♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ WHAT WOULD LIFE BE WITHOUT MEMORIES?

WITHOUT OUR POSSESSIONS AND IDEAS?

WITHOUT OUR HISTORY?

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE PAST IN ORDER TO BETTER SHAPE THE FUTURE?

AND WHY SHOULD WE STUDY HISTORY ANYWAY?

ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE STORY OF HARRODSBURG IN MERCER COUNTY, KENTUCKY.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> FUNDING FOR THE HARRODSBURG LEGACY, 250 YEARS IN THE MAKING IS MADE POSSIBLE BY LOIS MATTEUSE AND THE TAL GRASS FARM FOUNDATION.

THE PLACE THAT WOULD BECOME HARRODSBURG WAS FOUNDED ON JUNE 16, 1774.

BUT THE EVENTS THAT DROVE ITS PATH TO SETTLEMENT REACH FAR BACK IN TIME, NOT JUST DECADES, BUT MILLENIA.

THIS IS A LAND WITH A LONG LEGACY OF HUMAN HISTORY, HOME FIRST TO NATIVE PEOPLES.

EVIDENCE THAT NATIVE PEOPLES LIVED IN PRESENT DAY MERCER COUNTY AND IN KENTUCKY IS SCATTER ADD CROSS RIDGE TOPS AND FLOOD PLAINS.

THESE OBJECTS ARE PRESERVED IN FIELDS, CAVES AND ROCK SHELTERS.

THEIR PRESENCE IS REFLECTED IN THE MOUNDS THEY'VE BUILT, THE VILLAGES THEY ERECTED AND THE ART LEFT BEHIND.

WHEN EUROPEANS MOVED TO THIS AREA IN THE LATE 1700s, THE DISPLACEMENT OF NATIVE PEOPLES AND THEIR TRADITIONS WAS NEITHER PEACEFUL NOR SMOOTH.

AS A NEW NATION BEGAN TO SHAPE ITS DESTINY, THE RAPIDLY GROWING POPULATION OF IMMIGRANTS FORCED INDIGENOUS GROUPS SUCH AS THE SHAWNEE TO MOVE THEIR VILLAGES.

THE NATIVE AMERICAN MOTHER, THE SHAWNEE CHIEF, THE EUROPEAN AMERICAN EXPLORER, THE SOLDIER, THE DISTANT BUSINESSMAN, THE FRONTIER WIFE, AND THE ENSLAVED AFRICAN-AMERICAN, ALL PLAYED IMPORTANT ROLES IN THE GREAT DRAMA THAT IS THE STORY OF HARRODSBURG'S BEGINNING.

JUST 12 YEARS AFTER HARRODSBURG WAS FOUNDED, THE STATE OF VIRGINIA ORDERED THE TOWN BE SURVEYED AND LAID OFF IN LOTS.

THE PLAT WAS TO BE ONE MILE SQUARE OR 640 ACRES.

ON EACH LOT WAS WRITTEN A NUMBER, THE QUANTITY OF ACRES AND THE DIMENSIONS.

IN LOTS CONTAINED ONE HALF ACRE OUT LOTS WERE LARGER AND VARIED IN SIZE.

LOOKING AT THE 1786 PLAT, THE SHADED AREA IN THE CENTER IS THE LOCATION OF THE OLD FORT , CONSISTING OF 16 INLOTS.

RECORDS FROM THE 1787 MERCER COUNTY COURTHOUSE ARCHIVES TELL US THAT LOTS 35 AND 36 WERE SOLD TO JOHN MILLS FOR £6.10.

SHILLINGS.

IN 2024, MARKING THE 250th ANNIVERSARY OF HARRODSBURG FOUNDING AN IMPRESSIVE CAST OF CHARACTERS GATHERED AT BEAUMONT INN TO CELEBRATE THEIR HISTORY ONCE AGAIN.

THE INN ITSELF HAS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY'S HISTORY SINCE 1806.

FORMERLY GREENVILLE SPRINGS, AND THEN LATER GREENVILLE INSTITUTE, IT BECAME DAUGHTERS COLLEGE IN 1856, A COLLEGE FOR WOMEN AND THEN BEAUMONT COLLEGE.

