Caching Once Again in Elizabethtown and Some New Friends 4/23/2009

We started out in downtown Elizabethtown with a historic walking tour and a multi-cache. We started out at 201 North Main St where in 1802, Major Benjamin Helm built on this site the first brick building in town as his residence. Bricks were burned on the place, and planks were sawed at water mills or whip sawed by his hand. Major Helm rode 90 miles to Lexington for wrought shingle nails; he carried 30 pounds of them back in his saddle bags. In 1822, it became the home of Samuel Haycraft Jr., the local historian who wrote History of Elizabethtown and its surroundings. The original building burned in 1883. The present structure, built in 1886, stands on a portion of the original foundation. 202 North Main St.: This old house, which is built of half timber and brick nogging, was constructed between 1818 and 1824. It is probably the only house ever constructed in this manner in Elizabethtown. Jonathan Hills, who came from Virginia, purchased the property in 1824. It was owned and occupied by his descendants until 1971. 128 North Main St This brick building was
erected in 1825 by John Y. Hill as his residence. It is a very conservative style of
colonial architecture, standing midway between the Federal and the Greek Revival periods. The eaves, which are of curved brick, are very unusual. About 1840, Hill made some additions and converted the building into a hotel called The Hill House. It has figured prominently in the life of the town. During her second stopover in 1851, Jenny Lind sang from the steps in response to popular requests. General George Armstrong Custer boarded at The Hill House during his stay here in 1871-1873. Troops of Custer’s Seventh Cavalry occupied several other areas in Elizabethtown during their stay here. In 1923, Mrs. Drs. William A. Pusey and Brown Pusey purchased the property, developed it into a community house and gave it in trust to the town. The garden is a popular spot for summer weddings and receptions. An excellent history and genealogy library is maintained here. The building is open to the public. 110 West Poplar St.: This church has stood since 1834 when it was built by John Y. Hill for the Severns Valley Baptist congregation. The pilasters, characteristic of the Greek Revival period, are a unique feature of the building. It has undergone extensive remodeling; the steeple is a later addition. Until the time of the Civil War, white and black members (slaves) worshipped together. The building at that time had a side entrance for the slaves. In 1897, it was sold to the First Baptist Church, and, in turn, to the Riasok Shrine Club in 1971. 115 West Poplar St.: This residence was built about 1830, and was home of the Jacob Warren LaRue family. Mrs. LaRue was Eliza Helm, sister of Governor John L. Helm. This house, which has had some additions, is in an attractive state of preservation. Eaves and window treatment are characteristics of the style and craftsmanship of the 1830’s. 125 North Mulberry.: The Masonic Temple was built in 1913 at a cost of $20,000. Features are the brick inlays, probably standing for the letter “M”. The attic windows are characteristic of the classical style immediately prior to World War I. It is the home of all affiliated Masonic bodies. 202 West Poplar St.: Christ Episcopal Church was built about 1850. The original building is virtually unchanged except for the bell tower, which was added in 1878. The parish hall which adjoins is a recent addition. The pews within the church were made from the original benches. 206 Poplar St.: This house was built between 1835 and 1840. It was the home of Judge William D. Vertrees, a Mexican War veteran and his family. Mrs. Vertrees was the first music teacher in town. 117 North Mulberry St.: In the 1860’s a serious split occurred among the members of the local Presbyterian Church over the question of slavery. The
anti-slavery faction withdrew in 1868 and erected this building as its house of worship. In 1883, the dissenters returned to their parent church, and this building
was sold to the African Methodist Episcopal congregation for the sum of $770. It was named Embry Chapel in honor of their Bishop J.C. Embry. 109 North Mulberry St.: This is the building in which Luke B. Schmidt, who came to Elizabethtown in 1920, started
the first Coca-Cola bottling works in the area. 201 West Dixie Ave.: The Hardin County Library building was constructed in 1931, during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, for use as the Elizabethtown Post Office. The building is of attractive
proportions. The style is a combination of the Georgian and the Classical, and the outstanding features are the arched windows. Note also the pilasters. James Wetmore, architect for this building, also designed the Federal Triangle in Washington D.C. and other post office building throughout the country. 14. 134 West Dixie Ave.: This large two-story building, located at the corner of West Dixie and South Mulberry, which was built about 1840, is one of the older houses in the downtown area. It was built as a residence, and was badly damaged in the fire of August, 1869. It was rebuilt by Sanford J. Poston and remains largely unchanged from a century ago. Note
the attractive relationship of the man doorway and the high windows. 114 West Dixie Ave.: The Taylor Hotel, built in 1930, remains relatively unchanged from its original design. Of interest are the inlays on the eaves and the front of the building. 111 West Dixie Ave.: The City Hall (now the Chamber of Commerce) was built in 1906. It has been sympathetically remodeled. 107 West Dixie Ave.: This wrap-around building, with an identical entrance at 35 Public Square, was built in 1888. The cast iron façade, unique in Elizabethtown, remains essentially unchanged since the turn of the century. On the interior, the metal ceiling and the floor plan are also essentially unchanged. The interior cabinetry reflects the art-deco style
