Kentucky Biographies

Thanks to an edit request on one of my memorials on FindaGrave I recently became aware of a publication called The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century. It was published in Cincinnati in 1878 by J.M. Armstrong & Company and was digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016. 

In addition to 788 pages of biographical details, the book contains dozens of portraits, the publishers having gone "to great expense in inserting steel engravings" of the likenesses of many of the men included. 

Shakertown Inn

1897 - The Shaker Hotel was opened for boarders by Sister Jane Sutton in the East Family dwelling. It subsequently became known as the Shakertown Inn, an effort by the few remaining Shakers to keep financially solvent.
                                                         

You can see the embedded stone in the brick between the second and third floors. It reads 1817. The East Family dwelling was built of Shaker-made brick and in 1826, Mercy Runyon was living in the Elders room here. Amy Runyon worked here as a nurse and caretaker of girls; Betsy and Amy Runyon died here.

Every historic building has a story to tell

If you have an interest in architecture, and Kentucky architecture in particular, you'll enjoy Gardens to Gables, a blog and website by architectural historian Janie-Rice Brother. Like me, Janie-Rice believes every historic building has a story to tell.
 

Photo by Janie-Rice Brother