BUT IT WOULDN'T BE A CELEBRATION IN HARRODSBURG WITHOUT THE TOWN'S NAME SAKE, JAMES HARROD.

HARROD WAS A BACK WOODS FARMER AND SURVEYOR FROM PENNSYLVANIA WHO FIRST LAID EYES ON CENTRAL KENTUCKY WHEN HE CAME TO THE AREA TO HELP SURVEY THE FALLS OF THE OHIO NEAR WHAT IS NOW MODERN DAY LOUISVILLE.

STANDING WITH HARROD IS BLACK FISH, NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER FROM THE SHAWNEE TRIBE.

LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT BLACK FISH SINCE HE ONLY APPEARS IN WRITTEN HISTORICAL RECORDS DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

BUT THE RAIDS HE LED AGAINST SETTLEMENTS SUCH AS HARRODS DOWN AND NEARBY BOONESBORO MADE THIS PART OF KENTUCKY A DANGEROUS PLACE FOR ALL INVOLVED AT THE TIME AND MADE HIM A NOTEWORTHY GUEST AT THE TABLE OF KENTUCKY HISTORY.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK IS HERE, TOO CLARK WAS A CAPTAIN IN THE MILITIA BATTLING NATIVES IN THE 1770s AND FIRST CAME TO HARRODSTOWN IN 1775.

A RICHER AND MORE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY THAN THIS, I BELIEVE HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN AMERICA, CLARK WROTE TO HIS BROTHER.

FROM HARRODSTOWN, CLARK PLANNED HIS NORTHWEST EXPEDITION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AGAINST THE BRITISH.

HE, ALONG WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON, ALSO SET IN MOTION VIRGINIA'S ESTABLISHMENT OF KENTUCKY COUNTY IN DECEMBER 1776.

OF WHICH HARRODSTOWN WAS NAMED THE COUNTY SEAT.

ABE LINCOLN HAS ARRIVED AT THE CELEBRATION, DELIGHTING EVERYONE WITH A STORY OF HOW HIS MOM AND DAD NANCY HANKS AND THOMAS LINCOLN WERE MARRIED IN A SIMPLE LOG CABIN NEAR SPRINGFIELD IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, KENTUCKY.

IN 1911, THE OWNER OF THE CABIN GIFTED THE LOGS TO HOIRDZBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

THE CABIN WAS RECONSTRUCTED AND IS NOW ENSHRINED IN OLD FORT HARRODS STATE PARK.

GEORGE SPEAKS IS NOT AS FAMOUS AS LINCOLN BUT ONCE WAS A LOCAL CELEBRITY.

BORN INTO SLAVERY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, HE BECAME KNOWN TO ALL THE TOWNS PEOPLE AS THE HARRODSBURG LAMP LIGHTER.

THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY, BUT OIL LAMPS ON POSTS WERE LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE TOWN.

FOR MANY YEARS, SPEAKS MADE THE ROUNDS EACH EVENING, LIGHTING THE LAMPS, RETURNING AGAIN IN THE MORNING TO PUT THEM OUT AND REFILL THE BOWLS WITH OIL.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ THE 1840s, WERE A LIVELY TIME IN HARRODSBURG.

THE GROWING TOWN WAS ALREADY A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION FOR HISTORY AND FOR HEALTH AND A HEARTY GOOD TIME, INDEED.

ONCE REFERRED TO AS THE MECCA OF SOUTHERN SOCIETY, AND THE SARATOGA OF THE SOUTH.

HARRODSBURG, DURING THE 1840s, WAS KNOWN FAR AND WIDE FOR THE HEALING PROPERTIES OF ITS MEDICINAL SPRINGS.

OWNED BY CHRISTOPHER INCLUDE BUS GRAHAM, GRAHAM SPRINGS HOTEL WAS A LUXURIOUS SPRINGS RESORT FAMOUS FOR ITS EXTRAVAGANT PARTIES.

ON THIS NIGHT AT GRAHAM SPRINGS HOTEL, PORTRAYED THROUGH ART AT MODERN DAY YOUNGS PARK, A LADY REGISTERED AT THE HOTEL DESK, USING THE NAME VIRGINIA STAFFER.

SHE SAID HER FATHER WAS A PROMINENT JUDGE IN LOUISVILLE AND THAT HE WOULD SOON JOIN HER.

