Historical Markers and War Memorials in Danville, Kentucky
Danville is the county seat for Boyle County
Danville is in Boyle County
Boyle County(131) ► ADJACENT TO BOYLE COUNTY Casey County(10) ► Garrard County(21) ► Lincoln County(42) ► Marion County(26) ► Mercer County(99) ► Washington County(37) ►
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Colorful college football coach and National Baseball League umpire. Coached Praying Colonels of Centre College into national football spotlight, 1916-23. See other side. First coached, 1898-99, at Bethel College, Russellville, Ky. Then held four . . . — — Map (db m121575) HM
In this block a thriving African American business district stood for over 100 years. Restaurants, barber and beauty shops, medical and dental offices, and retail shops drew patrons from Boyle and nearby counties. Until razed by urban renewal in . . . — — Map (db m49741) HM
Native of Delaware. Trained in medicine and surgery under E. McDowell, lived in this house 1825-30. He performed the 3rd ovariotomy in the U.S. (1823), was the first to perform laminectomy (1829), and was an innovative contributor to urologic . . . — — Map (db m121537) HM
To honor and commemorate the men who fought in the American Revolution and sleep in Boyle County Kentucky.
John Spears • Michael Harmon • Hugh Shiell •
John Pipes • John Gray • William Warren •
Samuel McDowell • Thomas Crawford . . . — — Map (db m121869) WM
Dedicated to those men and women of this community who served our country in times of peace and war and especially to those who gave their lives in that service.
World War I
Ball, Basil • Jesse, Frank H. •
Bramer, George S. • Maples, . . . — — Map (db m121870) WM
This one-story brick building, originally only two rooms, was the first brick schoolhouse in Danville. The schoolhouse, circa 1820, was renovated in 1975. — — Map (db m121729) HM
(North Face)
Erected by the U.D.C. and veterans of Boyle Co. The Confederate Dead
(South Face)
"What They Were The Whole World Knows" — — Map (db m167404) WM
Homesite and grave 1 mile west. B., Orange Co., Va., 1740. D., 1825. 40 years service to his country. Lt. at Fort Pitt, Dunmore's War, 1774. Captain, Botetourt County militia, 1776. Northwest Campaign of George Rogers Clark, 1778. Came to Ky., 1781. . . . — — Map (db m120112) HM
Founded on this campus in 1819 by pioneer Kentuckians who held that heart and mind must be trained together, and dedicated to the inculcation of ideals of culture and character in the hearts of American youth. Veritas Lux Mentis. — — Map (db m121562) HM
Early pioneer settlement erected before 1779. Developed by George Clark, brother-in-law of William Whitley, whose party came to Ky. about 1775. Located on Clark's Run Creek, named for George Clark, it was one of the first stations built in the . . . — — Map (db m105411) HM
For Judge John Boyle, 1774-1834. State representative, 1800; U.S. Congress, 1803-9; Kentucky Court of Appeals, Chief Justice, 1810-26; U.S. District Judge for Kentucky, 1826-34. The Judge "lived for his country," setting many important legal . . . — — Map (db m121555) HM
The original log courthouse, which was built on this site in 1784-1785, housed the Supreme Court of Kentucky and the Constitutional Conventions which led to Kentucky's statehood on June 1, 1792. This replica was erected in 1942. — — Map (db m121535) HM
Boyle County's first courthouse erected here, 1842, destroyed by great fire of 1860. This building completed 1862. First occupied by Union forces as hospital after battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862.
On 11th a Union force drove CSA from . . . — — Map (db m121556) HM
McDowell House And Apothecary Shop
The pioneering spirit of Dr. Ephraim McDowell-father of abdominal surgery and most prominent surgeon west of the Alleghenies in the early 19th century-is celebrated today at McDowell House.
