Category: Kentucky120

Marion County Courthouse – Lebanon, Ky.


After visiting Lebanon for the first time, I know two things – first, this town loves ham, and secondly, John Hunt Morgan is all over the place here. I thought the famous Kentucky Confederate calvary officer and general was well represented in Lexington, buy Lebanon is another story. And I guess that makes sense, because Morgan burned much of the town during the Civil War, and according to the historic markers, he was also responsible for the burning of the courthouse that used to stand on this spot. His goal was to destroy treason indictments in the courthouse issued against his men. This courthouse was built in 1935.
Apparently Lebanon was a bustling railroad town, until the Civil War, and later the end of the railroad age brought it the quiet status it enjoys today. Oh, and it’s annual town festival is called “Ham Days.” Seriously. Like I said, this town loves its country ham.


BONUS PIC FOR PETER – Now this is the coolest thing about Lebanon’s courthouse. What you see above is the courthouse square. These buildings, several of which are occupied by the offices of attorneys and engineers, literally sit on the courthouse lawn, with just this little sidewalk separating them. While several of them have clearly been well maintained, a couple could use some work. One of the buildings on the square had a big hole in the door, and a couple of cats were hanging out inside sunning themselves.

The Kentucky 120 Project

Hello to all of Kaintuckeean’s readers (if they exist). My name is Nate, and Peter asked me to make a little project I’ve started this summer a feature of his blog.

So a few things first:

A few years ago, I was working for a weekly newspaper in Oldham County, Kentucky, and I stumbled on a web site. Somewhere in the Commonwealth, this guy was running a site where he posted pictures of all of the county courthouses in Kentucky that he had visited. I found this web site fascinating – one, because Kentucky has a TON of counties, and two, because I this is where I first began to see how amazing some of these courthouses were. The aforementioned web site has since disappeared, and before he quit, I think this guy got up to 50 or something which is actually pretty impressive. I mean, have you seen how some of these counties are shaped? Counties are crammed up in corners of the state with rivers and mountains restricting access by only a few state or U.S. roads.
But I’m a big history buff, and I love to drive, so the idea was intriguing.
Anyway, the other day a friend of mine posted an article on Facebook about an older couple that has been to every county in the state, and I thought to myself how awesome such a trip would be. But I wanted to do more than just visit each county – I needed something to remember each of them, something that would help define these little county seats in my mind. And so I decided to attempt to complete the courthouse project. For those unfamiliar with Kentucky, it has 120 counties, many of which are tucked away in tiny little corners of the state. And many of these courthouses are astounding. In the middle of a small town that maybe boasts one flashing red light will be this gigantic Greek revival courthouse.
So here I sit, post Kentucky Bar Exam with a month of time to kill and nothing to do. In the last few months leading up to the Bar I started making random drives into the Bluegrass to relieve stress, and I decided that it was about time I started having a point to all of this randomness.
So whenever I get the chance, I’ll be out in the Bluegrass with my camera, and instead of being embarassed by having to start my own blog, I’ll just post these random asides on Peter’s blog.
Hope you enjoy.

Nate