A BAND OF THREE MUSICIANS RUBEN, HENRY AND GEORGE ENSLAVED MEN, PROVIDED THE MUSIC FOR THE EVENING.

THE MEN IN ATTENDANCE LINED UP TO BE HER PARTNER.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ VIRGINIA DANCED EVERY DANCE, NEVER SITTING OR TAKING A BREAK.

AS THE EVENING WAS COMING TO AN END, VIRGINIA COLLAPSED IN THE ARMS OF HER DANCE PARTNER.

TO HIS HORROR, SHE WAS DEAD.

NOT KNOWING HER REAL IDENTITY, THE COMMUNITY BURIED HER ON THE HOTEL PROPERTY WITH A MARKER THAT READ HALLOWED AND HUSHED BE THE PLACE OF THE DEAD.

STEP SOFTLY, BOW HEAD.

SHE WAS SIMPLY IDENTIFIED UNKNOWN.

BUT THE STORY OF THE UNKNOWN LADY IS STILL OFTEN TOLD.

AND THE MYSTERY CONTINUES TO FASCINATE.

LATER, THE BAND MEMBERS ESCAPED TO CANADA AND NEVER RETURNED.

GRAHAM SPRINGS HOTEL ITSELF DISAPPEARED FROM VIEW IN THE 1860s.

WHEN FIRE DESTROYED MOST OF ITS BUILDINGS.

THROUGH THE YEARS, SEVERAL FIRES BURNED MANY BUILDINGS IN HARRODSBURG.

THE BIG FIRE OF 1890 SEVERELY ALTERED PARTS OF MAIN STREET.

BUT THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT RECOVERED AND CONTAINS A CONCENTRATION OF SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS WHICH SURVIVED, CREATING A RELATIVELY UNBROKEN AND VISUALLY RICH STREETSCAPE.

OVER THE YEARS, MAIN STREET AND ALL OF HARRODSBURG ADAPTED TO THE CHANGING TIMES.

BUGGIES GAVE AWAY TO THE MOTOR CAR, BEGINNING IN 1900, WHEN THEY DROVE THE FIRST AUTOMOBILE DOWN MAIN STREET.

THOUGH PERSONALITIES SUCH AS THESE ARE REMEMBERED FOR THEIR ROLES IN HARRODSBURG AND MER MERCER COUNTY HISTORY, OBJECTS ALSO ARE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMMUNITY.

WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THIS WORLD WAR II DISPLAYED ON HIGHWAY 127?

THAT TANK ON HIGHWAY 127 MEMORIALIZED THE HARRODSBURG TANKERS, A KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD UNIT FROM HARRODSBURG THAT FOUGHT THE JAPANESE VALIANTLY WITHOUT REINFORCEMENTS IN WORLD WAR II.

(SOUNDS OF PLANES BOMBING) >> YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY >> IN APRIL 1942, THE HARRODSBURG KENTUCKY GUARD MEMBERS WERE ORDERED TO SURRENDER BY THEIR SUPERIORS.

THOSE WHO COULD NOT ESCAPE WERE IN THE INFAMOUS BA TAN BETH MARCH AND EVENTUALLY TAKEN PRISONER OF WAR.

ONLY 37 OF THE ORIGINAL 66 HARRODSBURG KENTUCKY GUARD MEMBERS SURVIVED JAPANESE CAPTIVITY.

A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IS A STRONG PART OF THE MERCER COUNTY IDENTITY.

AND AS HARRODSBURG GREW, OTHER COMMUNITIES AND TOWNS SPRANG UP THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY.

SALVISA WAS LAID OUT IN 1816 BY ROBERT B McAFEE.

THE TOWN IS UNIQUE.

OVER TIME, SALVISA WAS FORMED.

OREGON, ORIGINALLY CALLED MAGRRY'S STATION IN THE EARLY 1770s WAS OWNED BY ONE OF THE EARLY PIONEER FAMILIES WHO LIVED IN THE FORT .

BERGON STATION SPRANG OUT WHEN HE DENATED SOME OF THE LAND TO THE CINCINNATI SOUTHERN RAILROAD, A TOWN BEGAN TO EMERGE IN 1877 AND THE NAME WAS LATER SHORTENED TO SIMPLY BERGON.

