Woodford County is famed across Kentucky for its scenic landscapes, and its rural roads treasured by cyclists. Several months ago, I got a message from a Gardens to Gables reader about a curious historic house spotted by a bicyclist enjoying the area. The photograph prompted my curiosity as well – two door houses are a weakness of mine, and the holes in the roof, and overall forlorn air about the house prompted me to head in that direction.
A two-family frame dwelling along McCracken Pike.
Background information was scant, although this dwelling is located in a rural historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Clifton-McCracken Pikes Rural Historic District covers some 5,600 acres and contains many historic dwellings. To complicate matters, the information on this dwelling in the NRHP nomination and in the state inventory form is contradictory.
Section of an 1861 map of Woodford County, with the blue arrow marking the approximate location of the house.
The NRHP nomination posits that this dwelling began as a one-story, log, double-pen house, and was later enlarged after the Civil War to serve as a tenant house. While this dwelling may have existed during the antebellum period – and possibly been the home of the Mrs. Edwards seen on the above map – no part of it appears to be log. (And yes, it is generally possible to tell whether or not a building is log construction without leaving the public-right-of-way.)
Looking southeast toward house.
The state inventory (or survey) form, completed by a different individual than the author of the NRHP nomination, speculates that the construction of the house is closer to the last quarter of the 19th century. It was definitely built in two phases, so both dates could be correct.
Tombstone of Nancy Edwards, who lived along McCracken Pike, and may have lived in this house.
If this was the home of Nancy Edwards in 1861, then by her death in 1872, the agricultural sector of Kentucky had taken a dramatic shift.
After the Civil War, the traditional agricultural markets of Bluegrass farms changed. This not only forced farmers to find new crops and stock (as hemp and mules were on their way out), but also shaped the appearance of the landscape.
Looking northeast at house.
Large farms hired tenant farmers, often providing a place for the man and his family to live, and a share of whatever cash crop the farm produced. In the 20th century, many tenant farmers on Bluegrass farms raised burley tobacco.
If there wasn’t a dwelling suitable, new construction tended to be along the road – this was a departure from the siting practices of houses for enslaved workers prior to the Civil War, which were usually near the house or the agricultural fields, not along the periphery of the farm.
The lateral expansion of this house suggests it was occupied by more than one family unit – or workers – since the building is only one room deep. The rooms could have been partitioned off, but there still wouldn’t have been much room inside. A small 20th century addition on a poured concrete foundation is located at the rear of the house, likely a bathroom.
Whatever the untold story of this house is – it is likely to be the only thing that remains soon, as time and neglect are taking their toll on this dwelling.
There is something so compelling and forlorn about an abandoned house. Thanks for letting us “visit” this one.
I recall riding by this home each tie I do the Heart and Sole Triathlon in Versailles.
Fascinating!!
At least part of that place was occupied while I was in college(2004-2009). I would drive that road to my dads old house on elm st and I always looked at it. The yard is always maintained and recently (while I was living in my dads old house for 6 months) I noticed folks had set up the lot for a family picnic. So the property seems to still be a location for creating fond memory’s but it’s sad that in just a handful of years time it has been so badly neglected and jeopardized.