NoDestination – Page 7 – The Kaintuckeean

NoD: Bluegrass Army Depot

Bluegrass Army Depot –

Occasionally, it makes the news because of a gas leak or new attempts at environmental remediation. But the Bluegrass Army Depot, which is little known to most Kentuckians, occupies a massive, secretive 15,000 acre tract in Madison County.

The Blue Grass Ordnance Depot in Madison County was announced by Washington in the summer of 1941 and, by early 1942, the government was filing condemnation actions against landowners who did not sell their land through private sale. In October 1942, the facility began storage of its first munitions. Even after World War II, the BGOD remained a critical facility.

In 1964, the role of the Lexington Army Depot (fka Lexington Signal Depot) at Avon was deminished and its operations were merged into the Madison County facility which was then-renamed the Lexington-Bluegrass Army Depot. In 1992, army reorganization caused the name to again be changed to simply the Bluegrass Army Depot. The old Lexington depot was formally BRAC’d in 1995; it has been converted to a light industrial park “Bluegrass Station” near I-64 and KY-859.

Since 1944, BGAD has housed about 2% of America’s chemical weapons stockpile. That’s right… near Richmond sits over 500 tons of VX, sarin, and mustard agent. A couple of leaks in the past decade have made some nearby residents understandably nervous; they await tornado-warning-like-sirens to notify them of the need for evacuation. Congress, however, has set a 2017 deadline to eliminate the stockpile in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention which has been agreed to by 65 countries.

The military conducts other operations at BGAD as well, including military equipment design and (of course) storage. Other secretive operations are also rumored to exist on the sprawling facility: alien technology, UFOs, undisclosed stealth technology and more.

But from the road on a clear day, it seems to be just a beautiful verdant field behind “US Army Property – No Trespassing” fencing.

NoD: The Owings House

The Owings House – Owingsville, Ky.

The lore surrounding the Owings House in downtown Owingsville is epic.

In 1795, Colonel Thomas Dye Owings was sent from Maryland to Kentucky by his father to operate some of the first iron furnaces in the region. Within fifteen years, Owings had amassed a good deal of wealth and land. Along with Colonel Richard H. Menefee, Owings would found the community that took his name, Owingsville.

Owings and Menefee each owned significant parcels of land in what would become Owingsville. To select whose name the community would take, the two men wagered that the man who built the finer home the quickest would be the namesake of the town. For the sum of $60,000, Owings won the contest. (Menefee, a good politician and acclaimed orator – the “Patrick Henry of the West” – died a pauper, his greatest legacy being a Kentucky county which bears his misspelled name).

Although there is no concrete evidence, it is widely believed that the Maryland native retained Washington, D.C. architect Benjamin Latrobe to design the Owings House. Some features of the property remind the writer of Latrobe’s work, including the Palladian window over the front door and the spiral staircase inside. In fact, the staircase was constructed in Baltimore and was carried overland by oxen before it was assembled and installed. The staircase alone was $10,000! The Owings House was completed in 1814 and soon was one of the destinations for Kentucky’s political elite.

Another guest of the house, from July 17, 1814 through July 22, 1815, was the exiled Louis Philippe of France (King from 1830 – 1848). This, too, is disputed as some believe that the houseguest was an imposter posing as the young Frenchman. It is true, however, that Louis Philippe was in Kentucky decades earlier when he lodged at Bardstown’s Talbott Tavern.

During the War of 1812, Owings raised a Kentucky regiment and was commissioned a colonel in the 28th U.S. Infantry. He also served in politics, as sheriff and as a judge. Ultimately, Owings’ business success faltered and he declared bankruptcy before leaving for Texas where he would serve first for Stephen Austin in Texas’ War of Independence before serving the U.S. in the Mexican War. Colonel Owings died and is buried in Texas.

In 1905, the east third of the Owings House was modified and adapted for use as a bank, the Owingsville Banking Company, which remains in operation today. All five bays pictured were part of Owings’ original home which bested Menefee in competition.

Bibliography
Bath County Tourism
National Register of Historic Places.
“Thomas Dye Owings” by W. T. Block

NoD: The Old Bath County Jail (part deux)

Old Jail of Bath County, Owingsville, Ky.

Old Bath County Jail – Owingsville, Ky.

This is an update to a prior post dated April 11, 2011, on the Old Bath County Jail in which I could not confirm that the pictured structure was in fact the old Bath County Jail. In doing research on an upcoming post, I found information confirming that this beautiful structure was Bath County’s jail.
From the National Register (Owingsville Commercial District and Courthouse Square):

The late-19th-century Bath County Jail (see photos 6,7 and site 5) reverberates, in a sense, the massing of the courthouse. This two-story, hip-rolled building is also of brick construction, and its centered square tower has a pyramidal roof each side being broken by a pedimented dormer. The boxed cornices of the building and tower are supported by modillions. Windows of the first floor have pedimented hoodmolds while those of the second are flat. To the south is a one-story polygonal addition, and at the rear is a two-story, shed-roofed appendage.