McAFEE WAS SURVEYED IN 1873 AND SETTLED LATER BY THE McAFEE FAMILY.

OVER TIME, OVER VILLAGES AND STRUCTURES FELL INTO RUIN, NEARLY FORGOTTEN.

BONDVILLE, BASKTOWN.

EBENEZER, MAYO, ARE JUST A FEW OF THE TOWNS NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE OR THAT WERE AT RISK OF BEING LOST FOREVER.

BUT HISTORY CAN ALWAYS TAKE A NEW TURN.

WHAT WAS LOST CAN BE FOUND, RECOVERED AND REBUILT.

ON A BLUFF OVERLOOKING THE KENTUCKY RIVER IS SHAKER VILLAGE OF PLEASANT HILL, A ONCE VIBRANT RELIGIOUS SOCIETY.

FROM THE BEGINNING, THE SHAKER BELIEVERS WARNED AGAINST ANYTHING THAT WOULD CAUSE DISCORD OR DISUNION.

ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE GROWING DISTRESS AND HORROR THESE PEACEFUL PEOPLE FELT AS THEY SAW THEIR NEIGHBORS DISAGREE AND DIVIDE DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

(GUNSHOTS) IN DECEMBER 1865, ONE SHAKER ELDER WROTE, THE BLIGHTING EFFECTS AND DEMORALIZING INFLUENCE OF THE LATE UNHOLY WAR, ARE YET CONIF I CANNOUSLY VISIBLE IN THE SOCIETY'S SURFACE BOTH IN AND OUT OF ZION.

PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED ON THE CIVIL WAR.

WHEN GENERAL HUNT MORGAN RODE THROUGH TOWN, HE AND HIS MEN WERE INVITED TO A PICNIC BY HARRODSBURG RESIDENTS.

A FEW MONTHS LATER, UNION VOLUNTEERS FROM HARRODSBURG FORMED THE 19th INFANTRY.

OCTOBER 8, 1862, A BATTLE WAS FOUGHT ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE NEARBY TOWN OF PERRYVILLE.

AS TROOPS MOVED THROUGH THE COUNTY, MANY FEARED THE BATTLE WOULD BE FOUGHT IN HARRODSBURG.

THE SOUNDS OF THE BATTLE COULD BE HEARD THROUGHOUT MERCER COUNTY.

AND LOCAL RESIDENTS HITCHED THEIR TEAMS TO HELP GATHER THE WOUNDED.

TO PROTECT THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED ST. PHILLIPS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, A FINE EXAMPLE OF GOTHIC REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE, A GUARD WAS STATIONED AROUND THE CHURCH TO PROTECT THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS.

OTHER CHURCHES AND BUILDINGS WERE TRANSFORMED INTO MAKE SHIFT HOSPITALS.

EVERYONE CAME TOGETHER IN THIS PICTURESQUE PEACEABLE TOWN TO CARE FOR THE WOUNDED.

Dr. ROBERT WILSON THRIFT'S JOURNAL SURVIVES WITH THE NAMES OF FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS TREATED AT ONE OF THE HOSPITALS.

AN INVALUABLE CONNECTS TO A CHALLENGING TIME FOR THE CITIZENS OF MERCER COUNTY WILL.

WHEN GENERAL POLK RETURNED TO HARRODSBURG FROM THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE AND SAW ST. PHILLIPS CHURCH WAS SAVED, HE ORDERED THE CHURCH BELL RUNG TO CALL THE PEOPLE OF HARRODSBURG TO WORSHIP TRUE TO THEIR PROMISE OF CHARITY, THE SHAKERS FED AND ATTENDED TO THE SOLDIERS AS THEY PASSED THROUGH THE VILLAGE.

IN THE COMING YEARS, WHAT HAD BEEN GATHERED TOGETHER AND BUILT UP AT PLEASANT HILL WOULD BE DIVIDED.

WHAT HAD BEEN CAREFULLY TENDED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, WOULD DETERIORATE.

BUT IN THE EARLY 1960s, PLEASANT HILL BEGAN TO REEMERGE AS A GATHERING POINT FOR A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH A NEW PURPOSE.

