Oldham County Historical Markers

Oldham County Historical Marker Program

Since 1949, the Kentucky Historical Marker program has allowed communities across Kentucky to recognize and share the sites, events and personalities they consider to be important to local, regional, state or national history. To date, more than 2,400 markers help to illuminate Kentucky’s complex story.

 

Thanks to the sponsorship of Oldham KY Tourism & Conventions, there are plans to produce and install a historical marker each year. Oldham County currently has 13 markers as reminders of our past.

A Masonic Leader / Home of Rob Morris

Marker Number 752

Location: La Grange, KY 53, 147

 

Description: Home of Dr. Rob Morris, 1818-88. In 1884 “crowned Poet Laureate of Freemasonry.” Founded the Order of the Eastern Star. He was born near Boston, Mass., lived 28 years here. From 1861 to 1865 president of the Masonic College, located in La Grange, 1844-73. Author of many Masonic books and poems. Grand Master, 1858-59, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Died here in 1888.

Annie Fellows Johnston 1863-1931

Marker Number 2503

Location: 125 Central Ave., Pewee Valley

 

Description: A celebrated author of children’s fiction, she was best known for her “Little Colonel” novels. While visiting relatives in Pewee Valley, she met five-year-old Hattie Cochran and her grandfather, Col. Geo. Weissinger, the inspirations for the characters in the novels.The fictitious Lloydsborough Valley was based on Pewee Valley. Over.

 

(Reverse) An Indiana native, she wrote more than forty books, and most of the characters were based on people she knew. In 1910, she moved to Pewee Valley and bought “The Beeches.” She lived there with her step-daughter, artist Mary G. Johnston, for the rest of her life. “The Little Colonel” movie starring Shirley Temple was made in 1935. Dedicated March 29, 2017.

CSA Cemetery | Confederate Cemetery

Marker Number 182

Location: Maple Ave., Pewee Valley, KY 146

 

Description: In burying ground 1 mile south, marked by granite obelisk, lie remains of 313 soldiers who died while residents of the Kentucky Confederate home. The home was located on the high ground just northwest of here. It was used for CSA veterans, 1902 to 1934.   Historical Marker #182 commemorates the CSA Cemetery in Pewee Valley, which was established in May 1871.

 

In 1904 the Directors of the Pewee Valley Cemetery assigned 11,275 square feet of space to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for use by the Kentucky Confederate Home. The residents of the Home were CSA veterans who lived there from 1902-1934. The Home was located northwest of the cemetery, where a remnant of the walkway remains. Marked by a zinc obelisk inscribed with “In Memory of Our Confederate Dead” financed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the CSA Cemetery eventually became the final resting place for 313 of the Home’s residents. It is one of 61 Kentucky Civil War monuments on the National Register of Historic Places and is the state’s only official burying ground for Confederate veterans. A 25-foot flagpole was added by the state in 1957, when the cemetery was rededicated.

 

At the entrance of the cemetery is the Kentucky Confederate Home sign that once spanned two stone pillars, marking the main walkway to the Home. It was placed at the entrance of the Pewee Valley Cemetery in the early 1960s. A special addition to the CSA Cemetery was the planting of the Zollie Tree in 1985. Propagated and planted by horticulturist Theodore Klein, it was a sprout from the large oak beneath which Confederate General Felix K. Zollicoffer was killed at Mill Springs, Kentucky, on January 19, 1862 during the Civil War.

 

In addition to the CSA Cemetery, the Pewee Valley Cemetery contains two more sections, one designated for the black population and one designated for the white population of Pewee Valley and the surrounding area. The cemetery contains a total of 14 acres. Many Confederate Memorial Day observances have been held at the site.

DW Griffith History Marker KY

David Wark Griffith, (D. W. Griffith) 1875-1948

Marker Number 650

Location: Crestwood, KY 22, 146

 

Description: Oldham County native buried here. Renowned as director-producer of The Birth of a Nation, film drama of Civil War and post-bellum era, and also Intolerance, Orphans of the Storm, Broken Blossoms. He created dramatic and photographic effects, close-up and fade-out. He brought out Mary Pickford, Lillian and Dorothy Gish and other stars. Originally erected in 1964.

 

Historical Marker #650 in Crestwood commemorates David Wark Griffith, known to many as an American film pioneer and visionary. He produced the first feature-length motion picture, Birth of a Nation, in 1915.