Bath County’s current jailer, Palmer “Jaybird” Crouch, has held the position since 1973. For the first two years, inmates were still held in this old jail (today, inmates are housed in the Montgomery County Jail). Crouch and his wife resided in the jailer’s quarters attached to the old jail and Crouch’s wife would prepare meals for the inmates until the state determined that the structure was unfit as a jail. [*]

NoD: How Horses Found Lexington

Historic Marker #205 – Vanceburg, Ky.

Just outside Vanceburg in Lewis County, where the Salt Lick Creek meets the Ohio River, is a historic marker, “Route for Horses and Cattle.” The names and date on this historic marker reveal to the careful reader an important history. The marker reads:

In 1775, Col. Robert Patterson, Wm. McConnell, David Perry and Stephen Lowry brought the first horses (9) and cattle (14) into northern Kentucky. Animals were brought by boat from Ft. Pitt and driven overland from here to the early inland settlements.

For those who read of the Patterson Cabin, you know the importance of Col. Robert Patterson. William McConnell, for whom Lexington’s McConnell Springs was named, is another key leader in early Kentucky history. Yes, these men would go on to establish much of the Bluegrass. And they brought with them the first horses and cattle into northern Kentucky. OK, these may not be the ancestors of Man-O-War or Seabiscuit, but the species that has so contributed to our state and it image first arrived by way of boat from Pittsburgh near this spot in Vanceburg.

NoD: Camp Nelson Bridge (v. 2.0)

Abandoned Camp Nelson Bridge – Jessamine/Garrard Counties, Ky.

Three bridges have crossed the Kentucky River at Camp Nelson and the pictured bridge was the second installation having replaced a double-barreled covered bridge that had carried travelers since 1838. Today, this abandoned bridge has been replaced by the less-scenic bridge that has carried four lanes of US-27 traffic since 1971.

This steel truss bridge features two Pennsylvania-style trusses which span 275 feet over the Kentucky River; with abutments and approaches, the length is extended to 543 feet. When the waters of the Kentucky River are lowest, the bridge rises 60 feet above them. Over 600,000 pounds of structural steel were used for construction, including the 15,000 rivets connecting the I-beams. [*] Bridges are impressive structures and version 2.0 of the Camp Nelson trilogy doesn’t disappoint.

As with all things abandoned, it is a little eerie to walk onto the bridge — completely alone. The rusting trusses and fauna growing through cracks and clumps of dirt give a certain “Life After People” aura. But the spectacular views from this bridge, and the perspective of the three different Camp Nelson bridges is in itself a walk through history.

NoD: Lewis County’s Union Monument

Union Monument at the Lewis County Courthouse – Vanceburg, Ky.

One hundred seven young men from Lewis County died answering Lincoln’s call to “preserve the Union.” They were not alone. Over two million Northerners took up arms against their Southern brethren for a conflict that would last four years and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands. In Kentucky – a border state with dueling state governments and its star being counted on the flags of both Union and Confederacy – the War pitted brother against brother.

After the war, the practice of erecting statues and monuments in memory of the brave soldiers began. We see them in cemeteries, in parks and on the lawns of courthouses. But if you look closely at those erected by public subscription on the lawns of courthouses, you will find that only one in Kentucky is dedicated to the soldiers of the Union Army.

The Union Monument on the lawn of the Lewis County Courthouse, Vanceburg, is not just the only such memorial in Kentucky — it is the only such memorial south of the Mason-Dixon Line! All other Union memorials are located in cemeteries with the fallen.

Thirty feet tall and cut from limestone, it was also the first Civil War monument with a statue erected in the Commonwealth. The soldier, clutching his musket with both hands, wears a kepi cap, cape and winter coat.

Erected in 1884, the distinction of this monument as the only such monument south of the Mason-Dixon Line evinces Lewis County’s strong Union leanings. The following is inscribed upon this monument to the fallen: “The War for the Union was Right, Everlasting Right; And the War Against the Union was Wrong, Forever Wrong.”

Sources, inter alia, National Register.

NoD: A Kentucky of a Place

Looking across the Kentucky River into Fayette County – Madison Co., Ky.

I decided to get off of Interstate 75 as I approached Lexington from the south. Good decision. I wanted to enter into Fayette County using the old Clays Ferry Bridge, but I discovered a lot more. I took the “Clays Ferry” exit in northern Madison County and began zig-zagging my descent toward the Kentucky River on the old Lexington Road.

And then I saw the scenic overlook. I pulled to the side of the road and remembered why an 18th century Baptist preacher, when asked to describe heaven, said that “Heaven is a Kentucky of a place.” I’ve recognized this before, but never so close to Lexington.

The Kentucky River was high and clearly visible with the late-afternoon sun glistening off its pool. Everything else – verdant abundance on the hills and descending into the river valley. Aside from the ribbon of pavement at my feet, there was no indication that this pristine spot had been touched.

