Author: thekaintuckeean

Lower Howard's Creek: A Story in Both Beauty and History

Pool in the Lower Howard’s Creek – Clark Co., Ky.

As we entered the Lower Howard’s Creek State Nature Preserve and Heritage Park, as adults visiting for the first time, we were taken aback by the beautiful sweeping views of the region’s agricultural landscape. As we gathered near an old dry stone limestone fence, we anticipate our three-hour hike.

Contrast out perspective with that of our guide: Clare Sipple, the Preserve Manager, has a professional and personal connection with this land. Her earliest memory of visiting the creek dates to age 3 – traversing the snow-covered creek banks on a horse-drawn sled. Her passion for Lower Howard’s Creek was evident through both the knowledge of an expert and the wonderment of a child.

Soon we descended the trail into the gorge formed by the creek. As we trekked, Sipple regaled us with detailed explanation of the many flora (several endangered) we encountered. Rare plants in the Preserve include water stitchwort, running buffalo clover, Kentucky viburnum, white walnut, and nodding rattlesnake-root. A second growth forest largely covers the LHC Preserve with approximately 400 different plant species growing under the canopy.

But this is not merely a State Nature Preserve filled with flora and fauna, it is also a Heritage Park that contains multiple structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Though described today as remote, one must examine LHC with the sense that it was once an industrial center for water-powered stone milling from the late 1700s until the mid-19th century.

Ceramic Shards and the Martin/Bush House

Martin/Bush House at Lower Howard’s Creek

Research conducted in 2002 examined the ceramic shards around the Martin House to find an unusually high concentration of refined earthenwares. Researchers concluded that “although secluded and isolated by today’s standards, the valley was at one time connected to a larger national and global economy through its position on the Kentucky River.”

The John and Rachel Martin House began as a log cabin in the 1780s, but two stone additions were added in the following decades to create a rather significant structure. Though the log cabin is lost to history, great effort is being made to preserve the stone remaining stone structure. And though the National Register of Historic Places (as well as the majority of documentation on the property) identifies the property as the “Martin House,” it may well be in error.

To understand this conundrum, local historian Harry Enoch provided me with several documents explaining the long standing confusion. Apparently, Clark County’s history contains no fewer than five John Martins. The John Martin associated with Lower Howard’s Creek owned a 250 acre farm here, but it was situated outside the bounds of what is now the Preserve. Enoch and Sipple both suggest that the stone house and nearby mill were those belonging to Jonathan Bush as the Bush family held title to the land and the elaborate tablet over the tomb box from Jonathan’s second wife, Diana Emerson Bush, was discovered near this significant stone house.

Whether Martin or Bush, the house and the nearby mill are both spectacular examples of stone construction in this remote corner of the world. The sheer size and grandeur of the structures seem to support the suggestion that the area was economically connected to the rest of the nation and world.

The Bush Mill

The old Bush Mill (clockwise from top: remains,
rendering from Patent No. 3, remains of chimney)

The Bush Mill is in such good condition that one can understand the workings of Oliver Evans’ automatic flour mill (U.S. Patent No. 3) from what remains. A dam, nearly a half mile upstream from the mill, diverts water down the gravity-fed mill race to a point some thirty feet above the mill. From the pooled water, a sluice transports the water to the twenty-foot mill wheel which then turns the numerous inner workings of the mill. Turned water then drains through a series of channels back into the creek. A significant portion of the corner fireplace in the mill’s interior, as well as the chimney, remain.

Throughout the Preserve, the limestone walls seemingly indigenous to Kentucky abound. Several have been rebuilt in the past decade through joint efforts with the Dry Stone Conservancy. Two parallel dry laid limestone walls create a wide path along what would have been part of the wilderness road linking Fort Boonesborough to the Blue Licks.

Murder at Hieronymous Place

The chimney at Hieronymous Place

Another interesting story was that of the triple murder at Hieronymous Place. Of the house, begun as a cabin in the early 19th century and added to through the years, only the chimney remains. The story of intrigue dates to January 3, 1939. The Lexington Herald reported “three men were shot to death late this afternoon during a bloody gun battle staged in a ramshackle three-room cabin on the side of a hill near the Kentucky river in Southern Clark county.” Apparently, one of the three (Sowers) “had been awful drunk since about Christmas Day.” So, naturally, Sowers and Robert Martin spent the afternoon finishing off three pints of whiskey before they started to argue. Sowers shot Robert Martin who escaped with only a buckshot wound to the face. Sampson Estepp, whose family lived in two of the three rooms of the cabin, heard the shot and went forward to investigate. He arrived to find a 12 gauge shotgun firing at him at point-blank range.

