Tag Archive: Danville

Log Courthouse – Danville, Kentucky

Log Courthouse - Danville, Kentucky

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This rustic log cabin, was used by Kentucky pioneers as the first district courthouse, prior to statehood and the split from Virginia. Located in Danville, the courthouse was staffed by prominent early Kentuckians. Samuel McDowell, John Floyd, and George Muter served as the court’s first judges. Walker Daniel, the man for whom Danville is named, was the prosecutor and John May served as the court clerk.

Today, the courthouse stands in Danville’s Constitution Square, the location of prominent early buildings including a meetinghouse, post office and jail which served vital roles in administering the terrority an young state of Kentucky.

It is also the site where numerous constitutional conventions were held to hammer out the details of Kentucky’s first constitution. The state’s first constitution was accepted by the United States Congress on June 1, 1792, making Kentucky the fifteenth state.

First Kentucky Post Office – Danville

First Kentucky Post Office - Danville

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This small log cabin was the first post office in Kentucky, and the first post office west of the Allegheny Mountains of Maryland, a sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains. In 1792 Thomas Barbee was commissioned as its first post master, and the first mail arrived November 3rd of that year. The post office building was ultimately relocated from its original location to Danville’s Constitution Square.

Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior – Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior – Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

Shaker Village Pioneer Home Interior - Kentucky

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Pleasant Hill, Kentucky also known as Shakertown, was a Shaker (the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing) religious community from 1805 to 1910. With many well-preserved buildings, the village was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

The Kentucky Shaker village was founded by three New England Shaker missionaries, John Meacham, Benjamin Seth Youngs, and Issachar Bates. They founded the community around the teachings of Mother Ann Lee who believed in celibacy. Kentucky’s Shaker community ultimately died out, in part because of their beliefs in celibacy, problems encountered during and after the Civil War, and a declining interest in their way of life by potential converts . But their legacy of hard work, and fine craftsmanship lives on at Pleasant Hill.

Shakertown is located near the present day cities of Danville and Harrodsburg in central Kentucky.

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill – Website
National Park Service – History of the Shakers