 

Griffith had a knack for telling a story and for appreciating history. His grandfather, David Weatherly Griffith, had participated in the War of 1812. His father, Jacob Griffith (1819-1882), volunteered in the Mexican War as a member of the 1st Regiment of Kentucky Cavalry. He was often referred to as “Roaring Jake.” Jacob married Mary Oglesby in 1848 and they lived at the 264-acre family farm near Curry’s Fork in Crestwood, Lofty Green, where D.W. was born on January 22, 1875. Mary Oglesby was the daughter of prominent Oldham Countians, Thomas Oglesby and Mary Carter. D.W. attended a one-room schoolhouse and was taught by his older sister, Mattie Griffith. Mary and the children left the farm and moved to Louisville four years after her husbands’ death. In 1907, Griffith moved to New York to begin an extensive career in film, becoming hailed by actress Lillian Gish as the “father of film.”

 

D.W. Griffith had a long and prosperous career in filmmaking and has been called “the man who made Hollywood.” He pioneered the industry with such cinematic techniques as close-up and fade-out. Griffith’s epic silent movie, Birth of a Nation, was originally released on Feb. 8, 1915. The movie was full of Griffith’s innovative cinematic ideas, but caused controversy as soon as it was released because of its distorted views of the South after the Civil War. The movie was based on the novel and play, The Clansman, by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Birth of a Nation immediately swept the nation, catching the eye of everyone. On March 21, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson attended a special screening at the White House. Throughout his career, Griffith directed over 450 short films for the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. His first sound film was Abraham Lincoln (1930).

 

Throughout his life, Griffith was honored with many awards such as an Academy Award (1936) for outstanding contribution to the art of film, and the Director of the Year (1931) award by the Academy of Arts and Sciences. For a short time, he lived in a house at Fourth and Madison Streets in La Grange (1939). He was married twice and had many relatives in Oldham County. Griffith was living in Hollywood at the time of his death from a cerebral hemorrhage on July 23, 1948. His body was initially buried in Hollywood, but two years later his body returned home to Kentucky for burial at Mt. Tabor Cemetery in Centerfield. The Screen Actors Guild of America dedicated a monument to him at the cemetery.

DW Griffith History Marker KY

Funk Seminary Site

Marker Number 957

Location: LaGrange, KY 53, 146

 

Description: In 1841 William M. Funk bequeathed $10,000 to establish seminary. It was chartered by Legislature and erected here, 1842. In 1844 Grand Lodge of Ky. assumed control and changed it to Masonic College. In 1852 changed to Masonic Univ. of Ky. School reached its height in next decade. Civil War disrupted it. Reverted to high school in 1873. Building burned in 1911.

 

Historical Marker #957 in LaGrange tells of the huge contribution made to education when William M. Funk, son of a farmer and Methodist campground owner of German descent, died in Sept. 1841 at age 27. His will stated, “I wish the sum of $10,000 appropriated to the establishment of an institution of learning at La Grange, to be called the Funk Seminary, provided the citizens of Oldham County subscribe and pay the sum of $500.00 in aid of said institution.” The following year a two-story brick and stone building with eight rooms was erected in La Grange and the school was chartered by the Kentucky Legislature. It took the name of Funk Seminary and was comprised of four town lots located behind the public square.

 

Unable to solicit enough subscriptions to support the school, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky assumed control of the school and changed the name to Masonic College in 1844. The school was for males only and students were able to earn an A.B. or B.S. degree in Oldham County. By 1846 the school had 203 students enrolled. The first graduate was George M. Bibb who graduated in 1847 with an A.B. degree. Two years previous, the trustees voted in favor of organizing a Female Seminary in connection with the Funk Seminary. It operated until 1867.

 

Early on, the school was a success, but by 1848, decay and decline had started to set in. The outbreak of cholera in 1849-1850 greatly affected the school’s enrollment. In 1850, one last attempt was made to revive the seminary. The Board of Trustees organized a medical school, but it was eventually moved to Louisville. In 1852 it became known as the Masonic University of Kentucky. The Civil War and a struggling economy made things difficult for the school. In 1870, Funk Seminary discontinued its college department but continued to serve at a high school status from 1870 to 1908. The building burned on Sept. 24, 1911.

