Category: No Destination

Boyle County Courthouse – Danville, Ky.


Ah Boyle County. One of my favorite places on earth. I spent 4 years here in Danville and I think it’s what really cemented my love of small-town Kentucky.
I love the Boyle County Courthouse mostly for what you cannot see in this picture. The courthouse square is pretty large, and the building is L-shaped, with the doors and cupola pictured here at one end of the L. When Peter and I visited here earlier in the summer, he commented about how strange this makes the courthouse look. It’s not the standard square or symmetrical building you see in any other county in the state, and for that I love it.
Anyway, this present courthouse was built in 1862, and according to historic markers, it served as a hospital during the Civil War.

Mercer County Courthouse – Harrodsburg, Ky.


UPDATE: apparently the “massive historic preservation” I spoke of in this post isn’t historic preservation at all. According to the Herald Leader’s recent courthouse series this building is being torn down and replaced. Really, really sad.

I apologize for my lack of any photo editing software to lighten this one up a bit (one thing I miss about working for the paper is the access to cool photo software) but I just had to choose this picture of the Mercer County Courthouse. Mercer is one of two courthouses I saw today that appears to be undergoing massive historic preservation, and the effect created by the absence of the clock in the clock tower was pretty cool.
I have to be honest here – Harrodsburg is one of my favorite little communities in central Kentucky, mostly because I spent some time here during an internship with the local paper during my senior year at Centre. Harrodsburg has a combination of all of my favorite elements – well-maintained buildings, tons of history and friendly people. In addition, Harrodsburg seems to have a very active historical society, judging from the wealth of historic markers and tour guideposts throughout. Anyway, the present courthouse is the fourth to occupy the spot, and it was built in 1928.


BONUS PIC FOR PETER – One thing that I hate to see in any downtown area is the giant hole that develops when a building is taken down in a row of buildings. With historic commercial blocks you always get that great line of buildings with different heights and styles, and when one gets knocked down, it tends to look like someone knocked out a tooth from a beautiful smile. These buildings usually make way for parking lots, and when one building comes down, sometimes the whole block starts to deteriorate – think Rosenburg Block in Lexington. Anyway, Harrodsburg’s got the right idea here. This park sits in the middle of a block between two buildings. Pretty cool.

No Destination: Jessamine (Aug. 16, 2009)


With thirty minutes to kill, I went for a quick drive today in my home county of Jessamine. I picked a couple of roads I had never before traveled – and, as always, was amazed at what I saw.

Corn fields to the left and right, access to a beautiful creek with rapidly moving water (I love the sound of moving water) and a small, country Baptist church. Even standing outside, I could imagine earlier in the day the Bible-preaching going on in that small country church. Here are a selection of the few pictures taken from the trek:

Also, I realized something really cool. My new iPhone knew exactly where I was when I took the pictures so they were automatically geotagged. Pretty cool.

A No Destination Map

Filling in the map for the Kentucky120 Project is much more definite than doing so for No Destination. Of course, that’s because the Project has a specific goal in mind – the courthouse of each county.

No Destination meanders, wanders down Kentucky paths – beaten or otherwise. I’ve been to many of Kentucky’s other counties, but I won’t claim it as a No Destination unless it gets at least a mention here.

Scott County Courthouse – Georgetown, Ky.


I was feeling a little sleepy today, so my trip to Georgetown was my only stop. This was not the first time I’ve seen the Scott County Courthouse, and its still pretty amazing. I like how much the courthouse is clearly built to be viewed from the front. With the statute of justice and the way in which the tower is pushed towards the front makes it pretty unique, I think. According to Wikipedia, this is the fourth courthouse on this spot, the land for which was first donated by Elijah Craig. The style is apparently “Second Empire” – named after the Second French Empire, most notable for the mansard roof style that is so apparent here on the courthouse up by lady justice. The total cost of this beautiful building back in 1877? – $34,600,

Bourbon County Courthouse – Paris, Ky.


Bourbon County’s courthouse in Paris gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so. It’s pretty impressive. It sits up at the top of the hill in Paris, and dominates the downtown area. I’m not sure if its always been this way, but it looks like some of the old buildings on the courthouse square have been torn down over the years, leaving a bunch of open parking areas downtown.
In another French connection with the Commonwealth, according to the historic marker Bourbon County was named for the French Royal family for the assistance given during the Revolutionary War. Bourbon was among the original counties of Virginia. the first courthouse was constructed on this site in 1787. At that time, Paris was called “Hopewell.”

I was told by my friend Kyle that the reason the Bourbon County Courthouse is so huge and ornate is that at the time of its construction, Frankfort had not been chosen as the state capital and Paris was still in the running.

Montgomery County Courthouse – Mt. Sterling, Ky.


Mt. Sterling is a beautiful town, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed by the courthouse. It’s pretty much a new building, and if I didn’t know any better it could have been a bank. The area surrounding the courthouse, though, is particularly cool. It’s surrounded by brick streets and painstakingly restored buildings. Yet again, another cool town I can imagine being very cool to live in.
Like the Bath County Courthouse, the Montgomery County Courthouse was burned in the Civil War. According to the historical markers, Confederate Cavalry burned the courthouse on Dec. 2, 1863 in order to prevent its use as a Union garrison.


* EXTRA PIC FOR PETER – above is the aforementioned really awesome brick streets and restored buildings that surround the courthouse.

Bath County Courthouse – Owingsville, Ky.


Okay, so I had never, ever even heard of Owingsville. But there is a ton of history here. And how did Bath County get its name? Surprisingly, it was given the name because people used to come here to take baths. Seriously. According to the sign at the courthouse square, there were many well known mineral springs in the area. Bath County was also home for some time to Louis Philippe, the last King of France during his exile. Weird, huh?
Anyway, according to the signs at the courthouse, the Bath County Courthouse was among the 22 courthouses burned during the Civil War. But the burning of Bath’s courthouse was unintentional. As Confederate forces approached, the Union soldiers abandoned the area and an overheated stove started the fire.


* BONUS PIC FOR PETER – So this one caught me completely off guard. You know General John Bell Hood? Famous Confederate General remembered for Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Fredricksburg, etc.? He was born in this house in Owingsville. I had no clue.

Nicholas County Courthouse – Carlisle, Ky .


Nicholas County is a special place for me, because it is the childhood home of my best friend Kyle. Ever since I’ve known him, I’ve been regaled with tales of Nicholas County. This wasn’t my first time in Carlisle, but it was the first time I visited the courthouse. It’s a beautiful building that sits up high on the square, and is pretty impressive. The light-up flag on the top of the cupola is sorta depressing on a historic building, but I bet it looks pretty sweet at night. One thing I noticed about Carlisle was that it seemed to have a pretty large downtown for the less than 2,000 people who live there. Kyle informed me today that prior to the Great Depression, Carlisle was comparable to Lexington as a hub for tobacco and livestock commerce. Now, it has what might be the most disturbing and terrifying museum I have ever seen – A doll and toy museum. I swear, the museum’s windows house these two larger dolls that sit and stare out at you with their soulless empty gaze. Man…that’s an image you can never forget.
Anyway, I’ve learned a lot about Carlisle and Nicholas County today, as Kyle informed me that:
* it used to be the cite of Blue Lick Springs, a 300-room hotel and spa.
* it is the birthplace of both Gatewood Galbraith and Barbara Kingsolver.
* Daniel Boone also lived in Nicholas County for a while.