A GROUP OF CITIZENS RECOGNIZED ITS HISTORIC VALUE AND POTENTIAL TO FUTURE GENERATIONS.

TODAY, THE VILLAGE IS A PLACE OF REGATHERING, OF REBUILDING, OF RECREATION AND NEW REFLECTIONS ON THE SHAKERS, THEIR WORKS AND THEIR WORDS.

NOT FAR FROM THE SHAKER VILLAGE IS A HARRODSBURG STORY OF REBIRTH FROM YET ANOTHER ERA.

LISTEN CAREFULLY.

THEY'RE HAVING A PARTY.

AS THE PAIN AND DIVISION OF THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD FADED, THE GUILDED AGE BECAME A TIME OF REUNITING AND OF A RISING CLASS OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES AND FAMILIES.

IT WASN'T UNUSUAL FOR PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS TO ATENT OR HOST A DINNER PARTY SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK.

ONE'S HOUSE WAS MORE THAN JUST A HOME.

IT PROCLAIMED SOCIAL STATUS AND REFLECTED TASTE, WEALTH, TRAVEL AND EDUCATION.

HARRODSBURG AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY SIDE WERE FILLED WITH MARVELOUS HOMES AND MANSIONS, REPRESENTING A GREAT MANY ARCHITECTURAL STYLES.

THE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1891 BY SENATOR DANIEL LAWSON MOORE FOR HIS WIFE OF VERSAILLES KENTUCKY.

SENATOR MOORE SPENT $50,000 TO BUILD HIS IMPOSING MANSION.

BUT TIME TOOK ITS TOLL ON THE PROPERTY.

AND BY THE 21st CENTURY, THE MANSION, NAMED MOORELAND SEEMED DOOMED FOR DEMOLITION.

MOORELAND WAS SO VISIBLE AND INTRIGUING TO 21st CENTURY LOCAL YOUTH AS THEY PASSED THE PROPERTY ON THEIR WAY TO AND FROM SCHOOL, THAT SOME STUDENTS ADOPTED THE PRESERVATION EFFORT AS AN AFTER SCHOOL PROJECT.

WITH RESEARCH AND LOTS OF PHOTOS, THE STUDENTS WROTE ESSAYS AND STORIES ABOUT WHAT LIFE MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE IN HARRODSBURG BEFORE AND DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA.

THEY DISCOVERED OTHER GRAND HOUSES SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.

A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CLASS SPENT A YEAR EXPLORING ALL FACETS OF H20, WATER.

A COMPOUND SO VITAL TO LIFE.

THEY EXAMINED WATER FROM MANY PERSPECTIVES AND ITS USE AND IMPORTANCE TO HARRODSBURG AND MERCER COUNTY.

PHOTOS OF SHAKER LANDING AND RIVER BOATS LED THE YOUNG SCHOLARS TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF THE KENTUCKY RIVER ON MERCER COUNTY.

THE RIVER RUNS THROUGH TIME AS VIVIDLY AS IT RUNS THROUGH THE GENTLE ROLLING LANDSCAPES.

IT HELPED DEVELOP THE COUNTY AND SERVED AS A PATH OF EXPLORATION AND NEW SETTLEMENT.

RIVERS CRADLED ARCHITECTURE, INDUSTRY, COMMERCE AND CULTURE.

BUT THE KENTUCKY RIVER WAS VERY DIFFERENT DURING THE SETTLEMENT ERA WITH ITS RAPID CURRENTS, VARYING DEPTHS AND TWISTING EDDIES, THE RIVER CHALLENGED EARLY NAVIGATORS.

BUT THOSE WHO MET THE CHALLENGES FOUND THE RIVER LED TO NEW LIVES, NEW ACHIEVEMENTS AND NEW IDEAS.

AS EARLY AS 1836, THE CORPS OF ENGINEERSES BROUGHT THE FIRST LOCAL LOCK AND DAM ON THE RIVER TO IMPROVE NAVIGATION.

EVENTUALLY, THE RAILROAD, AND EVEN FASTER AND CHEAPER WAY TO MOVE PEOPLE AND GOODS DIMINISHED THE IMPORTANCE OF STEAM BOATS AS A MOVE OF MOVING PEOPLE AND CARGO.

