Okay, so I’ve never been a big fan of the Franklin County Courthouse. The city of Frankfort is pretty cool in spots – lots of older historic buildings. This is one of the few courthouses in Kentucky that I’ve been inside of as a reporter or law clerk, and I think that’s part of the problem. Its beautiful inside, but as far as the outside, it’s hidden down by the Kentucky River near Singing Bridge. Due to this weird location, I think it gets totally lost.
I actually know a lot about this building too, thanks to the historic Frankfort walking tour. According to the materials from the Franklin County/Frankfort Tourism Commission, the building was built in 1835, and designed by Gideon Shryock who designed a ton of buildings in Frankfort. It was remodeled in 1909, and an addition was added in 1949.
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Owen County Courthouse – Owenton, Ky.
Let me just say this at the start. Call me a nerd, but I have found that there is this really amazing feeling when you’re approaching the county seat and you see this towering courthouse cupola sticking up over the rest of the buildings between the trees. Especially when that towering courthouse is ridiculously awesome.
So I decided to start this whole thing in a place that I’d never been to, and the winner was Owen County. Owen County is sort of an island right in the middle of the big triangle (between Lexington, Louisville and Cincinnati) and I’ve never had a reason to go there. So, I set out today with a map and a camera and no idea what I would find. The county seat of Owen County is (not surprisingly) Owenton. Anyway, I really thought this was an excellent way to start out the project. The building is pretty cool. It has these impressive brick columns and a really pretty little courthouse square. I looked it up on the National Register of Historic Places and it was built in the 1850s. Probably the coolest part is unseen in the above picture, as behind the courthouse is the old county jail, which is also on the National Historic Register.