Old Lexington

We have been going into downtown Lexington quite often this month for the boys swimming lessons and walked through a lovely area on the way to the library this morning. Lexington full of historic homes and beautiful architecture. The large trees provide shade while the flowers, lamp posts and brick sidewalks bring an added charm. I love walking the streets admiring the old buildings thinking of the days past and the people who once called them home.

A home on Mill Street.

Gratz Park

Today while going to the library we passed the The Hunt-Morgan House,historically known as Hopemont. Built 1814.

John Wesley Hunt was known as the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies and earned his fortune from the mercantile business shortly after Lexington was established. Other notable personalities have also resided at Hopemont. Hunt's grandson, General John Hunt Morgan, was a dashing general in the Confederate Army who gained the nickname "The Thunderbolt of the Confederacy" through his many raids and daring military feats. John Wesley Hunt's great grandson, Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan, was born in the house in 1866. Dr. Morgan became famous for his work in genetics and is the only Kentuckian to have won the Nobel Prize.

On the way home we drove past the Mary Todd Lincolon Home Built 1803-1806.

This simple two story brick building on West Main Street was home to Robert S. Todd and his family, including his daughter Mary, wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Mary Todd was not born at this house but moved here with her family in 1832 when she was 14 years old. She eventually married a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln in 1842.

Hosta in bloom.

Just a two minute drive from our home is Waveland. Rich and I visited it in February. It is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky. The home sits atop a small knoll surrounded by 200 acres of Bluegrass farmland. Joseph Bryan constructed Waveland in 1845 on a 2,000-acre tract of land "laid off" by his uncle and frontiersman, Daniel Boone.

In the fall Rich and I toured Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate. Built 1804. Henry Clay was Kentucky's famous senator and three time presidential candidate. Clay served as a United States Senator and Representative from Kentucky during the period of the War of 1812 up to the decade preceding the Civil War. Henry Clay was best known for his attempts to secure a compromise between the states on the issue of slavery.

He is buried in the Lexington Cemetery. Located in the center of the cemetery is a magnificent monument in honor of Henry Clay. The monument was erected in 1857 after Clay's death in June 1852. The monument was built using native limestone and consists of a 120-foot tall Corinthian column surmounted by a statue of Clay. The remains of Clay and his wife Lucretia rest in two marble sarcophagi on the floor of a vaulted chamber at the base of the monument.

While Lexington has many wonderful sites, Kentucky is filled with many historic places and Rich and I have tried to visit as many as we can.

While we were living in Louisville my family and I traveled to Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and my little family had visited the Kentucky Horse Park on a day trip during Rich's second year of medical school.

In Louisville Rich and I went to Thomas Edison's home located in historic Butchertown where at age 19 he lived for a short time working as a telegraph key operator. (Thanks to Kristi for watching my boys!)

I also visited Locust Grove. This home was established by William and Lucy Clark Croghan in 1790. William Croghan was the brother-in-law and surveying partner of George Rogers Clark, founder of Louisville and Revolutionary War hero. George Rogers Clark spent the last nine years of his life at Locust Grove, from 1809 until his death in 1818. Locust Grove also hosted three U.S. Presidents, Monroe, Jackson and Taylor, and was a stopping point for famed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark upon their return from their expedition to the Pacific.