John Martin, who lived across the creek and is different than the other five John Martins mentioned above, rushed over to see what the commotion was about; he was instantly killed by Sowers. Finally, John Martin’s brother, Stanley, arrived. Seeing his brother dead on the floor must have sent him into a rage for the scene that followed would have appropriately fit into the song “Cell Block Tango” from the Broadway revival of Chicago. Stanley shot Sowers ten times with a .22 before bludgeoning Sowers head with the butt of not one, but two, shotguns. The force was such that neither shotgun was operable after the incident which the presiding judge described as “the bloodiest in Clark County history.” Unlike the ladies in the “Cell Block Tango,” the claims of self-defense and of temporary insanity were successful as the murder charges brought against Stanley Martin were ultimately dismissed.

Historic Marker for Capt. John
Holder near Hall’s on the River

In our three hours, I feel that we merely scratched the surface of the Preserve. There is so much history and so much beauty that you could easily explore Lower Howard’s Creek for days. One option of seeing the Preserve is to hike the publicly accessible John Holder Trail. This Trail opened in 2012 as a 3 mile loop with the trailhead at the parking lot of Hall’s on the River.

Most of the trails through the Preserve, including those which we traversed on our visit are accessible only on official tours which are conducted almost every Saturday on trails not connected with the John Holder Trail. For these guided treks, reservations are required and a $5 donation is suggested for those who are not members of the Friends of Lower Howard’s Creek. Information about these tours, and about the Preserve generally, are available at www.lowerhowardscreek.org.

Additional photographs are available here.

  This column originally appeared in a recent issue of Preservation Matters, 
a publication of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation. 

Skaggs Trace, a tributary of the Wilderness Trail

Historic Marker for Skaggs Trace
Rockcastle County, Ky.

Just after crossing the Rockcastle River into the county of the same name along highway 25, one encounters a historic marker proclaiming “SKAGGS TRACE.”

The trace stretched north out of Hazel Patch to Crab Orchard where early pioneers would continue on via Logan’s Trace to the Falls of the Ohio (aka Louisville). Pioneers heading out of Hazel Patch on a more easterly track would have taken Boone’s Trace toward Boonesborough.

The two side of Marker #1622 read as follows:

This trail, from the Hazel Patch to Crab Orchard, crosses Rockcastle County. It was a widely used land route through Kentucky for several years and became part of the Wilderness Road. Daniel Boone crossed the Rockcastle River near here in 1775 in blazing Boone’s Trace from Cumberland Gap to Boonesborough. See over.

(Reverse) Skaggs Trace – This trace was named for Henry Skaggs, a Long Hunter. Many famous pioneers, including John Floyd, Benjamin Logan and William Whitley, traveled over it. On Oct. 21, 1861, the first Kentucky Civil War battle occurred near here at Camp Wildcat. This first Union victory took place in the Rockcastle Hills. Over.

It is important to distinguish this important path for Kentucky pioneers and note who is missing from the list: Daniel Boone. Despite our desire to treat him as such, Boone was not omnipresent. He took that easterly path out of Hazel Patch.

This Just Happened, a weekly roundup

Miss out on posts on the Kaintuckeean? Check out what happened this week:

And from elsewhere …
A new tax coming to downtown Lexington? Like a HOA due, the property tax would be used to promote and beautify downtown. [Herald-Leader]
BGT deTours Committee member Rachel Alexander of Bricks+Mortar fame … gets a tweet on her post re: First African Baptist deTour from @presnation – the National Trust for Historic Preservation [Awesomeness]

Setting up an archive of local music at the Lexington Public Library. [KyForward]

Camp Nelson Celebrates its Sesquicentennial during Civil War Days [Herald-Leader]

“Off the Road” an Upcoming Event at Lyric Theater to Raise Awareness of Evils of I-75 Connector

Marble Creek – Jessamine County, Ky.

What do Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver, and Guy Mendes have in common?

Berry is an acclaimed novelist originally from Henry County, Ky.

Kingsolver, another accomplished novelist, grew up in Nicholas County, Ky. Both she and Berry have utilized pen and paper to further positive social change and promote environmental conservation.

Mendes attended the University of Kentucky and, falling in love with the Commonwealth, never left the region. His photography captures the beautiful people and places of Kentucky … and beyond.

