No Destination: Howard’s Creek (Providence) Church

I continued without destination by heading east from Athens. I have found that a No Destination trek is made more comfortable with the GPS feature on the iPhone as I could take a few extra turns with the knowledge that I was merely on a detour and not going down a dead-end.

I found Grimes Mill Road – just inside Clark County – to be breathtaking. The beautiful stone home, the red barns and the bridge over the stream all captured eras past. Minutes later, I find myself peering in the windows of a cafe & bakery at Combs Ferry. It was closed, but not out of business as large sacks of organic sidamo coffee beans lay on the floor.

Uncertain as to whether my destination for the day would be McKee, Winchester or Paris, I saw a historic marker and followed the path down which it led. The church at Howard’s Creek was regularly attended by Daniel Boone. In 1790, the church was renamed “Providence” and the present stone structure was contructed by William Bush, who was a member of Boone’s second Kentucky expedition. According to the historic marker, the church “passed to Negro Baptists, 1870.”

After a heavy rain, the road to the church would be under water at two points. It was a beautiful, short drive to the church and the old, stone building was picturesque. As I walked up to the church on a Saturday, I noticed the freshly mowed grass. As I snapped a few pictures, the minister came out and we exchanged greetings.

He had been preparing the Sunday sermon for his flock at the Providence Missionary Baptist Church. About 14 attend weekly, and the church remains a black baptist congregation. It also remains as the oldest Baptist church west of the Alleghenies.

No Destination: Athens

Leaving my home in Nicholasville, I traveled through eastern Jessamine County and southern Fayette County before arriving in the small community of Athens (pronounced with a long “A”, AY-thÉ™nz). Located in rural Fayette County (but part of Lexington-Fayette due to the 1974 merger of city and county), Athens was first settled in 1786 and was chartered in 1826.

Originally known as “Cross Plains,” it has been suggested that the name “Athens” is a reference to Lexington’s old nickname, “The Athens of the West.” The nickname was a statement of Lexington’s educational and societal strength during the early- to mid-1800s.

The village was a manufacturing center until most of the town had burned by 1860 (according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which listed the Athens historic district in 1979, a major fire occurred in 1853-54). Today, Athens is nothing more than a crossroads. The old Athens Elementary School was closed a few years ago and is now used as an antique mall.

What remains of the historic district sits at the crossroads: the Aubrey Inn (c. 1800) and the Marshall Tavern (c. 1840). These two brick structures have been well-cared for and are surprisingly imposing for this little hamlet; clear evidence of what once was.

Gallatin County Courthouse – Warsaw, Ky.

U.S. 42 is always a beautiful drive – I highly recommend it. When I lived in Oldham County, I would drive it whenever I had the chance, but I never made it as far up the road as Warsaw. U.S. 42 basically follows the river, and there are a ton of great old river towns along the way. Warsaw is one of those towns.
The courthouse above is on the National Historic Register, and was built in 1837.

I took this picture just two blocks behind the courthouse on the Ohio River. I thought it was pretty picturesque, so I stepped out of the car and snapped this one really quick. Just two miles up the river from here there was apparently a horrible river accident back in 1868. If you pull over to the side of the road, there is a historical marker describing the collision between the America and the United States, two passenger boats traveling between Louisville and Cincinnati. The United States had barreled coal oil on board, which ignited in the collision, spreading to both boats and coating the river in fire. There was $325,000 in damage ($5.6 million today according to an inflation calculator) and 162 people died in the tragedy.

Boone County Courthouse – Burlington, Ky.


Burlington has a really nice historic downtown area, with a wealth of markers that provide a ton of information. All government buildings are in a little cluster downtown, including a HUGE new judicial center. The historic courthouse above was built in 1889. According to the historical marker, there has been a courthouse on this spot since 1799, and this is the third such building. A few interesting things about this building:
* It was built in the Renaissance Revival style for about $20,000
* Notice how small the cupola looks? Well, that’s because the original cupola was deemed to be too heavy for the building to support, and it was removed in 1898.
* There is a nearly identical courthouse in Bandera, Texas built a year after this one, but made of sandstone.
It felt great to head out of Burlington, because it meant that I got to leave the big roads behind and get back to the little country roads.