On Christmas . . . — — Map (db m71041) HM
Burial site of Ephraim McDowell, the “father of modern surgery.” His family moved here from Va. in 1784. He studied medicine in Va. and Scotland before practicing in Danville. In 1802, he married Sarah Shelby, dau. of Ky.’s first gov. . . . — — Map (db m50814) HM
Physician & teacher spoke here at 1887 State Assoc. of Colored Teachers Meeting advocating women's suffrage. Speech in national newspaper. — — Map (db m132656) HM
Obverse
Home of Ephraim McDowell, the “father of modern surgery.” Here on December 25, 1809, McDowell performed the first successful abdominal operation when he took a 22-pound ovarian cyst from Jane Todd Crawford of Green . . . — — Map (db m71047) HM
On June 1, 1916, representatives of local churches, civic clubs and Centre College, inspired by Hull House and the Progressive Era, founded the Community Work Board (CWB), which made social work scientific, opposed begging; gave coal, meals, and . . . — — Map (db m170098) HM
Kentucky's first recorded hemp crop, 1775, was on Clark's Run Creek, near Danville. Grown by Archibald McNeill, who brought the first seed with him when he located here. Hemp production spread slowly throughout the area, but Boyle County later . . . — — Map (db m121560) HM
This building is the original First Post Office west of the Allegheny Mountains. General Thomas Barbee commissioned first Post Master, August 20, 1792. Logs moved from Walnut Street to Constitution Square. Dedicated to the State of Kentucky by the . . . — — Map (db m121725) HM
May 23, 1864, nearly 250 black men, most of them slaves, left Boyle Co. to march to Camp Nelson in Jessamine Co. to enlist in the Union army. On the way, some Danville citizens threw stones and shot pistols at the recruits. When they reached . . . — — Map (db m70996) HM
Fisher’s Row, circa 1816-1817, was built by Jeremiah Fisher as the first rental property in Danville. Fisher’s row consists of two, two-story houses with a common wall. The brick is laid in the Flemish Bond Pattern. — — Map (db m121727) HM
Stephen Albert Fisher, Rev. War soldier from Va., assigned in 1775 to active duty and wounded while serving with Colonel John Bowman's militia. Returned to Ky. in 1779 with wife Mary Magdalene Garr. He established garrison of military significance . . . — — Map (db m70981) HM
Mansion built by William Owsley at close of term as Governor of Kentucky, 1844-48. Tract on which house stands part of land claimed by James Harrod prior to 1785. Owsley (1782-1862) served as Judge on the Court of Appeals, State Senator, and . . . — — Map (db m153067) HM
Grayson’s Tavern, circa 1785, was owned and operated by Benjamin Grayson as the first tavern in Danville. The political club of Danville, formed in 1786, met here frequently to discuss issues which formed the framework of the Kentucky Constitution. — — Map (db m121730) HM
Danville's first tavern, operated in this building before 1800 by Benjamin Grayson. Often within these walls the burning political issues of the day were discussed. The Danville Political Society, organized in 1786 and the first of its kind in the . . . — — Map (db m49742) HM
First governor of Kentucky
1792-1796
Fifth governor of Kentucky
1812-1816
One of Shelby’s first acts as Governor was to call for and help design the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The figures of a pioneer and statesman in this . . . — — Map (db m121734) HM
Kentucky School for the Deaf first opened 1823 in Danville, at 4th and Main Sts. In 1826, it moved to this campus. Jacobs Hall is oldest surviving building, constructed 1855-57, of Italianate design by architect Thomas Lewinski. Its interior is . . . — — Map (db m121561) HM
In 1785, the District of Kentucky ordered the construction of a jail, “to be constructed of 9-inch logs”. This replica of the jail was built in 1942. — — Map (db m121731) HM
Obverse
John Gill Weisiger Memorial Park
The land embraced within this park, bounded by Main Street, First Street, Walnut Street and alleyway, was conveyed to the commonwealth of Kentucky as a gift by Miss Emma Weisiger, and . . . — — Map (db m71338) HM
Born in Boyle Co. and a graduate of Centre College, 1850, Harlan practiced law in central Ky. after 1853. Although against Lincoln and abolition in 1860, he was a strong Unionist during Civil War; recruited 10th Ky. Infantry. Elected Attorney . . . — — Map (db m121559) HM