So, what do these three have in common? Two novelists and a photographer make three artists. And all three have deep Kentucky ties.

And in two weeks, on Sept. 19, they will be joined by a host of other Kentucky artists to proclaim the glory of our beautiful Bluegrass at an event at the Lyric Theater in downtown Lexington’s historic East End.

The East End is a historically African-American community northeast of Lexington’s downtown core and the Lyric Theater was its artistic center hosting, among others over time, Count Basie and his Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. Restored a few years ago, it continues its legacy as a community center and arts venue.

The event in two weeks’ time will welcome both Berry and Kingsolver to the stage where they will discuss the proposed I-75 Connector and its disastrous consequences on the priceless and irreplaceable natural beauty of the Marble Creek watershed and Kentucky Palisades.

Joining them in reading and song will be other Kentucky artists and musicians, including Crystal Wilkinson, Richard Taylor, Maurice Manning, Erik Reece, Eric Scott Sutherland, Matt Duncan, the Northside Sheiks, and Tee Dee Young.

Immediately before the 7:30 p.m. Lyric Theater event will be the premier of Guy Mendes’ exhibition of photographs of the threatened area. The exhibition premier will be from 5-7 p.m. at the Ann Tower Gallery of the Downtown Arts Center on Lexington’s Main Street.

It should be a great evening with the opportunity to hear some of Kentucky’s finest artists speak, read from their works, and perform. And it will be for a good cause: protecting the inner Bluegrass from an unnecessary and unnecessarily costly road.

The inner Bluegrass was listed in 2006 as one of the World Monument Fund’s most threatened sites since 2006.

The Bluegrass is an irreplaceable, finite resource and the proposed connector threatens some of the region’s finest parts.

For ticket information, visit lexingtonlyric.tix.com or call 859-280-2218.

I have my tickets. Do you?

This column originally appeared in the Jessamine Journal. 
It should not be republished without permission.

Kentucky and American History in #TBT Photo

I’ve received complaints from a few that my #ThrowbackThursday photos have been too easy – what do you think? Let me know in the comments!

As for this week, you can see only about half the façade of this noteworthy and newsworthy residence.

I’d give you another clue, but then that would be too easy?

Leave your guesses in the comments below and be share this week’s puzzler on Facebook!

You can also look back at our previous #ThrowbackThursday posts by clicking here.

Lexington’s First Synagogue was Ohavey Zion; Moving the Scrolls From Original Site Answers Last Week’s #TBT

Joe Bologna’s Restaurant once housed Lexington’s First Synagogue
Transfer of the Torahs
Photo: Herald-Leader/Steven Nickerson

The Streetsweeper answered last week’s puzzler in person at the Cheapside Pavilion last Thursday when he accurately recalled the news of May 1987 when the Torahs were relocated from Maxwell Street to the new synagogue on Edgewater Court. Carrying the Torahs were Charlie Rosenberg and Sidney Gall. It was a four mile sojourn on foot between the old and the new synagogue.

The old synagogue got its start nearly a century before, as a Presbyterian mission.

In March 1890, the front page of the Lexington Leader declared that the city’s First Presbyterian Church would start “Another Mission”in a “handsome building at Maxwell and Upper Streets” on land known as the Morris property. With “appropriate exercises,” the new Mission Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church was dedicated in the spring of 1891. Construction had cost $7,000.

Inside the old Maxwell St.
Presbyterian Church

In the early 1910s, the Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church had outgrown its facilities and relocated further east. The Presbyterians sold the old church to the Jewish community which here established the first synagogue in Lexington, Ohavey Zion Synagogue. Prior to the establishment of a permanent synagogue, the Jewish community in Lexington would celebrate wherever space could be found, most typically in the ballrooms of hotels or fraternal lodges.

When Ohavey Zion looked to build a new facility for itself in the 1980s, the question arose as to what would become of the old synagogue. Restrictions as a former synagogue prohibited certain uses: it could be used neither as a public urinal or as a slaughterhouse.

Stained glass window and
chandeliers remain.

Ultimately, the old synagogue was auctioned and purchased by Joe Bologna who owned a pizza parlor dive across the street. He turned his dive into a restaurant. (The old location did not have stained glass windows or original chandeliers.)

The old church/synagogue/pizza parlor has a Romanesque feeling with modern additions on both the rear and on its western side. The original entrance, off Jersey Street, is utilized only as an emergency exit with the primary point of ingress and egress being through the western addition.