James & Amanda Mount Home

Marker Number 2536

Location: 106 N. Second Ave. La Grange

Description: James & Amanda Mount Home

Built circa 1840, this restored “four square” home was originally home to James Mount (1796-1864) and wife, Amanda Malvina Railey Mount (1810-1888). Amanda was the first cousin once removed of Thomas Jefferson. Family papers reveal aspects of Oldham County slavery including sales, escape attempts, and bounties offered. Sponsored by Oldham County Tourism

James & Amanda Mount Home

Marker Number 2536

Location: 106 N. Second Ave. La Grange

Description: James & Amanda Mount Home

Built circa 1840, this restored “four square” home was originally home to James Mount (1796-1864) and wife, Amanda Malvina Railey Mount (1810-1888). Amanda was the first cousin once removed of Thomas Jefferson. Family papers reveal aspects of Oldham County slavery including sales, escape attempts, and bounties offered. Sponsored by Oldham County Tourism

J.C. Barnett Library and Archives

Marker Number 2536

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mount home became the J.C. Barnett Library & Archives in 1998. In 2016 it was placed in the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network for rare slave court records. Sponsored by Oldham County Tourism. Dedicated on April 13, 2018.

 

Historical Marker #2536 relates the history of the James and Amanda Malvina Railey Mount Home, which now serves as the J.C. Barnett Library and Archives in LaGrange.

 

The Mounts were a leading family in antebellum Oldham County and Amanda and James lived in this “four square” home after it was built in around 1840. Amanda’s extended family included some of the most remarkable Americans of the era, including her cousin Thomas Jefferson, but the Mount family letters reveal many of the mundane aspects of American slavery. The Mount papers reveal important and often overlooked features of slavery in Kentucky including bills of sale, documented escape attempts by the enslaved, and bounties offered for their capture and return.

 

These documents helped earn the J.C. Barnett Library and Archives a place on the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, which commemorates the men and women who resisted the institution of slavery. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as the repository for Oldham County records. The Archives are part of the larger Oldham County History Center, which also includes a modern museum and new event space. The marker was dedicated on April 13, 2018.

LaGrange Training School

Marker Number 2418

Location: 419 N. First St., LaGrange

 

Description: Built in 1921-22, it was the ninth school in Ky. for African Americans supported by the Julius Rosenwald Grant. After completing the first 8 years of school, students were bussed 25 miles to the Lincoln Institute in Shelby Co. to attend high school. This ended after the 1964 Civil Rights Act integrated Kentucky schools. Over.

 

(Reverse) Rosenwald Schools- Site of one of the 158 Rosenwald Schools constructed in Kentucky between 1917 & 1932. The one-room schoolhouse provided an education for African American children required to attend segregated schools. This program grew out of Booker T. Washington’s vision for educational reform & his partnership with philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald.

Historical Marker #2418 in LaGrange tells the history of the LaGrange Training School and Rosenwald Schools.

 

Prior to 1913, the only funds for black education were those remaining after the collection of taxes in the African American community. The La Grange Training School was the ninth school in the state of Kentucky to be built with Rosenwald funds and the only African American school in Oldham County. Rosenwald School Funds were distributed through grant requests directed by the Tuskegee Institute of which Rosenwald served on the Board of Trustees. Funding was given with the stipulation that local communities must raise $1,000 as a matching grant.

 

The local citizens of La Grange raised the necessary funding and the La Grange Training School was built in 1920-1921 on Hwy 53 North, on a two-acre lot, in La Grange. The general public raised $4,600 while the African American community raised $1,000. An old newspaper clipping stated that “it has been well equipped for industrial arts and competent teachers employed.” The school consisted of three rooms and was used through the early 1960s. After completing the first eight years of school, students were bussed 25 miles to the Lincoln Institute in Shelby County to attend high school. Students would often board at the Lincoln Institute and come home on weekends. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed and schools became integrated.

 

Oldham County had established the Oldham County Public High School by 1903, but African American students were not allowed to attend due to segregation rules. The school closed in the mid-1960s and was converted to the First Baptist Church of La Grange. This building burned to the ground in 1990. The church built a new building on the exact location of the former school.

 

Oldham County 1824

Marker Number 1251

Location: La Grange, Courthouse lawn, KY 53, 146

 

 

Description: Taken from parts of Jefferson, Shelby, and Henry counties, it was the 74th formed. Named for Col. William Oldham, native Virginian, officer in War of Revolution. Commanded regiment of Kentucky militia in ill-fated Indian campaign on Wabash River in 1791, led by General St. Clair. Oldham was one of over 800 killed in battle, half of troops engaged.

 

 

Historical marker #1251 in La Grange tells the history of Oldham County. It became a county in 1824, having been formed from parts of Henry, Jefferson, and Shelby Counties, making it the 74th Kentucky County.

