Tag: Washington

3 Kentucky Memorials Honor Our Veterans

Armistice Day. It was on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month in the year 1918 that World War I ceremonially ended.

In time, and in recognition of the many more conflicts in which American servicemen and women fought, the holiday was renamed to Veterans Day. To all those who have served our country, thank you.

Below are images of 3 selected memorials around Kentucky which honor the servicemen of World War I:

Springfield, Kentucky. Author’s collection.
Paintsville, Kentucky. Author’s collection
Morehead, Kentucky. Author’s collection.

Majestic St. Rose Priory rises above Washington County

Saint Rose Catholic Priory near Springfield, Ky. Author’s Collection.

Few things are quite as majestic as traveling along one of Kentucky’s scenic roads when suddenly a grand church appears seemingly out of nowhere. The juxtaposition of the two sanctuaries, Kentucky’s undulating land and the house of God, almost always prompts me to stop for a moment.

Such was the case a few weekends ago when driving through Washington County along the road to Loretto. At once, the towering St. Rose Priory Church came into my line of sight. Its height was exaggerated, too, because of the high bluff on which the church stood overlooking the road.

Immediately dominant are the “majestic octagonal tower and inspiring stained-glass windows” which feature prominently in the church built in the Tudor-Gothic style in the mid-19th century. The tower’s tiered buttresses also add to the visual impression of great height.

St. Rose was established earlier, in 1806. Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, the son of a wealthy Marylander, used his inheritance to purchase a 500 acre farm near Springfield.

Work began on constructing a small monastery, also known as a priory, which was completed in 1807. Also built, completed in 1809, was a small brick church which remains standing as a chancel on the present church’s northern end. West of the Alleghenies, it is the oldest structure still utilized as a church. It is also the first foundation in the United States by the Dominican Order.

St. Rose Catholic Priory. Author’s Collection

The small brick church, though simple in form, functioned briefly as a cathedral for the Diocese of Bardstown prior to the completion of Saint Joseph. When the new Diocese of Cincinnati was created in 1821 from the Bardstown diocese, Fr. Fenwick was consecrated as its first bishop. The consecration services were held here, at St. Rose.

Added over the years was a convent and educational facilities. The small brick church was added to with the current larger, grander church which was begun in 1852 and dedicated in 1855. The architect for the new Saint Rose was William Keely, a renowned church architect, who also designed Louisville’s Cathedral of the Assumption.

The blue limestone used for the ca. 1852 church was quarried nearby.

Saint Rose of Lima (Peru) was the first American saint and for her this historic and beautiful church was named. In 1978, farming operations ceased and the old ca. 1867 Italianate priory was demolished in favor of smaller facilities. Much of the land originally purchased by Fr. Fenwick was sold leaving about 100 acres of property for the church.

Saint Rose Priory & Historic Marker near Springfield, Ky. Author’s Collection.

A state historic marker by the road reads:

Founded, 1806, by Fr. Fenwick from Maryland. First Dominican religious house and second oldest priory in the U.S. Site of first Catholic college west of Alleghenies, 1807. St. Thomas School here, 1809-28. Jefferson Davis, later President of Confederacy, student, 1815-16. In 1822 Fr. Wilson founded first community of Dominican Sisters in U.S. Present church built, 1852.

Today, Saint Rose has the designation of a proto-priory meaning that it previously served as a priory much in the same was as Bardstown’s Saint Joseph proto-cathedral retains its designation from its days as the cathedral for the dissolved Diocese of Bardstown. And the church remains an active and beautiful parish church.

Tying the knot that gave us Abraham Lincoln

Historic Marker at the Homesite of Jesse Head. Author’s Collection.
Postcard of Jesse Head. Ky. Hist. Soc.

A block or two off of Springfield’s Main Street is the homesite of Jesse Head. Though the home is long gone, replaced in a prior century by a rural Victorian which itself has seen better days, the once-occupant of the site is uniquely tied to history.

One of Springfield and Washington County’s greatest claims is their relationship with Abraham Lincoln.

It was in Washington County that Lincoln’s parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, were wed in 1806.

Three years later, the Great Emancipator was born in nearby Hodgenville.

The preacher who wed the two was Jesse Head.

Rev. Head, a Marylander born in 1768, had lived in Springfield since the 1790s. On the place of his old  homesite now stands a historic marker which reads  

On June 12, 1806 he performed the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, who, in 1809, became the parents of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the U.S. Head, born in Maryland in 1768, “came-a-preaching” to KY in 1798. Cabinet maker, justice of peace, on Sundays he preached fearlessly. Moved shop to Harrodsburg, 1810, kept on preaching, began newspaper.

In 1922, a monument was dedicated at the Spring Hill Cemetery in Harrodsburg which is Head’s final resting place. At the time, a poem was prepared and read by Henry Cleveland Wood which spoke of the marriage ceremony once officiated by Rev. Jesse Head:

That from this lowly union there would spring
A modern Moses to a captive race;
A just man, fashioned in heroic mould-
Of Hero’s stuff-a fearless President-
Emancipator-yet a Martyr, too-
Abraham Lincoln-Man of Destiny.

