Category: Kentucky120

Whitley County Courthouse – Williamsburg, Ky.


Driving into Williamsburg, you see all of these towers and cupolas peeking up above the trees. I immediately started thinking about how awesome this courthouse was going to look. Unfortunately, all of these towers are a part Cumberland College, and the courthouse square was relatively boring and deserted on this Saturday morning. Even Cumberland College’s football field has cupolas on the press box.
The courthouse pictured above is the fourth to sit on this site. Interestingly, the original name of Williamsburg was actually “Whitley Courthouse.” Come on pioneers…you guys could do better than that.
As I believe I’ve noted before, the largest city in Whitley County is actually Corbin, which in fact sits in three counties and is the county seat of none of them…which is kind of insane when you think about it. What would have been so devastating about one big county with Corbin in the middle?

Laurel County Courthouse – London, Ky.

Let me start by saying that the Kentucky Almanac led me astray on the Rockcastle County factoid. There appear to be a number of counties that are not named after people, i.e. Ohio and today’s entry, Laurel County.
Downtown London is really nice. Its very clean, and contains a nice mix of older and new buildings. London’s appreciation for aesthetics is really evident in the courthouse pictured above. It is the third courthouse to sit on this site, after a second was destroyed by fire. This Georgian-style courthouse was built in 1961, yet looks much, much older.


London is also home to a Federal building and courthouse, pictured above. The old Federal building is to the left, and a new Federal Courthouse fits in perfectly with the surroundings. Then, across the street sits. . .


This insanely huge judicial center. I don’t know if the massiveness of the building is really conveyed by this picture, but I can’t imagine that enough business is conducted in Laurel County to necessitate this thing. Maybe I’m wrong.

Rockcastle County Courthouse – Mt. Vernon, Kentucky


Rockcastle County is an interesting place. It’s one of two counties in Kentucky not named for a person (Okay Peter, what’s the other county?), as it’s named after the Rockcastle River, which is in turn named after the castle-like rock formations that surround it. One quarter of the county is in the Daniel Boone National Forest, and the drive through Rockcastle on the old Dixie Highway is pretty scenic. The most notable area of Rockcastle is probably Renfro Valley, a country music Mecca that I’ve really wanted to visit for a show, but have never found the time.
This courthouse seems relatively modern and pretty nondescript. I can’t find much information about it – the Kentucky Encyclopedia mentions that the first log courthouse here burned in 1873. Can anyone help me fill in the blanks?

Menifee County Courthouse – Frenchburg, Ky.


I really enjoyed Frenchburg. I’m not sure why, but it had a really pleasant small-town feel. It’s in the middle of NOWHERE, and its quite a pretty drive. I was on my way to court, and was pretty excited when I saw this courthouse. It’s unlike any other courthouse I’ve yet seen. According to The Kentucky Encyclopedia, it was built in 1928, and its entrance resembles a Gothic castle tower, topped by a colonial cupola. Its really striking.

As Peter mentioned in an earlier post, Menifee County is actually misspelled, which had to be pretty embarrassing back in the day. They were trying to name the county after Richard Menefee, a brilliant young politician who tragically died at the age of 32.

Hardin County Courthouse – Elizabethtown, Ky.

I didn’t get to Hardin County until way after dark, and I plan to be back for a better picture at some point. As I drove up to the courthouse, I first noticed this obscenely large and out of place glass-fronted building, only to discover that it was the new judicial center. The courthouse that is awkwardly pictured above, is in the Beaux Arts style and was completed in 1934. Bizarrely, this courthouse square is almost identical to Nelson and Grayson counties’ courthouse squares, and all three of these counties line up together from east to west. Does anyone out there know why these downtown areas are all so alike? Anyway, this courthouse is the fourth in Elizabethtown.
Most people outside of Kentucky would know Elizabethtown (or E-town as it is known to Kentuckians) from the Cameron Crowe movie of the same name that came out in 2005. While much of the movie is supposed to take place in E-town, most of the filming was done in other Kentucky communities, including Louisville and Versailles. As an aside, when my wife and I were looking to buy a house, we actually looked at house in Versailles that was right across the street from the home where the homecoming scenes were filmed.
I don’t know about the rest of Kentucky, but I DESPERATELY wanted this movie to be good. And . . . well. . . it kinda sucked. But it was nice to see Kentucky in the spotlight for a bit.

