Tag: kentucky120

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.

Harrison County Courthouse – Cynthiana, Ky.

I set out this morning knowing that I would drive to Cynthiana to begin my trip through the east/central part of the Bluegrass, but I really had no idea what I was in for. I must admit that I got a bit lost on the way to Cynthiana, but getting a little lost was probably the best thing I could have done. This area of Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous. If you want to see some of the most beautiful stone fences and rolling countryside, follow my route. It was amazing. What continues to suprise me on these trips is how completely distinct different areas of Kentucky are. Owen County and Harrison County nearly touch each other, but they couldn’t be more different in geography.
Anyway, Cynthiana is a pretty little town, with a motto that is something like “A town as beautiful as its name.” I learned at the courthouse that the origin of the name “Cynthiana” is actually a pretty interesting story. According to the plaque on the courthouse, Robert Harrison (interestingly, not the county’s namesake, but the man who donated land for the courthouse square) had two daughters – Cynthia and Anna. Combining the two names gave us the name of the county seat.
According to the sign on the courthouse, the present courthouse is the third – built in 1853 with the clock and bell added in 1856. Wings were added in 1914, and it was listed on the National Historic Register in 1974.
What keeps surprising me about this project is how many times I find myself thinking “I could live here.” Cynthiana was no exception.


* BONUS PIC FOR PETER – I’ve decided that if I see something that is particularly noteworthy, I’m going to give everyone a bonus picture. This is labeled as the “Old Log Court House”- and has a pretty awesome history. It’s the oldest building in Cynthiana, built in 1790. Henry Clay practiced law here, and both the county’s first newspaper and a notable early arithmetic textbook were printed here.

Woodford County Courthouse – Versailles, Ky.

I love Woodford County. I hope someday to live there, but surprisingly, I’d never been to downtown Versailles (pronounced Ver-SALES). This was my last stop for the day, and as you can see in the picture the skies were starting to cloud up. I have to say the courthouse is pretty interesting. First off, its HUGE. It takes up the whole block, and there wasn’t an inch of green space that I could see. A courthouse with no courthouse lawn, but, to each his own I guess. At least it eliminates any of the public forum/free speech concerns that surround courthouse lawns. Anyway, there are two sets of stairs that lead up to the doors from the sides, giving the courthouse a very imposing feel – very HALLS OF JUSTICE. I like it.

Anderson County Courthouse – Lawrenceburg, Ky.

So . . . Anderson County has an amazing courthouse. The picture above really doesn’t do it justice. I don’t know a lot about architectural styles, but this building is a pretty amazing combination of the ornate and the simple. Huge cupola that rises tall above this small town, some really amazing Corinthian columns all on top of a base of irregular limestone bricks.
I couldn’t find much about the courthouse online anywhere, but I found a TON about the statute in the foreground. It’s one of Kentucky’s many Confederate war memorials. According to Wikipedia, (sorry), it was installed in 1894, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Interestingly, the statute is not of a general – instead, it’s a Confederate soldier in winter clothes.

Franklin County Courthouse – Frankfort, Ky.


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.

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.

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