Yes, the preacher-man surely was right: “Heaven is a Kentucky of a place.”

NoD: Honest Bill from Olive Hill

Honest Bill from Olive Hill - Carter County, Ky.

Plaque on Marker at Courthouse Square – Grayson, Ky.

As you know, politics in Kentucky is “the damnedest.” Which may be the only logical explanation behind the slogan used by William Jason Fields in each of his campaigns: “Honest Bill from Olive Hill.”

Born in Willard (Carter Co.), Ky. in 1874, Fields went on to serve Kentucky’s Ninth District in Congress from 1911 to 1923 when he resigned from Congress to assume the governorship in Frankfort. He was governor for one term, 1923-1927. When Fields left the governor’s mansion, he signed 148 pardons and spent much time after his governorship defending “the innocence of convicted-and-pardoned murderers, manslaughterers, robbers forgers, embezzlers, housebreakers, barn burners.” (Time, 12-27-1927).

So how “honest” was Bill? Well, he did have that unusually high number of pardons. And it is unclear what favors he offered when he received the Democratic nomination for and was elected governor in 1923. Interesting story: the party’s nominee died and runner-up, Alben Barkley, declined the nomination (he had decided to run for U.S. Senate, a good decision for the later Vice-President). So the party’s central committee selected Wm. Jason Fields as its nominee. Despite a factious Democratic Party, Fields garnered the support of the all-powerful Jockey Club, U.S. Senator A.O. Stanley, Louisville banker James B. Brown, and our good friend Billy Klair to secure his election. [*]

Although he issued too many pardons, engaged in nepotism and was nominated and elected through a series of back-room deals, he was still “Honest Bill from Olive Hill.” Well, ain’t politics the damnedest? But, hey… he did sign into law the creation of the Kentucky Parks System. Thanks, governor!

NoD: Camp Nelson National Cemetery

Headstones at Camp Nelson National Cemetery – Nicholasville, Ky.

In southern Jessamine County lies the Camp Nelson National Cemetery, one of eight national cemeteries in the Commonwealth. Prior to being a designated national cemetery (1866), Sections A, B, C and D contained the buried dead from the Civil War-era Camp Nelson. This 3.5 acre area was subsequently expanded around the time of its designation to approximately 8 acres, but today it is much larger at about 51 acres (thanks in part to a donation of 10 acres made in 1975 and the acquisition of 21 acres in 2010). In fact, current acreage would allow a total of approximately 30,000 graves while the current census is less than 15,000.

A part of the massive Civil War-era Camp Nelson complex – once 4,000 acres – the first soldiers buried here were likely victims of smallpox and other non-conflict causes. At least one death was noted due to a “falling tree.” [*] After becoming a designated national cemetery, 2,023 dead from various Kentucky battlefields and skirmishes were reinterred here: from Frankfort (104), Richmond (241), London (266), Covington (437), and from Perryville, where the Confederates were defeated in October of 1862 (975).

Pictured above is one of the many headstones located at the cemetery. If you look closely, you’ll note that it is that of Larry C. Vrondis (a WWII Veteran who I have mentioned on this site before). On this Memorial Day, we thank all of our veterans (and their families) for their service to our country.

You can visit Camp Nelson for its Memorial Day events on Monday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m.

NoD: Cox Building

Cox Building – Maysville, Ky.

In November of 2010, fire ravaged Maysville’s historic Cox Building (photos). I immediately remembered the story when I was in Maysville the following month and observed all of the scaffolding around the building’s remaining shell. It was clear that the roof and top floor was a complete loss.

The building first opened in 1887 with its upper floors (primarily the Third) being a Masonic Lodge for the York Rite Knights Templar. Its opening was attended by Gov. J. Proctor Knott (a Templar) who stated that “The Temple is pronounced the handomest in Kentucky, and one of the finest in the South.”

The Cox Building replaced a tanyard and a “dilapidated two-story brick” with a Romanesque five-story designed by W. R. Brown of Crapsey & Brown, Cincinnati. The Masons shared their space throughout the years with other orders and organizations, including other Masonic rites, the Eastern Stars and the Grand Army of the Republic. Storefronts and offices contained a number of different businesses. Later, portions of the upper floors were converted into low-income housing.

The Cox Building is symmetrical on each of its visible facades with a tower in its corner. Visible in the tower shingles was a red cross – a tangible connection to the resident Templars. Of course, the Masons included a number of other architectural flourishes in the building’s design. Although the building appears to be a four story structure, there are in fact five stories with an ‘intermediate’ fourth floor between Three and Five. Apparently, this ‘intermediate’ floor contained the Red Cross Room and armoury (to be certain, it would have been the most secretive areas in the building as it was unknown from the street).

The City of Maysville acquired the building in 2006 and sought to renovate it as a community center which would include a culinary school to be part of the local community college. After the fire, the building was nominated for inclusion on the National Register with the hope of securing more grants to return this beautiful landmark of Maysville to its glory.

UPDATE: On August 18, 2011, the Cox Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (11000538).