 

The naming of the county is credited to the memory of Lt. Col. William Oldham, a captain in the Revolutionary War. He served the Continental forces until the spring of 1779 when he resigned to move to the Falls of the Ohio. While commanding the Kentucky militia, Lt. Colonel William Oldham was one of over 800 killed in a battle against Native Americans known as “St. Clair’s Defeat” on November 4, 1791. Oldham County was created 33 years after his death and is named in his honor. Some family members, including his wife Penelope, are buried in the Churchill family cemetery located in Churchill Park in Louisville. Col. Oldham is buried in a mass grave at Ft. Recovery Monument Park in Ft. Recovery, Mercer Co., OH.

 

The county seat was first established along the Ohio River in Westport, which became a bustling river city in the early 1800s. The town was chosen as the county seat in 1823 and a courthouse established in what is now the Westport Methodist Church. County leaders finally decided upon a permanent home for the courthouse in La Grange by 1838. Agriculture has played a major role in the county since its founding, but Oldham County is perhaps best known for its thoroughbred horse industry. Many of these farms lie along U.S. 42.

 

One of the biggest changes in the county may have been when the Louisville and Frankfort Railroad Company introduced rail lines in the area in the 1850s. This forced many new towns and communities to spring up. Eventually the railroad ceased operating as a form of public transportation, but trains still rumble along Main Street through the downtown area daily. The interurban railway played a major part in transportation and the growth of the county as well as the railroad.

Oldham County 1824 Historic Marker

Pewee Valley

Marker Number 183

Location: Old L & N Depot, Pewee Valley

 

Description: Formerly “Smith’s Station” – Setting of famous “Little Colonel” and other fictional portrayals of life in Pewee Valley by Annie Fellows Johnston. Her stately home, “The Beeches,” 1/2 mi. N.W. Most prominent town founder was Henry S. Smith, 1802-83. A trustee of town, he owned property, surveyed roads, and helped establish girls’ college and Pewee Valley Cemetery. Originally dedicated June 2, 1963.

Historical Marker #208 commemorates the town of Pewee Valley. Originally given as a land grant of 4,000 acres to Ora Norborn Beall in 1784, the area that came to be known as Pewee Valley was formerly known as “Smith’s Station.”

 

Michael and Rosanna Yager Smith came with their family to Kentucky in 1807. One of their sons, Henry, was a civic leader who conducted land surveys for the county. In 1835 Henry was commissioned “to survey the Rollington to Floydsburg Road. When the county was divided into road districts in 1836, Henry was commissioned to survey District 52, which is now part of the Town of Pewee Valley.” The road Henry surveyed followed the path now taken by Central Ave. Henry began buying and selling surrounding acreage.

 

The Pewee Valley area began to grow as a community around 1849 when service trains began to operate between La Grange and Louisville. Grand residences and summer homes began to spring up. Adding to the town’s growth, a commuter train began providing service between Louisville and La Grange in 1854. This made Henry Smith’s properties even more valuable, and in 1856 he sold one acre of land for a depot to the Louisville & Frankfort Railroad. The Depot was named Smith’s Station and the area became known for a time as Smith’s Depot. After the Civil War, Henry planned the town of Pewee Valley, a town of quiet avenues, shaded by majestic trees. The permanent name change to Pewee Valley occurred by the late 1860s.

 

Pewee Valley became famous as the setting for Annie Fellows Johnston’s “Little Colonel” series of books. She based her book characters on real inhabitants of Pewee Valley during the turn of the century. The movie, The Little Colonel, was based on Johnston’s novel and turned into a movie in 1934 staring Shirley Temple. A notable contemporary of Johnston was Kate Matthews. Matthews was an accomplished photographer and one of the first females in this field. She often rode her pony cart around town, stopping to photograph the romantic lifestyle she saw around her. The quaint town is still full of the grand homes that have made it a bedroom community of Louisville.

 

Other notable places of interest in Pewee Valley include the Kentucky Confederate Home, the Pewee Valley Cemetery, and the Little Colonel Playhouse. Many homes and business buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Marker #183 was originally dedicated on June 2, 1963.

 

The marker reads:

Pewee Valley
Formerly “Smith’s Station” – Setting of famous “Little Colonel” and other fictional portrayals of life in Pewee Valley by Annie Fellows Johnston. Her stately home, “The Beeches,” 1/2 mi. N.W. Most prominent town founder was Henry S. Smith, 1802-83. A trustee of town, he owned property, surveyed roads, and helped establish girls’ college and Pewee Valley Cemetery.

