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Prestonsburg, Kentucky is named in her honor.

Penn's Store & Privy in Gravel Switch, Kentucky

2008-04-21T14:42:00.002-04:00

Penn's Store is the oldest country store in America run by the same family since 1850. The age of the store is not actually known. It can be traced back to 1845 when William Spragens at age 21 ran the store; however, others are known to have run it before Spragens.

Gabriel Jackson "Jack" Penn was the first Penn to own the store. In c.1870 ownership and operation of the store was transferred from Jack Penn to his oldest son, Martin Wilson "Dick" Penn. Dick Penn was born the second child of nine children on February 19, 1852. He married Isabelle May and they had one son, David Martin Penn. Dick and Isabelle lived in a little house next to the store.

Dick Penn was truly a man of many talents. Among his professions were being a surveyor, dentist, druggist, and postmaster. He was the community's first postmaster and Penn's Store was site of the first post office in the area known as Rollings, Kentucky. In c.1910 the post office moved to Gravel Switch to be close to the train, which would stop in the town to get gravel from the creek.

Dick Penn was given a grant by the governor of Kentucky to administer drugs. Penn's Store carried a wide assortment of drugs which Penn sold to the local people. Penn was also known to have a cure for skin cancer and treated many people with such afflictions. He was given the cure by a foreign doctor. It is believed that he came to the area to meet with Dr. Cleaver who had an office near the store. Dick Penn swore to secrecy the formula and never divulged its ingredients. Since no one in the family held Penn's love for medicine, on July 4, 1913, after a hot day of surveying, Martin Wilson Penn died from a heat stroke on the store porch. Thus, the cancer secret went with him.

Dick's son, Martin Penn, at age 36 became the new store keeper. Born March 24, 1877, Martin married Nina Sue Kirkland and they had 10 children. Five boys and five girls: Daisy (b.1899), Evelyn (b.1901), Theol (b.1904), Paulette (b. 1906), Haskell (b.1908), Gerald (b.1911), Jeane (b. 1913), Alma (b.1915), Hunter (b.1919), Miles (b.1922).

Penn's Store looked quite different in its younger years than it does today. There were many buildings that surrounded the store. There was a spirits shop to the right of the store, a poultry coop used to house chickens and assorted fowl that people brought to the store to trade for goods, and a storage building that Dick Penn used to keep his surplus drugs. Dick and Isabelle's house was to the left of the store, complete with a rock walk leading to the store. After Dr. Cleaver left the area, his office and house became the home of Martin and Sue Penn. The store then carried a wide variety of goods. There were shoes, fabric, farming tools, lanterns, and just about any thing that was needed by a rural inhabitant.

Martin Penn, with the help of his five sons, farmed while also tending to the store. However, one day in 1933, while raking hay with a team of horses, the team got spooked and ran off with him. Martin's legs were entangled in the reins and he was dragged along the creek bed near the store. Shortly thereafter he died from massive injuries.

Sue Penn, "Mammy" as she was affectionately called, became the new storekeeper. Along with all of the children she kept the store running. By this time, some of the children were married and had moved to other states, but some of the children had moved nearby and came daily to help. Haskell, who never married, stayed with Mammy to help work the family farm and help tend to the store. Alma, "Tincy", came daily to help with the store and do the "women's chores" around the house. In 1972, at the age of 92, Mammy died in her sleep.

This left Haskell as the next storekeeper, along with help from Tincy, who still would come and do the "women's work" plus stay in the store on occasion. Haskell tended the store for many years. He lived alone in the family house. Penn's Store had changed little over the course of the years. It was still the place to come to in the community and new residents would always make themselves known to Penn's Store. Haskell kept the store open seven days a week, rain or shine.

In 1993, after suffering a stroke, Haskell passed away. He was 84. He passed the store on to his youngest sister Tincy, who kept everything just as it was with little changes. Tincy received help from her daughter and grand-daughters in keeping the store open every day, seven days a week, rain or shine.

