Kentucky: a road trip through the state - Part 30 - Orlando / Florida Guide
Florida Guide > Travelling
If you have been reading through this set of articles in sequence you might remember, that in part 25, I gave a list of some of the other things you might want to do. Well we actual did them and over the next sections of this article I will give you some more details on the historic homes, arts and crafts and the covered bridges in the state.
In this section I would like to detail some of the historic homes and places that you can find in the Lexington area.
This was the first part of Kentucky to be settled, and the beginning of the American West. The Civil War which deeply divided the state managed to leave most antebellum houses and buildings intact. When you look back you will find that many of the national leaders and other prominent people of the 1700’s and 1800’s had a connection to Lexington.
Very few cities anywhere in the world can point to an actual spot where they began. However it’s known that in the late spring of 1775 a group of surveyors, led by William McConnell, were camped at a spring a couple of miles from the current downtown area. They were still there when word reached them of the first battle between the British and the colonists at Lexington, Massachusetts. It was this battle that would start the Revolutionary War and to commemorate that battle, they named their campsite ' Lexington. '
Over the next 220 years by some amazing coincidence this campsite was not destroyed by development. During those years the site was used as a mill, gunpowder factory, distillery and dairy farm but remained little changed.
In the 1990’s because of the efforts of hundreds of local people and civic leaders the cities birthplace became what it is now; a 21. 5-acre city park, with walking trails and a visitor centre. You can sit by the same spring by towering burr oaks trees, that where probably just saplings at the time, and imagining what it might have been like in those days.
The park was named McConnell Springs is located just off Old Frankfort Pike. The park is open daily 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p. m. to 5 p. m. Sunday; trails are open till dusk. Guided nature and history hikes are often scheduled and you can find out about these from the visitor centre.
The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau also produce a brochure called the Lexington Walk. This is a walking tour of downtown and is available free. The walk includes lots information about many historic buildings in the downtown area.
This is one of the walks that we did and I will describe some of what we saw in the next part of the article number 31.
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