Kentucky: a road trip through the state- Part 39 - Orlando / Florida Guide
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HISTORIC PLACES IN THE BLUEGRASS REGION continued;
If you continue traveling south after your visit to Nicholasville you will come to Danville which is the home of the Constitution Square State Historic Site. This site includes a pre-1792 post office which is thought to be the first west of the Alleghenies. It also has had built replicas of an early meetinghouse, courthouse and jail. Just across the park is the McDowell House, it was here in 1809, that early Kentucky doctor Ephraim McDowell performed the first successful surgery to remove an ovarian tumour. The Federal-style house includes an apothecary with early medical and dental supplies and equipment. You can pick up a walking and driving tour map at the visitor centre, the walking tour of this area includes the Rodes House, where the film ' Raintree County' was filmed in 1956.
There is a battle field in the area which is located ten miles to the west of Danville at Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site. Here you can walk the fields where Kentucky' s biggest and bloodiest Civil War battle was fought on October 8, 1862. If you happen to be in the area during October then ask about the battle re-enactment which happen during October each year.
A bit further to the East of Danville and Stanford is the home of an old Indian fighter. It is also one of Kentucky' s oldest brick houses. It is located in the William Whitley House State Historic Site was built in the 1780s. Some of the special features include a hidden staircase and hiding places in case of Indian attack. It has limited opening starting in late spring and closing for the winter at the end of November.
If you now head back Northeast of Stanford to returning toward Lexington you will find one of the ' newest' historic houses in the area which is Pleasant Retreat. It was started in 1804 and was the former home of 1840s Kentucky Governor William Owsley, which he treated as his ' Retreat. ' It was lucky to be saved from the bulldozer by a group of local citizens.
North of Lexington in Paris, you can see the Duncan Tavern. Guests at this 1788 stone tavern included Daniel Boone. East of Paris at the Cane Ridge Meeting House you will see the largest log meetinghouse in the whole United States. There were mass revival meetings here in 1801 and 1804 which led to the founding of the Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ.
A monument to the lost cause of the Confederacy is nearby in the Battle Grove Cemetery on East Pike Street in Cynthiana. It displays what is thought to be the second oldest Confederate memorial within the United States. Also nearby is the Indian Creek Baptist Church on Millersburg Pike which is the oldest church west of the Alleghenies that is still in use.
This is continued in part 40
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