In June 2000, one of Tincy's granddaughters, Dava, passed away from a heart condition. In December 2001, Alma 'Tincy' Penn Lane passed away. She passed the store on to her daughter Jeanne Penn Lane and grand-daughter, Dawn Lane Osborn.

Irish Acres Nonesuch,Kentucky

2008-04-21T14:11:00.006-04:00

Irish Acres is located on Fords Mill Road (KY 1965) eighteen miles from Lexington.The 32000 square feet antique gallery is housed in a 1930s school building that was used as an elementary school until 1981.The Glitz restaurant is located in the lower level of Irish Acres and is a delightful dining experience before or after antique browsing and reservations are recommended.Irish Acres is a unique experience along Kentucky's rural back roads!

Ashland-The Henry Clay Estate in Lexington

2008-04-17T15:33:00.001-04:00

The magnificent two-story brick house is the centerpiece of the Henry Clay estate. Its status as a National Historic Landmark reflects the prominence of the great statesman who developed this beautiful property and resided here for more than forty years. After Henry and Lucretia Hart Clay married in 1799, they moved into a residence on Mill Street purchased from Lucretia's father, Col. Thomas Hart. By 1804, Henry and Lucretia Clay had four children, making for quite a crowd in the downtown house.

In 1804 Henry Clay acquired the first 125 acres of what would become the Ashland estate. It has been said that Col. Hart provided the funds for the purchase of the property. Later that year the central section of the house was built. The wings, designed by Benjamin Latrobe, were added by Clay in 1813-1815. The house became the focal point of the 600 acre Bluegrass farm. Henry Clay christened the farm "Ash Land" due to the great number of majestic ash trees that stood on the property.

For more than forty years, Henry Clay lived at Ashland, the place he loved best. When he was at home he could be seen frequently pacing the "Henry Clay Walk" that still runs through the trees behind the main house. Many of the great speeches which he delivered in Congress were composed along these peaceful walks.

Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate has undergone several changes since it was first developed by Henry Clay. Today the estate includes the main house, outbuildings, and a formal garden situated on a twenty-acre lot.

The mansion stands on the site of the original Ashland, home of Henry Clay from 1806 to 1852. The present Italianate style house was completed by Clay’s son James in 1857. The interior was remodeled in the Victorian style by Anne Clay McDowell, one of Clay’s granddaughters, in the 1880s.

Ward Hall: Antebellum Mansion

2008-04-17T15:14:00.005-04:00

"...the finest place in Kentucky at that time, a veritable palace surrounded by a fairy garden."

So Ward Hall appeared to Henry Viley Johnson, nephew of it's builder, Junius Ward. It since has continued to inspire many admirers, many whose admiration has been along much more technical lines.

Junius Richard Ward and his brother, Robert Johnson, inherited large estates from their father, Col. William Ward, and early settler in Scott County, and they took as their brides two of the fairest women of the Bluegrass, Matilda Viley and Emily Flournoy. Emily, who was only fourteen when she married, was the daughter of Matthew Flournoy whose home was Walnut Hall.

Junius established a cotton commission business in the South and as his fortune became greater his mansions became more royal. His ancestral estate on Lake Washington was one of the great plantations of Mississippi, and in 1856, his Georgian mansion in Scott County was ready for occupancy.

The land on which it was built was part of a grant to Patrick Henry which was bought by Ward's grandfather, Robert Johnson, in 1780. His son, William Johnson lived in the original house until his death in 1813, and Madison Conyers Johnson, Lexington lawyer, was born there.

Fifty thousand dollars in gold was paid to Buffington, the contractor, and an additional five hundred was presented to him in appreciation of the perfection of his work.

Junius Ward used his Kentucky estate as his summer home, making the deep South his permanent residence. His brother Robert was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Kentucky, and it was his beautiful daughter, Sallie, the most noted belle of the South, who was frequently guest of honor at the grand balls at Ward Hall.

After the Civil war, Junius Ward found his fortune gone. He was forced to sell Ward Hall, which was advertised at the time of the sale as the "finest country residence in this section of the country." A later owner, Colonel Milton Hamilton, offered the house with 250 acres, plus $50,000, to the Kentucky Legislature should it agree to use the property for the state capitol.

