Royal Spring Park | |
Location | Between Clinton and Jefferson Sts. W of Water, Broadway, and Georgetown Sts., Georgetown, Kentucky |
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Coordinates | 38°12′37″N84°33′33″W / 38.21028°N 84.55917°W |
Built | 1774 |
NRHP reference No. | 73000842 [1] |
Added to NRHP | April 02, 1973 |
Royal Spring Park is the site of a large spring in Georgetown, Kentucky, that since the earliest settlements in the area has provided water for the area. In addition to the spring, the park has a log cabin built by a former slave, Milton Leach. The park was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 2, 1973. [1]
Royal Spring is a large spring in Georgetown, Kentucky, that has been a main source of water since the first settlements in the area. In 1889, the Georgetown Water Works Company was incorporated, and distributed the spring water until the City of Georgetown purchased that company and established the Municipal Water Works Plant in 1945. [2] Currently, more than 13,000 customers of Georgetown Municipal Water and Sewer Service rely on water from the spring as their primary water supply. [3]
In 1774 John Floyd of Fincastle County, Virginia led a surveying party into Kentucky to locate land to be used as "compensation for soldier in the French and Indian War". On July 7, 1774, Floyd found the spring and he received it and 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land as payment for his surveying work. This spring's earliest known name was "Mr. Floyd's Spring". In October 1775, Floyd transferred ownership of the spring to John McClelland (1745–1776), from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, after McClelland surveyed and built a cabin on the land earlier in the year. In 1776 McClelland's Fort, an army outpost was built on a nearby cliff to have close proximity to the spring. The fort was abandoned in 1777 after the Indian attacks increased in frequency and severity. [4] [5]
Baptist preacher Elijah Craig set up a grain mill and used the spring water to first distill bourbon whiskey using the sour mash process on this site in 1789. [4] [6] Craig has long been credited with the creation of bourbon though more recent research suggests alternative explanations. [4] [5] [7]
Royal Spring Park, located off West Main Street (U.S. Route 460) in the downtown area, features an outdoor recreation area, viewing of Royal Spring, and an authentic restored log cabin museum. The site has several historical markers and monuments that give tribute to the spring, early settlers, and local war heroes.
The park was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 2, 1973. [1]
In 1874, Milton Leach, a former slave, built a log cabin to use as his dwelling. The log cabin was restored and relocated to Royal Spring Park to serve as a museum.
Bourbon is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the dynasty. The name bourbon may not have been used until the 1850s; the association with Bourbon County did not appear until the 1870s.
Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and largest city is Georgetown.
Nicholas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,537. Its county seat is Carlisle, which is also the only incorporated community in the county. Founded in 1799, the county is named for Col. George Nicholas, the "Father of the Kentucky Constitution."
Bardstown is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Nelson County.
Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originally called Lebanon when founded by Rev. Elijah Craig and was renamed in 1790 in honor of President George Washington. Historically, settlers were drawn to Georgetown for its Royal Spring.
Elijah Craig was an American Baptist preacher, who became an educator and capitalist entrepreneur in the area of Virginia that later became the state of Kentucky. He has sometimes, although rather dubiously, been credited with the invention of bourbon whiskey.
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private, American family-owned and operated distillery founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a variety of other distilled spirits.
Woodford Reserve is a brand of premium small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced in Woodford County, Kentucky, by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of copper pot still spirits produced at the company's Woodford Reserve Distillery, and column still spirits from the Brown Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky. Each 45.2% alcohol by volume bottle bears a unique batch and bottle number. The brand was introduced in 1996. Domestic sales of Woodford Reserve surpassed one million cases in 2021.
The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the aqueduct was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in 1852, and construction began in 1853 under the supervision of Montgomery C. Meigs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Portions of the aqueduct went online on January 3, 1859, and the full pipeline began operating in 1864.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is a designated U.S. historic park preserving two separate farm sites in LaRue County, Kentucky, where Abraham Lincoln was born and lived early in his childhood. He was born at the Sinking Spring site south of Hodgenville and remained there until the family moved to the Knob Creek Farm northeast of Hodgenville when he was two years old, living there until he was seven years of age. The park's visitor center is located at the Sinking Spring site.
This is a list of properties and historic districts in Kentucky that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are listings in all of Kentucky's 120 counties.
Fort Boonesborough was a frontier fort in Kentucky, founded by Daniel Boone and his men following their crossing of the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775. The settlement they founded, known as Boonesborough, Kentucky, is Kentucky's second oldest European-American settlement. It served as a major frontier outpost during the American Revolutionary War, and survived into the early 19th century before its eventual abandonment. A National Historic Landmark now administered as part of Fort Boonesborough State Park, the site is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites of early westward expansion by British colonists in that period. It is located in Madison County, Kentucky off Kentucky Route 627.
Kooser State Park is a 250-acre (101 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Jefferson Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park, which borders Forbes State Forest, was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, who also built the 4-acre (1.6 ha) Kooser Lake by damming Kooser Run. Kooser State Park is on Pennsylvania Route 31 a one-hour drive from Pittsburgh. The park is surrounded by Forbes State Forest.
Julius Blackburn House, also known as Warwick, is an historic estate located in the western area of Scott County, Kentucky. The oldest section of the structure is a log cabin dating prior to 1799, with a newer stone section built by Thomas Metcalfe for Julius Blackburn in 1799. The property was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1977.
The Payne-Desha House is a historic house located on land west of Royal Spring Branch near downtown Georgetown, Kentucky, USA that was built in 1814 by Robert Payne, a Kentucky war hero from the Battle of the Thames. Also, the house was the last residence of Joseph Desha, the ninth governor of Kentucky.
Giddings Hall, originally called Recitation Hall, is a Greek Revival building located on the campus of Georgetown College in Scott County, Kentucky. Georgetown was the first Baptist college founded west of the Allegheny Mountains, and Giddings Hall was the first permanent structure constructed after the college was formed. The building is named after Rockwood Giddings, the third president of the school. The property was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 6, 1973.
James E. Pepper is an American whiskey brand. The brand is named after a historic American whiskey maker with that name who built and operated a distillery in Lexington, Kentucky, and marketed his whiskey under his family's brand name "Old Pepper" and under his own name. The brand's distillery, known as the Henry Clay distillery and later as the Old Pepper distillery and James E. Pepper distillery, was shut down in 1958 and was left abandoned for more than 50 years until Amir Peay purchased the historic distillery site and relaunched the brand name in 2008. Distilling resumed at the site in 2017.
The Owen-Gay Farm in Clark County and Bourbon County in Kentucky was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The property included two contributing buildings, nine contributing structures and one contributing site, on 238 acres (96 ha).