Abraham Lincoln’s friend and 1st law partner was born on Nov. 10, 1807, in Fayette Co. The son of a Presbyterian minister & Mary Todd Lincoln’s aunt, Stuart graduated from Centre College in 1826. Two years later he became a lawyer in Springfield, . . . — — Map (db m49746) HM
Side 1 Original site of Bate High School, built 1912 and named in honor of its founder, John William Bate. Born a slave in Louisville, Bate received an AB from Berea College in 1881 and and AM in 1891. He moved to Danville to teach in 1881 . . . — — Map (db m105414) HM
In December 1806, William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean, visited his nephews in school in Danville. Clark was en route to Washington to report to President Jefferson and other government officials about the . . . — — Map (db m49744) HM
This dynamic Southern Baptist missionary spent almost forty years (1873-1912) teaching and ministering in China. She was a member of First Baptist Church, Danville, 1868-71, and taught at Caldwell Female Institute, later a part of Centre College. . . . — — Map (db m153068) HM
The original log meeting house, erected on this site in 1784 under the direction of reverend David Rice, housed the newly formed Concord Presbyterian Congregation, the first Presbyterians in Kentucky. This replica was erected in 1942. — — Map (db m121733) HM
Old Crow Inn
The oldest existing stone house in Kentucky, built 1784, is part of this building. The house has been enlarged and Doric pillars added. Land purchased from John Crow by James Wright, 1781. Next owner, Colonel Joshua Barbee, who . . . — — Map (db m105413) HM
Reverend Francis Clark organized first Methodist Soc. in Ky., 1783; such groups formed Methodist Episcopal Church, established 1784. Clark, from Virginia, settled near here. A local preacher, he was assisted by John Durham, lay leader. Society, led . . . — — Map (db m170100) HM
(side 1)
Poet, Lawyer and Soldier
Theodore O'Hara was born in this city, Feb. 11, 1820. He read law with Judge Wm. Owsley. Newspaper work included editing Frankfort Yeoman and Louisville Times. He served in Mexican War, . . . — — Map (db m121558) HM
This original building built pre-1792, served as the first office west of the Alleghenies. On August 20, 1792, Thomas Barbee was commissioned postmaster. The first mail was received on November 3, 1792. The post office was moved here from its . . . — — Map (db m121726) HM
One of three founded, 1784, by Reverend David Rice; earliest of this denomination west of Alleghenies. Here worshipped: James G. Birney, whose presidential candidacy in 1844 caused defeat of Henry Clay; John C. Breckinridge, whose 1860 candidacy . . . — — Map (db m121839) HM
On this corner, in 1823, Kentucky founded the first state-supported school in the United States for the instruction of deaf children. Classes met in an old inn that was known as the Yellow House. Reverend and Mrs. John R. Kerr served as first . . . — — Map (db m121541) HM
Referred to by geologists as a “karst window”, sinking springs form when bedrock has collapsed to reveal groundwater moving through an aquifer. Water flows from the spring, creates a surface-flowing stream, and returns underground. This . . . — — Map (db m121572) HM
Kentucky District Court sessions held here March 14, 1785, until Court of Appeals set up in 1792. Created by Virginia statute on May 6, 1782, the court first met in Harrodsburg on March 3, 1783. Later meetings at Low Dutch Station and John Crow's . . . — — Map (db m121534) HM
One of the oldest church buildings in Danville. Erected in 1830 after Trinity parish founded in 1829. Rebuilt on the original walls following fire which swept central part of town, 1860. James Birney and Ephraim McDowell members of first vestry. In . . . — — Map (db m121539) HM
Founded Danville, 1781. First Atty. Gen. of Ky. District, 1783. As a member of Commission went to Falls of Ohio to allot lands in Clark's grant to members of Ill. Regt. Daniel was killed by Indians, Aug. 1784, on way to visit brother at Bullitt's . . . — — Map (db m49743) HM
The Watts-Bell House circa 1816-1817, was built by William Watts for leading Danville merchant David Bell. Joshua Fry Bell, grandson of David Bell, grew up in this house. He became a distinguished lawyer and statesman, serving as a member of the . . . — — Map (db m121728) HM
Willis Russell, a well-educated & emancipated slave of Rev. War captain Robert Craddock, relocated from Warren Co., Ky. to Danville around April 1838. He taught black children in this pre-1795 log home that he inherited when Capt. Craddock died in . . . — — Map (db m121564) HM