Ward Hall is located on US 460 just outside Georgetown in Scott County.

My Old Kentucky Home in the Bluegrass

2008-04-16T16:27:00.005-04:00

Our home at 2305 Hartland Parkside Drive in Lexington. We moved back to Kentucky from Jacksonville,Florida in 2005.

Iroquois Hunt Club,Fayette County

2008-04-16T15:04:00.006-04:00

Located on Grimes Mill Road off Athens-Boonesboro road.

The Iroquois Hunt Club membership is comprised of a diverse group of about 150 families that share an interest in hounds, land conservation and the historic traditions of foxhunting in America. Some of them are farmers and hunt country landowners and some live in Lexington and the surrounding area. A number of hunt members do not ride with the hunt, but enjoy the many social activities offered throughout the year.

Community Tradition, Animal Welfare
The Iroquois Hunt Club is an integral part of the farming community in southern Fayette County. Although it is called a foxhunting club, the main function of the hunt is to keep the coyotes dispersed so they do not become a threat to livestock and house pets. The hunt country is a ten square mile area of land used for many different types of farming. The land owners allow the hunt club to put up jumps and gates in their fence lines so horseback riders can follow the hounds who are bred and trained to chase coyotes by scent. Because of the hunt, the coyotes are less apt to form packs and attack livestock, and farmers are not forced to eliminate them by poison or shooting. Coyotes are allowed to survive, and the hounds provide wonderful sport for hound, horse, coyote and fox lovers throughout the winter months.

Iroquois Hounds
The life of an Iroquois foxhound is a dog's heaven on earth. They live in a clean comfortable kennel, get the best dog food available, receive excellent veterinary care, have hundreds of humans who love and adore them and all are provided with a comfortable retirement when they can no longer hunt due to age or injury. They are one of the few canines in this day and age that actually get to do what they were bred to do. Each of the eighty hounds supported by the Iroquois Hunt are as friendly as house dogs and love to go hunting.

Old Kentucky State Capitol,Frankfort,Kentucky

2008-04-16T14:43:00.001-04:00

Completed in 1830, this national historic landmark introduced Greek-Revival architecture to the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. The building served as the capitol of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1830 to 1910. Here Kentucky's leaders decided the course their state would take through the tumultuous nineteenth century.

Gideon Shryock, an early Kentucky architect, designed the Old State Capitol when he was only twenty-five years old. Shryock used architectural symbolism to connect the vigorous frontier state of Kentucky with the ideals of classical Greek democracy. The building is widely recognized as a beautiful masterpiece of nineteenth-century American architecture.

This was the only pro-Union state capitol occupied by the Confederate army during the Civil War. Plans to swear in a Confederate governor and establish a Confederate state government were ruined by the approach of the Union army just days before the Battle of Perryville in 1862.

In the aftermath of the bitterly contested gubernatorial election in 1899, the state legislature met here in 1900 to decide the winner. An assassin, hiding in an office in the Old Capitol Annex next door, shot the Democratic claimant, William Goebel, as he approached the capitol. Armed citizens and State Guard soldiers occupied the grounds, and here for a time Kentuckians threatened to fight their own miniature civil war.

Replaced by the New Capitol in South Frankfort early in the twentieth century, the building has served as the home of the Kentucky Historical Society since 1920. The subject of extensive restoration work since the early 1970s, the Old State Capitol looks today much as it did in the 1850s.

Architectural Features
Unique architectural features include a famous self-supporting stone stairway within the Old State Capitol, re-created to bring to life the building as it was in the 1850s with fine paintings, sculpture, prints, and furniture.

Goebel’s Assassination Site
Outside the Old State Capitol is the site of the assassination of William Goebel, the only governor in United States history to die in office as a result of assassination.