THIS WAS A PERIOD OF MODERNIZATION FOR HARRODSBURG AS THE RAILROAD CAME TO TOWN.

AND THE TRAIN IS STILL HERE, TRAVELING THROUGH THE CENTER OF TOWN.

A WELCOMED TRANSPORTATION ADVANCEMENT IN THE 1800s.

WHILE WORKERS WERE INSTALLING TURBINES ON ONE END OF THE COUNTY TO HARNESS THE RIVER FOR HYDRO ELECTRICITY, OTHER LOCAL CITIZENS WERE PREPPING LOGS TO REBUILD THE FORT IN DOWNTOWN HARRODSBURG.

ALTHOUGH THE NEW FORT WAS SMALLER IN SIZE THAN THE ORIGINAL FORT , TALL BLOCK HOUSES STOOD AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE FORT , THE NOTCHED LOG CABINS FORMED THE STOCKADE COMPLETE WITH SPORTS TO PERMIT THE FRONTIERSMEN TO FIRE ON ATTACKERS.

SHAPING THE LIVES OF ITS YOUNG PEOPLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PRIORITY IN THIS COMMUNITY AND IT ALL STARTED IN A SMALL LOG SCHOOLHOUSE WITH A DIRT FLOOR IN THE CENTER OF THE FORT .

JANE COMBS CAME TO FORT HARROD IN SEPTEMBER 1775 FROM MARYLAND WITH HER HUSBAND WILLIAM.

SHE STARTED A SCHOOL.

SHINGLES WERE USED FOR INSCRIBING THE ALPHABET AND SOMETIMES FOR ADMINISTERING DISCIPLINE.

EDUCATION FOR ALL KENTUCKY, HOWEVER, WAS SLOW IN ITS DEVELOPMENT SAID THOMAS D. CLARK.

BUT MERCER COUNTY CITIZENS WERE FORWARD THINKING IN THEIR VISION FOR EDUCATION.

THE WAYMAN INSTITUTE WAS FOUNDED TO OFFER VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TO LOCAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN YOUTH.

THOUGH IT WAS SHORT LIVED, IT WAS AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN HARRODSBURG'S HISTORY.

THROUGHOUT THE 1800s, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND FEMALE INSTITUTIONS FLOURISHED.

BEAUMONT COLLEGE, GREENVILLE INSTITUTE, DAUGHTER'S COLLEGE, AND HARRODSBURG ACADEMY, NOT ONLY PROVIDED A SOUND EDUCATION FOR THOSE ATTENDING, BUT PRODUCED STRONG LEADERSHIP FOR KENTUCKY IN THE 19th CENTURY.

SALLY ANN TAYLOR, THOUGH ENSLAVED, LONGED TO BE EDUCATED.

AFTER EMANCIPATION, SHE OPENED A SCHOOL AND DEVOTED OVER 40 YEARS OF HER LIFE TO TEACHING AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN.

AN EARLY MAP SHOWS THE LOCATION OF HER SCHOOL.

THE TITLE OF HER OBITUARY IN THE LOCAL PAPER READ "FROM SLAVE TO INSTRUCTOR IN FRENCH."

A REPORT CARD FROM 1867 REMAINS, SIGNED SALLY ANN TAYLOR.

♪ ♪ >> BACK AT THE BEAUMONT INN CELEBRATION, CITIZENS FROM HARRODSBURG'S PAST ARE HAVING A JOLLY GOOD TIME.

JOHN BRIAN BOWMAN IS SEEN STANDING PROUD, KNOWING HIS VISION AND WORK TO DEVELOP A GREAT INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION, BECAME THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY.

AND IT ALL STARTED WITH BACON COLLEGE IN HARRODSBURG.

I WANT TO BUILD UP A PEOPLE'S INSTITUTION, A GREAT FREE UNIVERSITY, SAID BOWMAN.

I WANT TO CHEAPEN THIS WHOLE MATTER OF EDUCATION SO THAT IT MAY RUN FREE AS OUR GREAT RIVERS AND BLESS THE COMING MILLIONS.

THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, MANY INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS WERE TRIED AND TESTED IN MERCER COUNTY.