The iconic symbol of the building, which has been adopted by the pizza parlor in its logo, is the “triple window framed by flat brick pilasters with acorn-shaped stone finials and horizontal stone bands that is crowned by a large arched window articulated with stonework.”

It is a spectacular structure with a storied and sacred past.

First African Baptist Church: A Historic Structure, a Historic Faith, and a Determined Future

First African Baptist Church at Short & DeWeese  – Lexington, Ky.

At the southwest corner of East Short and DeWeese Streets stands the oldest African-American church in Kentucky and the third oldest African American Baptist church in the nation. The strong edifice of the First African Baptist Church anchors this once residential block and seeks to once again anchor the East End community.

Labeled in the 1890 Sanborn insurance map as the First Baptist Church (Colored), its parenthetical used to differentiate between it and the anglo First Baptist Church on West Main. It is unlikely, however, that such a parenthetical would have been needed for any Lexingtonian then looking at the map for First African’s location in the East End suggested the racial identity of her members living in this southern city.

First African Baptist Church is, without a doubt, a Historic Structure representing a Historic Faith. And though the Baptists abandoned the building decades ago, those who love this structure have for it a Determined Future.

Front Doors of the First African
Baptist Church – Lexington, Ky.

A Historic Structure

Constructed in 1856 with the slave labor of its own membership, the significant architectural detail leaves no doubt that the structure’s design was prepared with great thought and attention. First African is described in the National Register as a “good example of a mid-nineteenth century Italianate style Protestant chapel,” though the windows on the eastern façade (when uncovered) are said to have a Gothic appearance.

In 1926, the Parish House was added in the Collegiate Tudor style on the western side of the old church. Also added to the façade of the church in the 1920s was the “colossal stone portico with four widely spaced Tuscan columns … across the front with a flat entablature.”

The interior’s description in its National Register application predates its conversion to the daycare center of Central Christian Church. This present use has converted the sanctuary into a gymnasium with basketball goals, toys, and cots. The description from 1986:

A well-proportioned rectangular hall, it is distinguished by a classical Georgian cornice. The most striking feature is the large mural of Jesus christ as a shepherd rescuing a stray lamb from the precarious edge of a cliff high over a river (presumably Jordan). It is flanked by red draperies and tall unfluted Corinthian columns. Similar red curtains protect the baptismal pool at the southwest corner of the sanctuary, where the sacred ceremony of total immersion takes place. In the opposite corner is the raised seating of the choir, whose musical participation is of paramount importance in the services. The walls are painted to resemble stone in soft beige tones, and the opalescent-glass windows cast pleasing soft colors over them.

Many of these interior features were removed when the FABC departed the location for Price Road in 1987.

A Historic Faith

Though the building itself was erected in the mid-19th century, the history of the congregation dates back to the prior century. Peter Durrett, a slave who came across the mountains from Virginia in 1781 with his master and the Traveling Church. Known as “Uncle Peter” or “Old Captain,” Durrett was an able preacher just like his master Lewis Craig,

In fact, Durrett had previously scouted the path and destinations the Travelling Church would take into Kentucky. This assigned task by his master revealed a great deal about Durrett’s character and intelligence, and the respect he garnered from all those – black and white – in that group of sojourners.

In 1790, Durrett established his own congregation in Lexington in what was easily the first black congregation west of the Alleghenies. When Durrett died in 1823, he left behind a strong church and a historic legacy.

London Ferrill, the second minister, assumed the pastorate upon the death of Durrett and remained as leader of the flock until his own death in 1854. During the time, he would baptize over 5,000 souls to Jesus Christ. He brought his church into the fold of the Elkhorn Baptist Association in 1824.

Ferrill was highly respected by all races, much like his predecessor. When some in the church sought to have him removed over a churchly matter, they attempted to utilize a state law requiring slaves freed from other states to stay no longer than 90 days in Kentucky. Ferrill’s friends in Frankfort passed special  legislation granting him the permission to stay here permanently.

During the 1833 cholera epidemic, Ferrill stayed in Lexington (one of only three ministers to do so during the epidemic) to pastor his congregation, administer medicine, and bury the dead.

He was so well respected by all peoples of Lexington that his funeral was the largest attended in the city’s history, a claim not to be eclipsed until the 1852 funeral of Henry Clay.*

* This funeral factoid is told in one of two ways, with the runner-up to Clay being either Durrett or London Ferrill, the second minister of First African. Either way, it evinces the significant role this church played in the community.