Campbell County Courthouse – Alexandria, Ky.

At this point, I was really frustrated. Navigating Northern Kentucky is a complete disaster. Roads meander around, and there are “freeway-style” roads all over the place. After wandering around for awhile I finally found this courthouse in the middle of what I guess used to be Alexandria. It felt sort of bleak up there. It is now a history center for the county I think, but I couldn’t find the new judicial center anywhere. So I got this picture of the historic courthouse and was happy.
The courthouse’s historic marker told me that Campbell was the 19th county, was formed in 1794, and that originally the county seat was in Newport (which makes much better sense). But for whatever reason the county seat was moved to Alexandria in 1840.

Kenton County Courthouse (No. 1) – Independence, Ky.

Okay, so this was nuts. Kenton County has two county seats – one in Independence, and one in Covington. I did not know this today, and now I’m sort of upset that I didn’t get the other one in Covington when I was up there. Can anyone tell me if its prettier than this one in Independence? I was wondering the entire time I was in Independence why the seat wasn’t in Covington, and now I feel kind of stupid. I guess I’ll get it on my next trip to Cincinnati.
I have to admit that I got lost trying to find this courthouse in Independence, due mostly to the fact that Northern Kentucky is about the most confusing place in the world to drive. I had to end up calling Peter, who helped me get where I needed to go through the magic of the internet.

Grant County Courthouse – Williamstown, Ky.


Today I decided to travel up to Grant County on a little bit of what remains of the Dixie Highway (U.S. 25). For anyone living in Lexington, the next time you head up to Cincinnati, I highly recommend the route. It basically weaves around under I-75, but like many of the old highways in this country, the road follows the terrain instead of blasting through it. It’s a beautiful drive through the Bluegrass, and there are tons of great now-defunct roadside stores and shops to check out.
The courthouse above bears the date 1937 on its cornerstone, and is about to be “the old courthouse,” as there is a huge judicial center being constructed down the street. It’s pictured here below.

No Destination: Liberty

This sleepy town of about 2,000 is – and always has been – all about its name: Liberty. A number of Revolutionary War veterans received land grants in the area and named their community after that which they had sacrificed. Liberty was selected as the county seat in 1808 and was finally incorporated in 1830.

Looking down Main Street from the courthouse, I noticed a small park (Veteran’s Park) with many waving American flags. In that park, too, was an exact replica of the Liberty Bell (sans the infamous crack). The original bell, which hung in Independence Hall arrived in America from its manufacturer (the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in 1753. The Liberty replica was also cast by Whitechapel and, with its African teak headstock, weighs 2,700 pounds. It is dedicated to the “Citizens of Liberty” (a great double entendre).

Casey County Courthouse – Liberty, Ky.

I’ve driven through Casey County a couple of times, but have never been downtown. The courthouse is pretty sweet, though it appears to need a little restoration, which I doubt will ever happen based on the huge new judicial center across the street. When we arrived in Liberty, it was getting ready to storm, and the downtown area was ominously quiet. I love storms, which is probably one of the reasons that I enjoyed photographing Liberty so much.
This courthouse was built in 1888, and was preceded by a different brick building and a log building. According to this historical marker, the use of stone trim and its asymmetrical design are unique for a courthouse.

Lincoln County Courthouse – Stanford, Ky.


Stanford was a big surprise. Driving into town, I saw a big Super Walmart, which tends to be the death knell for any sort of cool downtown area. But Stanford is an amazing little downtown. Perhaps you could chalk it up to it being the oldest Main Street in Kentucky (because it’s on the old Wilderness Trail), or perhaps its due to the fact that there are tractors parallel parked across from the courthouse. Whatever it may be, there’s only one word to really describe Stanford -it’s charming. I sat on a park bench right in front of the courthouse and enjoyed a few minutes of the afternoon.
The courthouse pictured above is the fourth courthouse on this spot, built in 1909. Lincoln County is named after Revolutionary War hero Benjamin Lincoln, and is one of the original three Kentucky counties. According to materials from the Lincoln County tourism folks, the architecture is classical Beaux Arts influenced, and its archives are “a genealogy goldmine” as their records date back to 1780. These are the oldest records in the state.