Hickman, in far western Kentucky, is located on five bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Trade along the river propelled the community, originally known as Mills Point, into a thriving town by the mid-19th century. At that time, most of the town’s buildings were located in “lower section” of town – a location along the river that was frequently ravaged by floods. By the late 19th century, the bluff known as Old Hickman bluff, well removed from flood waters, was considered the “preferred residential section” of town.
A 2018 view of the Dr. James Hubbard House.
Buchanan Street was one of the “it” streets, and it was here that Dr. James McConnell Hubbard had his house constructed in 1903. The street had earlier boasted a number of mid-19th century dwellings, but according to the National Register of Historic Places nomination, all of these houses were torn down after 1900 and “new buildings constructed on their sites.”*
Hickman, Kentucky, as shown on the 1970 Hickman topographic quadrangle map, (KY/MO/TN).
Hubbard, a member of a prominent local family, was born in 1863 on the family farm. He began practicing medicine in Hickman in 1886, after a stint at the Kentucky Military Institute in Frankfort, and medical school in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. James Hubbard House, circa 1990. Image from the National Register of Historic Places files.
His large brick home, described as a “fine modern brick residence” in a period publication, has a facade dominated by a two-story portico with a Palladian window (the gable has unfortunately been resided with modern materials) and Ionic columns. Stone quoins accent the corners of the dwelling, and all of the windows have stone lintels and sills. Oval windows with leaded glass are located on the second story facade.
A deep cornice with block modillions runs all the way around the house, and even though the house is perched high above the river, the stone foundation is also raised – giving the house even more of an imposing presence.
Circa 1909 postcard showing one of many floods to devastate the town of Hickman.
This view is of the “Flood District of West Hickman, KY.” The Hubbard House sits on a bluff above this area. Image from the Kentucky Historical Society, Ronald Morgan Kentucky Postcard Collection, Graphic 5
Hickman is a city of contradictions – this was readily apparent in the afternoon I spent there last summer. The lower town is akin to a ghost town, while up on the bluffs, the vagaries of the river seem very distant. Abandoned commercial buildings haunt empty sidewalks in the lower town, while buildings like the Dr. James M. Hubbard house speak to the status and means of their original owners.
*Philip Thomason. Buchanan Street Historic District. Hickman, Kentucky. Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, 1990. Copy on file at the Kentucky Heritage Council, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Nice — drop dead Colonial Revival. So much of Kentucky to explore!! Thanks for your postings.