Maysville On The Banks Of The Ohio River

2008-04-16T14:29:00.002-04:00

My Hometown

Maysville,formerly known as Limestone,is the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population was 8,993, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, 66 miles northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. Two bridges cross the Ohio River from Maysville to Aberdeen, Ohio: the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge built in 1931, and the William H. Harsha Bridge built in 2001.

Maysville was historically important in the settlement of the Kentucky bluegrass region. Frontiersmen Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone were among its founders. Later Maysville was an important port for the northeastern section of the state, exporting the region's production of hemp and tobacco.It was once a center of wrought-iron manufacture, sending fancy ironwork down the Ohio to decorate the buildings of New Orleans, Louisiana.Other small manufacturers located early in Maysville, and manufacture remains an important part of the modern economy.For most of the twentieth century, Maysville was home to one of the largest tobacco auction warehouse systems in the world.

Maysville was an important stop on the Underground Railroad, as the free state of Ohio was just across the river.Harriet Beecher Stowe visited the area in 1833 and witnessed a slave auction in front of the county court house in Washington (then the county seat, since annexed to Maysville).Stowe included the scene in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852.

Birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Stanley Reed and entertainer Rosemary Clooney. President Ulysses Grant attended school here as a child.

Daniel Boone' & Gov. William Goebel's Grave in Frankfort Cemetery

2008-04-16T14:18:00.001-04:00

John Breckinridge's Law Office at Cabell's Dale

2008-04-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

Cabell's Dale was the ancestral home of Kentucky's Breckinridge family and was located on what is now Castleton-Lyons farm off the Paris Pike

Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Troy,Kentucky

2008-04-16T13:59:00.000-04:00

The Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized by Reverend Adam Rankin between 1793 and 1798**. The original church was a log meeting house located on one and one-half acres of land owned by Ephraim January, and which he and his wife Sarah deeded to the church for ten dollars. In 1803 the log house was replaced by one built of stone.

Reverend Rankin served as pastor of the church until 1803 when Reverend Robert. H. Bishop was brought in from Scotland. Rankin was opposed to Bishop to the extent that Bishop's ordination was prevented until 1808. Other confrontations occurred between the two, resulting in Bishop's leaving Ebenezer in 1814 and Rankin's suspension from the ministry in 1814. Between 1814 and 1841 the church was supplied by a variety of traveling ministers. In 1841 Reverend Neal Gordon became minister and remained through 1870.

Among Ebenezer's first members were: Mr. and Mrs. William Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Woods, Mr. and Mrs. William Garrard, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Guyn, Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Tanner, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Read, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Black, Mr. and Mrs. James Black, Hugh Garrett, Robert Lowrey, Mrs. Nancy Drake and the Lambkins, Beattys, Longs, Scanlands, Reamers, Hedges, Phillipses, and Logans.

Reverend Gordon's death along with a change of roads and lines of travel that rendered Ebenezer's location unsuitable, contributed to the decline of the stone church.

Church Members of the Ebenezer Church and the nearby Clear Creek Church congregations formed the Troy Presbyterian Church, which was built in 1875.

(Approximately 20 members continued to faithfully meet in the old Ebenezer Church for a number of years. Those members founded the New Ebenezer Church which was constructed in Woodford County in 1883. After 1909, the membership of the New Ebenezer Church began to decline. The New Ebenezer Church building was sold off and razed in 1951.)

The old Stone Ebenezer Church building was abandoned by 1883. Due to neglect, the stone building collapsed sometime before 1922. In that year the Ebenezer Cemetery Association was formed. The association, formed by friends and descendants of the Ebenezer congregation, is dedicated to preserving and maintaining the church and grounds. In 1953 the original stone building was restored.

Next to the building is the cemetery which contains graves of many of the church founders and their descendants: Guyn, Lowrey, Lowry, Gordon, Black, Moffett, Mahin, Woods, January, Crutcher, Young, Garrett, Steele, Beach, Montgomery, Renick, McCauley, Davis, and Simpson.

The Ebenezer Church is on the National Register of Historic Places.

**Bennett H. Young reports in his 1898 History of Jessamine County that the church was organized between 1785 and 1790.