Bevin Administration gives away a third Kentucky historic site to locals
The Bevin Administration is giving away another state historic site, the third it has shed in the last four months.
The state on Tuesday gave the 80-acre William Whitley House Historic Site in Crab Orchard to the Lincoln County Fiscal Court. That move comes after Kentucky turned over the 46-acre Boone Station Historic Site in southeast Fayette County last December to David’s Fork Baptist Church with no public input and Madison County’s 13-acre White Hall State Historic Site last month to Eastern Kentucky University.
“They approached us about it and we decided to take it over” said Lincoln County Judge-Executive Jim W. Adams Jr. on Wednesday. “With the help of the Lincoln County Historical Society, we plan to keep it pretty much as it has been.”
The house, built between 1787 and 1794, was the home of Kentucky pioneer William Whitley and his wife, sharpshooter Esther Whitley. It was built as a fortress against attacks by Native Americans. It was the first brick house in Kentucky, and its construction marked a transition in the area from log cabins to more formal homes
The house also was a gathering spot for early Kentuckians, including Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark.
The house became part of the state park system in 1938. It was restored by locals between 1948 and 1955. The property, also known as Sportsman’s Hill, had the first circular racetrack built west of the Allegheny Mountains. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
John F. Cox, communications director for the state Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, said cabinet and parks officials informed a legislative committee last September of its strategy for state parks.
“The idea is to partner with local governments to see if they may be better suited to address deferred maintenance needs at parks, as well as support recreational programming and events,” Cox said Wednesday.
He noted that the committee presentation also showed that the state is having discussions about possibly transferring the 896-acre Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park in Laurel County to the city of London.
Concerning the Whitley House, Cox said both the state and county fiscal court “felt that management by the Lincoln County Historical Society would increase public access to the house and that the county was better suited to provide additional funding for its continued preservation.”
Cox said the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin, with help from the General Assembly, has allocated $95.6 million to upgrade the state parks system, compared to only $33.1 million invested during the prior administration’s eight years.
He stressed that the tourism cabinet “has no plan to give any state park away, unless we can ensure they will remain open as parks and, if not, they will revert to the state.”
Cox noted that the state deeded Constitution Square to Boyle County in 2012 and Ben Hawes Park to the city of Owensboro in 2010 and both remain historic sites that are open to the public..
He added that local governments also have gotten involved to keep amphitheaters open at My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown and Jenny Wiley in Floyd County.
Lincoln Judge-Executive Adams said the state was interested in reducing costs. He said the Whitley site was costing the state about $140,00 a year.
Lincoln County will not get any money directly from the cabinet for taking over the property, Adams said, but will receive $15,000 from the Kentucky Heritage Council, a cabinet agency responsible for the preservation of historic buildings and sites, to work on its worn-down racetrack.
Adams said the county had expressed interest during former Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration about taking over the historic property about 10 years ago, “but nothing came of it.”
The county’s fiscal court approved the acquisition Tuesday shortly after a public hearing that attracted about 50 people, said the county judge.
No one opposed the move, he said.
This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 11:48 AM.