Richard James Oglesby

Marker Number 2470

Location: 7701 Hwy. 329, Brownsboro Community Center, Crestwood

 

Description: Born on July 25, 1824 in Floydsburg, Oldham Co., he was one of eight children born to Col. Jacob and Isabella Watson Oglesby, who, with two of his siblings, died in the 1833 cholera epidemic. Oglesby was raised by an uncle and moved to Decatur, Ill. in 1836. He fought in the Mexican War & Civil War, was married twice, & had eight children.

 

(Reverse) A close friend and supporter of Abraham Lincoln, he is credited with introducing the “rail-splitter” image into Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign and was at Lincoln’s bedside when he died. Oglesby was a brigadier general in the Civil War and a three-time governor of Illinois. He died in Elkhart, Ill. on April 24, 1899.

 

Historical Marker #2470 in Brownsboro commemorates Richard James Oglesby, for whom Oldham County was named.

 

Oglesby was born in 1824 in Floydsburg. His father, Col. Jacob Oglesby, was elected Deputy Sheriff in Oldham County. Oglesby represented his county for two terms, having been elected to the Kentucky legislature. He and his wife, Isabella Watson, who were both of Scottish descent, died in the cholera epidemic of 1832-33, along with two of their other children.

 

Orphaned at an early age, Richard James Oglesby and his siblings were taken in by relatives. Richard James went to live with his Uncle Willis and Aunt Mildred Oglesby in Brownsboro. Willis eventually moved to Decatur, Illinois in 1836 to a farm on the banks of the Sangamon River, west of Decatur. In 1838, at the age of fourteen, Richard traveled by foot from Terre-Haute, Indiana back to Decatur to live with his two older sisters, Amanda Watson Oglesby and Ophelia Willis Oglesby. He worked on the farms and about town at odd jobs when they could be found, and also learned the trade of carpentry.

 

He studied law and was admitted to bar in November 1845. When the Mexican-American War broke out a year later, he was among the first to enlist. At age 21, he enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant in Company C., Fourth Illinois Infantry Regiment. He, along with the regiment, marched on foot over seven hundred miles through the interior of Mexico. He took part in the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. In 1849, along with eight companions, Oglesby journeyed from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California driving a six mule team 1,940 miles overland. The trip lasted 95 days. He then mined gold for two years, ran a store, and returned to Decatur in 1851 with $5,400 in gold. He used some of his earnings from gold to buy the freedom of his father’s slave, Uncle Tim, who had been sold for $400 upon his father’s death when his property was settled in Oldham County. Throughout his life, Oglesby was a very strong abolitionist.

 

Oglesby fought in the Civil War and was severely wounded at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi. He was a friend and political ally of President Abraham Lincoln. Oglesby is credited with introducing the “rail-splitter” image into Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign. He was by Lincoln’s bedside when he died and accompanied Lincoln’s body back to Springfield, Illinois. There, Oglesby was elected as president of the National Lincoln Monument Association to raise funds for and to design the tomb Lincoln would be buried in. Oglesby delivered the dedication address when the memorial was unveiled in 1874; President Grant and the Cabinet were in attendance.

 

Oglesby had a long career in politics and served three times as governor of Illinois. After his last term as governor ended, Oglesby retired to his home in Elkhart, Logan County, Illinois where he died on April 24, 1899.

History Marker Richard Oglesby

Westport

Marker Number 909

Location: Westport, KY 524

 

Description: First called Liberty, located on 1780 grant to Elijah Craig. Ferry operated here by Levi Boyer early as 1800 formed a link in route to Illinois country. Town became a port to the west-Westport. In the steamboat era, the town was a thriving port for shipping farm produce and receiving merchandise. The first county seat of Oldham, 1823-38, except nine months, 1827.

 

Historical Marker #909 tells the history of the tiny town of Westport, Kentucky, which has a history that dates far back to when it was first known as Liberty. Native Americans once inhabited the area before the town began as a land grant bestowed upon Elijah Craig for a Treasury Warrant on May 22, 1780. At the time, before Kentucky became a state, the area was part of the County of Virginia, and the Revolutionary War was still being fought. Some years later, on April 25, 1796, Craig sold the land to Joseph Dupuy and Harman Bowman for four hundred fifty pounds. It was a solid investment that would produce a flourishing river town on the banks of the Ohio River.

