Category: Uncategorized

No Destination: Farmington

Farmington, Louisville, Ky.

Inspired by the architectural designs of Thomas Jefferson, architect Paul Skidmore designed Farmington for John and Lucy Speed (John Speed was a seventh generation descendant of the English cartographer of the same name). The home was completed in 1816 and contains two 24-foot wide octagonal shaped rooms (unique to 19th century Kentucky and a common attribute of Jeffersonian architecture).

Farmington was the site of a 550-acre hemp plantation; there is a memorial on the site to the slaves who toiled here.

In 1841, Abraham Lincoln visited Farmington for a three-week period where he visited with his friend, Joshua Speed (the son of John and Lucy). Apparenly, Abe and Mary were having a little tiff in their courtship and the mental break of Farmington was just what Honest Abe needed in order to muster up the courage to ask Mary Todd for her hand.

Once elected President, Lincoln offered the position of Treasury Secretary to Joshua Speed. Speed declined as he had no political ambition, but brother James Speed (a Louisville attorney) accepted Lincoln’s 1864 offer to become Attorney General.

The home was purchased in 1958 by the Historic Homes Foundation, a Louisville-based organization which owns, preserves and protects historic Louisville residences.

NoDestination: Oldest House in Cynthiana

Oldest House in Cynthiana, Ky.

This isn’t just the oldest house in Cynthiana; it has served as so much more. So, Nate was right; I did really like the old log courthouse at Cynthiana’s courthouse square. The historic marker 1539 reads:

Oldest house in Cynthiana, built 1790. Young Henry Clay practiced law here, 1806. In 1817, city’s first newspaper, the Guardian of Liberty was printed by Adam Keenan, assisted by H. H. Kavanaugh, later a noted Bishop, and Dudley Mann, who became a diplomat to France. Guthrie’s Arithmetic, first to be published west of Alleghenies, was also printed here.

The marker, however, misses so much of the tale. Built by Dr. James McPeters in 1790, the building also served as the county’s first courthouse. [*] There, the county’s first murder trial was heard. The accused, Adam House, was defended by Henry Clay. Here is some more background from Mrs. L. Boyd’s Chronicles of Cynthiana (1894):

And, not surprisingly, the place is haunted.

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.

NoDestination: Duncan Tavern

Anne Duncan House (l) and Duncan Tavern (r), Paris, Ky.

If you have been to historic Williamsburg, Va., you know the import of the local tavern in colonial America. I think of all the taverns near Virginia’s colonial government seat, where our nation’s founders would gather to discuss the issues of the day.

When Kentucky was divided by Virginia into three counties, one of these counties was Bourbon County. Its seat has always been Paris (originally chartered as Hopewell, Va. [*]). Thirty-three counties have been carved from Bourbon’s original borders. Needless to say, people traveled long distances to visit the county seat of Paris. And these individuals needed a place to stay and to eat.

The Goddess of Liberty, the original name of the Duncan Tavern, was the gathering place for Kentucky’s earliest leaders, including Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Peter Houston and Michael Stoner. [*]

The three story tavern was constructed in 1788 by Maj. Joseph Duncan. According to the Kentucky Encyclopedia, the architecture is remarkable given that most structures of the day in Paris were log buildings. According to at least one account, the tavern towered over the 20′ x 30′ log courthouse below. [*] Duncan Tavern now houses the Kentucky Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution;the Anne Duncan House was erected in 1801 and now houses a genealogical library.

walkLEX: Carnegie Center

Carnegie Center in Lexington

With 400 books, Lexington began the first library in Kentucky in 1795. It was also the first library west of the Alleghenies. By 1898, the state legislature deemed Lexington large enough to warrant the creation of a free public library. So with a $60,000 gift from steel-magnate Andrew Carnegie, the City of Lexington constructed the Carnegie Library – the first Lexington Public Library.

The total cost to build was about $75,000 and it was completed in 1906. The neoclassical rests at the south end of Gratz Park and served as the city’s main library branch until the late 1980s when a new, larger structure was built on Main Street. Today, the building serves as the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.

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.

walkLEX: Commonwealth Stadium

Commonwealth Stadium

I love football and have witnessed many amazing moments at Commonwealth Stadium, home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The stadium was first constructed in 1973 to seat about 57,800, but the endzones were enclosed and luxury boxes were added during a massive renovation in 1999 that increased overall oficial seating capacity to 67,606. Of course, crowds of over 71,000 have seen the Wildcats play here.

The picture above is from above the west endzone during the annual Blue-White (scrimmage) game which concludes spring training.

Some of those great (and the most disappointing) moments I’ve seen: (1) Most points scored at the Stadium (77) by UK against UTEP in 2002; (2) most overtimes (7, tied) in NCAA history in a 2003 loss to Arkansas; (3) the Bluegrass Miracle by LSU. There are other great memories and many disappointments. Still, it is a great place to watch a football game and Kentuckians know how to tailgate!

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.

walkLEX: The Lexington Land Swap

UK giveth to Eastern State. Eastern State giveth to BCTC. BCTC giveth to UK. Albeit not entirely arms length nor transparent, this land swap will change the face of Lexington.

Bluegrass Community & Technical College 20 Year Plan

On May 14, Bluegrass Community and Technical College (“BCTC”) unveiled its 20-year master plan highlighting its plans for the old Eastern State Hospital on Newtown Pike. Pictured above is a map of the several phases of construction to occur at BCTC with buildings in brown being historic hospital buildings that will be preserved and adaptively reused. The hospital is being relocated to a more modern, to-be-constructed facility on UK’s Coldstream Campus (further out Newtown Pike). Construction is expected to begin on the new hospital later this month with an opening slated for 2012.

Meanwhile, the renaissance that will be brought to near-northeast Lexington will be underway. Beginning in March 2011, BCTC is expected to break ground at the 48-acre Newtown Pike campus with a $28.2 million dollar facility. The facility should be complete by the end of 2012 with students arriving for the spring semester of 2013.

A Now-n-Later of Fourth Street and Newtown Pike, Lexington

Ultimately, a revitalization can be expected along the Newtown Pike corridor near Fourth Street, Loudon Avenue and Georgetown Street. Pictured immediately above is a picture of the current and a rendering of the proposed intersection at Newtown and Fourth. This area is immediately adjacent to several historic areas of Lexington; hopefully, the renaissance will incorporate architecturally significant buildings with character to create a beautiful gateway into Lexington.