Grayson County Courthouse – Leitchfield, Ky.


Grayson County has a pretty unique history according to the Kentucky Encyclopedia. The county was the fifty-fourth to be formed, and among the early landowners was George Washington himself. The county is actually named for an aide of Washington’s Col. William Grayson. The county has several unique distinctions. It was the home of Grayson Springs, a summer resort community, and is the home of the Walter T. Kelley Bee Hive Factory, one of the largest manufacturers of beekeeping equipment in the country.
The courthouse above is the fourth built in Leitchfield, the first being burned in the Civil War, and two others after it having suffered the same fate. This Beaux Arts structure was built in 1938 with a PWA grant.
Here’s the really strange thing about this courthouse. As I drove into town, I couldn’t help but feel deja vu. It’s impossible not to be reminded of Bardstown. The courthouse squares of both Grayson and Nelson counties are identical. The courthouses are different, but they have the same roundabout design with the courthouse in the middle. Weird…but it gets weirder in E-town.

Ohio County Courthouse – Hartford, Ky.

I think Hartford might be one of the few places in Kentucky that has a simple name based on its location. According to the Kentucky Encyclopedia, Hartford sits on the Rough River at a spot where deer (or Hart) would cross.
Ohio County is pretty old, being the thirty-fifth in order of formation. It got its name because it used to border the Ohio River to the North. The Kentucky Encyclopedia states that numerous burial mounds in the area indicate that the area was extensively populated by prehistoric people.
Ohio County’s Courthouses have had a rough history. The first log courthouse was built in 1800, but it collapsed in 1813. What remained of it was later burned when some particularly excited townspeople got a little out of hand celebrating Oliver Perry’s victory on Lake Erie. A brick courthouse built later was destroyed by Confederate soldiers. The third courthouse was demolished in 1940, when the courthouse above was built with PWA money.

McLean County Courthouse – Calhoun, Ky.


According to the Kentucky Almanac, this courthouse was built from 1904-08, and is in the Beaux-Arts style. Two other courthouses preceded it. Calhoun is an interesting little town, and was according to the Kentucky Almanac was once listed as “Calhoon” based upon a local spelling.
To me, the most interesting part of McLean County (outside of my wife’s family farm), is the town of Livermore, which contains the bridge you see below


As noted by the historic marker at the south end of this bridge, the Livermore bridge is one of a kind. The bridge claims to be the only bridge in the world that crosses two rivers, begins in one county, crosses over another county and ends back in the same county again.
The bridge crosses both the Green and Rough River, and begins in McLean County, crosses over a section of Ohio County, and ends back in McLean County again.

Muhlenberg County Courthouse – Greenville, Ky.

I attended a wedding this weekend in Hartford, Kentucky and decided to finally get some counties that are west of I-65. Being that some of my wife’s family is from this area, I was pretty comfortable with the roads and decided to see how many counties I could check off. It was a pretty great afternoon, as my wife, her grandfather and I traveled through the Green River counties. I learned a whole lot about these counties, as my wife’s grandfather told me all about the counties that he has lived in for more than 30 years.
Most people probably know about Muhlenberg County from the John Prine song “Paradise” which memorializes an old coal town that was torn down in the 60s. What I hadn’t realized before this trip was how literal this song is. As we traveled through Muhlenberg County, my wife’s Grandfather told me about the what at the time was the world’s largest shovel, which was brought in to strip out the coal. He told me that the shovel, which could fit 3-4 trucks in the bucket, had to be placed on the coal bed itself, because if placed on the earth it would sink.
When you drive through Muhlenberg County, the thing you really begin to realize is that much of the county is a huge swamp. My wife’s grandfather told me that years ago, after they built the major road through the county, it was discovered that the road went through a wetland, and the road construction had destroyed much of the habitat of local ducks. Dozens of ponds for ducks had to be built to rectify the problem.
The courthouse pictured above is striking and beautiful. As you can probably see, the windows and doors are boarded over. I hope that it is simply being restored in this picture, but I couldn’t help but notice a new judicial center next door.