DISASSEMBLY OF THE CRITTENDEN CABIN has been ongoing for the last few weeks in preparation for its move to the Woodford County Park. The crew is led by architect David Whitmer, pictured bottom left next to Dylan Murphy. Pictured on roof, from left, Stephen Brice and Martin Richards. (Photo by Scott White)
Built in 1783, the Crittenden Cabin, located on Versailles Road next to a long-standing public golf course on land owned by the Frontier Nursing University, is about to be moved . . . again. And, for all of Kentucky, not just Woodford County, that is good news.
The Crittenden Cabin (Cabin) is now owned by the Woodford County Historical Society (Society), which is located on Rose Hill abutting the Versailles Market and Entertainment District, where the Society operates its museum.
The very existence of the Cabin has been threatened since Frontier Nursing purchased the land from the former Methodist Children’s Home in 2017, when it moved its main campus from its historic location in Leslie County.
What to do with the Cabin came to a head in 2024, when after a meeting with representatives from Woodford County government and the Society, the university insisted the Cabin be moved from its property, though university administrators have allowed the Society time to fundraise and make arrangements, including making a monetary contribution itself to the project.
Kentuckians can help with the effort to protect this Woodford County treasure. The Society is engaged in raising the necessary funds to move and restore the Cabin at a new location in Woodford County Park near the tennis courts and dog park.
Moving is nothing new for the Cabin. In fact, due to being moved from its original site, the National Register of Historic Places changed its bureaucratic mind and removed the Cabin from its register after adding the Cabin in 1972.
The Cabin was built by Major John Crittenden, a Revolutionary War veteran, on land he was given as part of his service in the Revolutionary War. He built the cabin, returned home to Virginia, married Judith Harris, came back to Woodford County, and the couple raised eight children who were born in the Cabin, including John in 1787, who became the 17th governor of Kentucky in 1848, while also serving as a U.S. senator, U.S. congressman (during the Civil War) and U.S. attorney general. John now rests just 16 miles from his birthplace in the historic Frankfort Cemetery.
In 1816, the Cabin was sold by Major John’s heirs. It went through several owners, until William Cleveland purchased the property in 1854 and soon after moved the Cabin for the first time.
For several decades, the property passed to several owners who either farmed the property, used the home built by Cleveland as a “summer home” or operated a school there. The Cabin has gone through a variety of “restorations” and “improvements,” though the original structure remained intact.
In 1931, the Methodist orphans home needed more space and, led by Rev. E.K. Arnold of the Versailles United Methodist Church, the orphanage purchased the property, built additional buildings and recreational facilities, and held it until the property was purchased by Frontier Nursing.
During the Cabin’s stewardship by the Methodists, the orphanage’s superintendents made numerous attempts to restore the Cabin, including failed attempts to interest local Woodford County and Kentucky leaders to help fund the project. One of these efforts led to an agreement with the Woodford County Heritage Committee (not affiliated with the Society) to maintain the Cabin while the orphanage provided the land to site it on . . . and, so the Cabin was disassembled and rebuilt at its current location, where some rotting logs were identified and replaced from a cabin sited in Jessamine County. But most of the Cabin’s structural pieces remained intact, including two stone chimneys.
The Society became directly involved in 1987, when the Heritage Commission transferred ownership of the Cabin to it; and in 1996, the Society leased the land the Cabin sat on for a five-year renewable lease from the Methodists, with upkeep the responsibility of the Society.
Other than sporadic visits from elementary school students, a short-lived crafts store and a single meeting of the Society, there was no real use to which the Cabin was put . . . even its Kentucky Historic Marker, refurbished in 2001, was essentially invisible and the Cabin itself basically hidden from view by a stand of trash trees to the hundreds of cars driving by every day.
The birthplace of one of Kentucky’s most consequential statesmen, which had stretched from the start of the country’s second 50 years through the Civil War seemingly vanished from view.
But, the Society, under the leadership of Winfrey Adkins and Bill Phelps, along with former Lt. Gov. and State Auditor Crit Luallen, who is a descendant of the pioneer Crittenden family, and Woodford County Magistrate Liles Taylor, refused to stand around and allow the Cabin to remain derelict or be bulldozed by Frontier Nursing.
This group, with a few others, in the spring of 2024, focused their efforts to relocate and restore the Cabin. They are on the cusp of success.
They arranged for Patrick Kennedy, a retiree from the Kentucky Heritage Council, to inspect the Cabin, assess its condition and make recommendations on restoration. The group then retained David Whitmer, a Versailles architect with experience in working with historic buildings, to disassemble, move and reassemble the Cabin. They secured the commitment of the county government to donate the land for the new site, including excavating the foundation and digging footers. Once that is completed, the Society will turn its attention to the details of the interior restoration and possible uses, including looking for ways to partner with Woodford County Public Schools and other nonprofits.
As can be seen from the photograph accompanying this article, the disassembly is underway and will soon be complete. Whitmer, along with his crew of Stephen Brice, Martin Richards and Dylan Murphy, has, according to Richards, been “fighting wasps and varmints.” Whitmer said one of the biggest challenges will be “replacing the logs beyond repair, which are almost all walnut.”
Over a 40-minute visit, Whitmer pointed out how the chimneys were original and put back together, the original flooring had been saved, and various cross-beams and joists had been rearranged based on the notching in the original construction used to create tight fits. Throughout, the crew continued working, carefully assessing the integrity of the materials and placing them in a dumpster for transport to the new site. Whitmer said the disassembly should be complete in another week or so, depending on the weather. It will take approximately six weeks to reassemble after the county completes the site preparation.
What can you do? So far, the Society has raised $120,000 of the $225,000 needed to pay for the project. Anyone interested in making a donation, or looking for another way to help, can call Society President Winfrey Adkins at 859-609-6635, or leave a message for him at the Society’s headquarters at 859.873-6786.
Need another reason to help? Former Lt. Gov. Luallen perhaps put it best in a talk she gave to the Society on Aug. 22, 2024: “But why is it so important to tell our stories and to preserve what we can of the past? Because it is absolutely critical, we preserve all that we can to tell the story of our history to the next generations. Far beyond its connection to my (family) roots, this Cabin stands as a physical symbol of a vital part of this nation’s and this county’s early history . . . standing inside that Cabin is an incredible teaching tool as we think about our strengths as a people. And in the future, it needs to be in a spot where school children can visit and learn about the courage and resilience of those early pioneers.”
Well, the Society has found the perfect spot. Now, it is up to Woodford County and its friends to make it happen.