 

With the surge of settlers pouring into the newly opened Louisiana Territory in 1804, it was thought that Westport would grow considerably due to river traffic along the Ohio River. There was a steady stream of immigrants and products being shipped in and out of the docks in Westport. River travel and a constant influx of settlers made the small river town swell with commerce. A ferry was operated by Levi Bowyer as early as 1800, connecting Westport to the Indiana territory. The later invention of the steamboat also aided the growth of Westport. By 1818, Westport was considered a commercial center. Steamboats and showboats stopped here regularly. It became the county seat for a short time in 1826.

 

Many grand homes were built by prominent wealthy men. “Hurricane Hall” was built by Captain Jack Taylor on a bluff of the Ohio River one mile north of Westport. The home contained 18 rooms, a self-supporting staircase, and a soapstone bathtub. Thomas Barbour built “Clifton” one mile south of Westport near the mouth of 18 Mile Creek.

 

Over time the town began to suffer an economic lapse. The railroad by-passed the community, river traffic declined, and a terrible flood in 1884 destroyed 27 buildings. Many residents moved to more prosperous locations. In the 1930s, a Mr. and Mrs. George Theodore Johnston bought property that had once been owned by Levi Bowyer. On it they built a home that resembled a lighthouse, but it was heavily damaged in the 1937 flood.

Westport Courthouse

Marker Number 2594

Location: 6901 KY 524, Westport, KY

 

Description: Westport Courthouse – First court session held here in 1828. In addition to indicting criminals and appointing justices of the peace, the court resolved sales, auctions, and escapes of enslaved people & settled disputes pertaining to slave hire-outs. The court moved to nearby LaGrange in 1838. Sponsored by Oldham County Tourism and Oldham County Historical Society.

 

(Reverse) The Courthouse and Enslavement – Records related to enslavement were common. Justice of the Peace William Gatewood was charged for the illegal hire-out of Mahala, mother of Henry Bibb’s wife Malinda. Bibb, a famous abolitionist, escaped Gatewood’s enslavement & created a colony in Canada for fugitive slaves. Sponsored by Oldham County Tourism and Oldham County Historical Society. Dedicated August 31, 2019.

Woodland Farm

Marker Number 2156

Location: Goshen, 4801 Greenhaven Lane

 

Description: Formerly known as Clifton, home’s three sections built at different times. Thomas Barbour, a founder of Oldham County, established farm and built third portion of home ca. 1840. He sold farm in 1855 to Richard T. Jacob, who became lieutenant governor of Ky. Having been farmed for over 150 years, Woodland named to National Register of Historic Places, 1997.

(Reverse) Eighteen Mile Island, part of farm, was first source of water for co. public water system in 1964. In 1997 Laura Lee Brown and James Steven Wilson founded a nationally recognized breeding farm for American bison. In 2003 farm placed under protection from development with Dept. of Agr. Purchase of Agr. Conservation Easement program.

 

Historical Marker #2156 in Goshen tells the history of Woodland Farm, originally known as Clifton, and the home that was built by Thomas T. Barbour, early settler of Oldham County, in 1813. It was part of a string of large land tracts settled by English families who had acquired land form Revolutionary War service.

Originally, the farm consisted of 700 acres and included bottomland leading to the Ohio River, which gave it easy access for transportation of agriculture and livestock. Barbour divided his estate into several tracts of land for his children. In 1855, Richard Jacob purchased the property and raised livestock, wheat, corn, hay, wool, and Irish potatoes. Jacob was active in state government, joined the Union Army in 1862, and was elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky in 1863. In January 1864, Confederate guerillas raided Clifton while the family was in Frankfort, burning all outbuildings and barns. Only the main house and spring house survived. Most buildings were rebuilt on their original foundation by 1867. Jacob sold Clifton to Frank Gottbrath in 1899.

 

The Gottbrath family owned and managed Clifton from 1899-1956. During this time, Clifton became known for its herd of the finest purebred Hereford Cattle, Poland-china hogs, and Southdown sheep produced on the Gottbrath Stock Farm. In 1956, George and Helen Egger began purchasing bottomland from the Gottbrath family and tried to restore the farm to its original acreage. The Eggers leased the down river portion of 18 Mile Island to the Ohio River-Oldham Water District I 1964.

In 1996, the property was purchased by Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson to prevent it from becoming a subdivision. A year later, Woodland Farm was added to the National Register of Historical Places and, in 2003, the farm was placed under protection from development with the Department of Agriculture Purchase of Agriculture Conservation Easement program.