DISTILLERIES, HAT FACTORIES, STAGE COACH LINES, STABLES, AND ROPE WALKS TO PRODUCE HEMP AND GOODS WERE AT ONE TIME, COMMON PLACE.

ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN MADE IN HARRODSBURG PRODUCTS WAS BUGGIES.

COVERING SIX ACRES IN HARRODS BURLING, IN THE EARLY 1900s.

THE BOHAN BUGGY FACTORY WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST VEHICLE FACTORIES IN THE WORLD THAT SOLD DIRECTLY TO CUSTOMERS.

THE COUNTY, HAS ALSO PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN INDUSTRIES THAT PEOPLE TRADITIONALLY THINK OF WHEN THEY THINK OF KENTUCKY.

HORSE BREEDING, HORSE RACING AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES.

SINCE 1827, FARMERS, HORSEMEN AND CATTLEMEN FROM ACROSS THE STATE, HAVE MET AT THE MERCER COUNTY FAIR AND HORSE SHOW TO SHOW OFF THEIR PRIZE WINNING LIVESTOCK AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE.

THE TRADITION CONTINUES AND HAS BECOME ONE OF THE LONGEST RUNNING FAIRS IN AMERICA.

THE FAIR IS A VIVID REMINDER OF HOW THE PIONEERING SPIRIT REMAINS IN HARRODSBURG AND MERCER COUNTY.

AND WHY THAT SPIRIT IS DEEPLY INGRAINED INTO EVERY FACET OF COMMUNITY LIFE TWO AND A HALF CENTURIES AFTER A SMALL FORT WAS BUILT IN THE WILDERNESS.

HARRODSBURG AND MERCER COUNTY, HISTORY IS EVERYWHERE, AROUND EVERY CORNER IS A MYSTERY TO UNRAVEL AN EVENT OR PLACE TO DISCOVER, A PERSONALITY TO MEET OR SEE IN NEW LIGHT.

HISTORY IS FOUND IN THE BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED HOMES, BUILDINGS AND NEIGHBORHOODS THAT TELL IMPORTANT STORIES ABOUT ITS PEOPLE.

SOME ARE GRABBED AND WELL KNOWN BUILDINGS, MONUMENTS TO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN HISTORY, THE STOPPING PLACES FOR THE FAMOUS AND THE POWERFUL.

OTHER PLACES ARE MUCH HUMBLER.

THEY SPEAK QUIETLY BUT NO LESS ELOQUENTLY OF EVERYDAY LIFE OF THE PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES MAY BE LITTLE KNOWN BUT WHOSE IDEAS AND ACTIONS MADE A DIFFERENCE.

THERE ARE PLACES WHOSE SHEER BEAUTY AND SCALE INSPIRE AWE AND ADMIRATION.

OTHER PLACES MAKE US SMILE WITH SURPRISE AND DELIGHT.

WHO BUILT THIS STRUCTURE?

AND WHY?

WHAT WERE THE HOPES ABDREAMS FOR THOSE-- AND DREAMS FOR THOSE WHO LIVED HERE FOR THEIR LIFETIME AND FOR THEIR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN?

WHAT WAS THE JOY AND SADNESS THAT OCCURRED WITHIN THESE WALLS?

WHAT ESSENCES OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, AMBITION, DISAPPOINTMENT, ACCOMPLISHMENT, REGRET, ARE FOUND HERE BEHIND THESE DOORS ALONG THIS ROAD, UPON THIS PATH?

MANY OF THESE PLACES HAVE BEEN SAVED, OFFERING A CAPACITY FOR MODERN UTILITY WITH EMBODIED ENERGY AND PROGRESSIVE IDEAS FOR ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AND TOURISM.

FROM SMALL CABINS IN A FORT, THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN KENTUCKY GREW, A HISTORY BEGAN, AND CONTINUES TO BE WRITTEN AND THANKS TO SO MANY DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS, THAT HISTORY AND SO MANY STORIES ABOUT HARRODSBURG AND MERCER COUNTY, HAS BEEN PRESERVED.

NOW THAT'S WORTH CELEBRATING.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ FUNDING FOR THE HARRODSBURG LEGACY, 250 YEARS IN THE MAKING IS MADE POSSIBLE BY...