A Determined Future

Rendering of Restored FABC with Addition
Photo: First African Foundation

Yvonne Giles, a local historian and expert on the East End, emphasized the importance of interpreting First African within the neighborhood as she repeated that it was “not just a church, but a community center.” It was the gathering place for generations of the East End and African-American communities of Lexington.

When the congregation departed in 1986, Central Christian purchased the structure and found utility in it. It is altogether possible that the historic church could have been demolished in the late 1980s in favor of a surface parking lot were it not for Central’s intervention. In the 2010s, Central Christian has sought to unload some of its surplus property and for a time the First African Foundation was under contract to acquire the old church at Short and DeWeese and convert it back into a community center. The Foundation intended to restore the old sanctuary as well as the circa 1926 Collegiate Tudor addition. The complex would “include a theater space with 300 to 350 seats, conference rooms, exhibit areas and space for music education.” Unfortunately, this worthy cause failed due to a want of funds.

But a different future for the historic structure emerged in October 2017, with the announcement that Zeff Maloney was purchasing the structure from Central Christian with the intent of redeveloping it into a commercial space. Maloney has previously turned around the old Protestant Infirmary just a block away.

Maloney plans to “bring [First African] back to its former glory” according to his interview with the Herald-Leader. I, for one, can’t wait to see it!

Sources
Bio of London Ferrill; First African Foundation; Lexington Herald-Leader; NRHP; Owenton News Herald

This post was updated on October 6, 2017, to revise the “Determined Future” section to reflect changes to the First African Foundation’s progress and the acquisition of the property by Mr. Maloney 

This Just Happened, a weekly roundup

Fayette National Bank Building – First
Skyscraper in Lexington and Site of
Proposed 21c Museum Hotel

Multiple issues delay construction of the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington’s first skyscraper, now scheduled for 2015 opening. [Herald-Leader]

Tom Eblen’s column this morning on the “most interesting place in Kentucky,” the Old Taylor Distillery in Woodford [Tom Eblen / H-L]

Committed to all things Kentucky, I cannot ignore the huge Senate race setting up for next year. Looks like Matthew Bevin picked up the Louisville Tea Party endorsement over incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell. [The Hill]

Merlene Davis on the incredible local historian and East End expert, Yvonne Giles. [Herald-Leader]

Lexington’s comprehensive plan is being updated and your opinion is being sought. [KyForward]

In terms of fairness, the capital city of Frankfort catches up with little Vicco in passing a new fairness ordinance. [Herald-Leader]

Tastes of the end of summer

My family and coworkers are now loath to see me coming.

It’s that time of year when I’m carrying a plastic bag or a box filled with tomatoes and cucumbers fresh from the backyard garden.

Travelling north to Ohio this past weekend, I was glad to deposit about 20 pounds of cucumbers with my sister. Her neighbors will in turn reap their share of Kentucky’s bounty.

My neighbor and I meet on the sidewalk in a scene straight from Tombstone’s O.K. Corral, only I am armed with cucumbers and he with banana peppers.

Though Robert Frost penned that “good fences make good neighbors,” I’d suggest that the poet should have tried home-grown produce.

Yes, it is that time of summer when we realize that no amount of trellis or staking could support the crop which is now at the peak of its harvest.

We trade, give away, and consume fresh produce in great volume during this season.

And though it seems that there isn’t ever going to be an end to it all, I know that the season is relatively short and that I must savor every moment. And every delicious bite.

Already my wife and I have enjoyed pesto on everything. My kindergartner prefers pesto pizza to pepperoni. And I’m OK with that.

Cucumbers have been pickled, dehydrated, sliced, and grated. Dinner has on more than one occasion consisted of a cool cucumber gazpacho, perfect on a hot summer evening.

But the one taste of summer that truly is perfection is the simplest to prepare: the tomato sandwich.

It has been described on CNN’s eatocracy blog as “the best sandwich in the universe — at least for the month of August.”

It’s true. Sliced bread with a heavy hand of Duke’s mayonnaise, sliced tomatoes and a light dusting of salt and pepper. Perfection.

And you must agree, because my last two trips to the grocery have found an empty spot where the Duke’s mayonnaise should be.

And now that August is coming to a close, that last taste of summer will slip away into autumn.

But for now, savor a few more tomato sandwiches.

And try to use up or give away what’s left on the vine.

This column originally appeared in the Jessamine Journal. 
It should not be republished without permission.