The Retirement Home of Senator John Pope

Retirement house of Sen. John Pope in Springfield, Kentucky. Author’s Collection.

One of Lexington’s finest landmarks is the Pope Villa which was designed by Benjamin Latrobe for Senator John Pope and his wife Eliza. The senator sold Pope Villa in 1829 after President Jackson appointed Pope to serve as the territorial governor of Arkansas.

John Pope. Congress.

Departed for the Gem State, Pope would serve as governor until 1835. While in Arkansas, he brought in Kentucky architect Gideon Shryock to design the state capitol for Arkansas. The old capitol remains standing as the oldest state capitol (albeit no longer used as the capitol) west of the Mississippi River and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

After his governorship, Pope returned to the Commonwealth and retired to Springfield, Kentucky, in 1835. Eliza had died in 1818 and Pope remarried in 1820 to a widow from Washington County. In Springfield, Pope returned both to the practice of law and elected office including serving in Congress from 1837-1843.

Retirement house of Sen. John Pope in Springfield, Kentucky. Author’s Collection.

Pope’s retirement home in Springfield is unlike his historic Lexington home designed by LaTrobe. The biggest similarity among the two is that when each was constructed, the residences were built on the edges of town but are today located in dense residential areas.

In the case of Pope’s retirement home, 207 Walnut Street in Springfield, the home was built in 1839 by designer-builder John Riley. The lack of a prominent architect accounts for “the relatively conservative style of the house” as suggested in the National Register application (PDF). Built as a one-and-a-half-story brick building, [the home has] the usual four rooms on both
stories, each with a fireplace served by the two projecting chimneys at the ends of the
main block.”

While common in lesser homes of the era, especially those with multiple tenants, the dual front doors of the home are quite unique. It is thought that this would facilitate a separate entrance to Pope’s library and office.

A service ell on the rear of the building was quite typical, though the design was conceptually distasteful to the architect of Pope’s Villa in Lexington.

The historic marker outside of Pope’s retirement residence reads

Eminent Washington Co. citizen. Brilliant Kentucky lawyer, statesman. Born, Va. Represented Shelby Co., 1802, Fayette Co., 1806, in Leg.; U.S. Senate, 1807-13; Ky. Sec. of State, 1816-19; Ky. Sen., 1825-29; Gov. Arkansas Ter., 1829-35, named by Pres. Jackson; U.S. Congress, 1837-43. Federalist and Democrat. Built this home, 1839. Died here; buried in Springfield Cemetery.

Noting Pope to only have served as a Federalist and Democrat, the historic marker doesn’t acknowledge Pope’s later identity as a Whig. As a Whig, Pope was thrice elected to Congress from Springfield.

John Pope died here on July 12, 1845.

kernel: Two Central Kentucky Historic Districts Now on National Register

On December 19, 2011, the Department of the Interior recognized and approved the nominations of two central Kentucky historic districts to the National Register of Historic Places. The first is in Harrodsburg (Mercer County); the second is in Springfield (Washington County).

Harrodsburg Post Office
(Photo from NRHP Application File)

In Harrodsburg, the North Main Street Historic District includes addresses at 105-414 N. Main St., 109 W. Lexington, 101 W. Broadway, and 163 E. Broadway. With twenty-three contributing buildings , the district encompasses a number of architectural styles with a period of incluence stretching from 1823 until 1949. The district is mixed-use and features commercial, residential, and civic structures. In this historic district, the development of Kentucky’s oldest non-native settlement is readily visible. (NRHP# 11000796)

West Main Street, Springfield
(Photo from NRHP Application File)

One hundred sixty-five contributing features will make up Springfield’s Main Street Historic District, an 83-acre area bounded by Commercial Ave. to College St. and McCord, High Sts. to E. Depot St. This nomination is actually an expansion of the historic district originally approved in 1989. The Washington County Courthouse, completed in 1816, marks the beginning of the districts period of significance, though the city’s development can be bifurcated by the year 1888 during which year the Louisville & Nashville arrived. The county also had an extensive toll road network making Springfield a magnet for commercial and civic activity in the county. Pictured above are buildings which house or once housed shops, banks, masonic lodges and the opera house). (NRHP# 11000803)

Washington County Courthouse – Springfield, Ky.


The Washington County Courthouse was the second courthouse I saw today that was undergoing some historic preservation. Additionally, the 1816 date on the front of the building would make this the oldest courthouse I’ve yet seen. Much like the rest of the state, Springfield is pretty Lincoln obsessed, being that his parents were married here, he lived here when he was younger, etc. I only wish that Springfield had won the contest on “The Simpsons” a few years ago to become the official Simpsons hometown. I mean, it’s already right next door to a Shelbyville. It makes perfect sense.


BONUS PIC FOR PETER – I’ve decided that I’m only going to post pictures of the current “judicial centers” that now serve as county courthouses if they contain something notable. I really liked the new Washington County Judicial Center, particularly this Lincoln statute. So there you go.