of the 1932’s. Corner Public Square and West Dixie Ave.: This building was erected in 1887 as the home of the Bank of Elizabethtown. In 1911, that bank was merged with the First National Bank and became the First Hardin National Bank. A cannonball fired into town by Morgan’s Raiders in 1862 was imbedded in the wall of the building formerly on this site, and it was replaced in the wall of the present building when it was constructed. 102 West Dixie Ave.: This building was erected in 1921 as the main office of the First Hardin Bank. 45 Public Square: This building was erected ca. 1875 by Phillip Arnold as a home for his banking business. The exterior has undergone some renovation, but the bank vault is still intact in the interior. 52 Public Square: The Gilded Age Building was built in 1877 by Phillip Arnold, who was widely known for his connection with the diamond fraud of the 1870’s. This has been a landmark in the town’s business life for over a century. The original character of the building is somewhat preserved along its side wall. 68 Public Square: The Joplin
Hotel was built in 1923. It has been remodeled into apartments for the elderly. Worthy of note are the portico and the brick work around the doorway. This is the site of the Chalfin House (log) and later the Showers House, the most pretentious hotel in the town until it burned in May, 1918. 2 Public Square: This building at the corner of the Square and East Dixie Ave. was erected shortly after the fire of 1887. An earlier building, destroyed in that fire, was a three-story business house of John B. Helm, used later as a residence and a store room. It was damaged by
cannon fire by Morgan’s Raiders in 1862. 24. 14-20 Public Square: Hardin County Government Complex. This block of Buildings was acquired in 1987 by Hardin County for use as offices for county officials. The Stewart Building (red brick) was built in 1907. The ground floor was formerly used for retail stores. The Stewart Opera House (second and third floors) was the scene of political gatherings, entertainment and other public gatherings. The auditorium and stage area have been transformed into offices in a manner sympathetic with the original design. The Helm Building (white brick), many times remodeled, was erected by Ben Helm and occupied by Helm and Duff Green as merchants until 1817, and after that by various retail establishments. The rear section of this building along Plum Alley is probably the oldest business building in town. 23 Public Square: On this corner of the Public Square was located the “Sign of the Lion” Tavern, built about 1798 by Major James Crutcher and operated by him for some time. In the early days, it was the site for the meeting of the town’s Board of Trustees and other important gatherings. The hotel at this site was operated under different names for many years, among them The Eagle House (John L. Helm, later Governor of Kentucky, was a partner of that business), The Smith Hotel and The Lion Hotel. Here the famous singer, Jenny Lind, stopped for the night on April 5, 1851, while in route from Nashville to Louisville.
The hotel was closed a few years ago and the space was converted to offices. The present building was erected at two different times, the back part being the older. Note the notched treatment of the chimneys on the back wall facing the parking lot. Well that was the whole walking tour and as we went along we did our cache and then after we had finished figured out the final coords and found the cache quickly.
Our next cache had to do with a movie that was filmed in part in Elizabethtown. A scene from the movie "Elizabethtown" was filmed at the location of this cache. The scene features Claire Colburn (Kristen Dunst) saying goodby to Drew Baylor(Orlando Bloom) in front of the court house in Elizabethtown. I was on location the day before the movie shooting and was able to take a few photos of a mock shoe store set up for the scene. The store that the shoe store was located used to be home to the J.J. Newberry Department Store and is now home to S and S Beauty Supplies.
The next cache which was a multi-cache had to do with the old Lion Hotel. In the early 1800s James Crutcher put up a log house at this location which he called "The Sign of the Lion" and used as an inn. After changing hands several times, the log structure was torn down and replaced by this two-story brick structure with basement and attic. This inn has also been known as Eagle House and Smith House. The structure is currently occupied by an architects office, insurance company, computer store and several resident ghosts. While we were looking for the 2nd stage a car drove up and 3 people got out of it and asked are you looking for The Lion's Den? It was 3 cachers from this area, Mooseky, ddaisy, bees4me, so we introduced everybody and we went off to look for the cache together. As we were looking another local cacher drove up, it was meow and she joined us looking also, although she had already found it. After we found the cache we stood around talking for awhile and we told them we were about to find our 2500th cache so they suggested we do a cache by another local cacher KY Hiker. So we said we would and we all split up and we were off to find our 2500th.
The cache we were doing was Making a Connection where you had to use your cell phone as you drove around to business locations and made numbers out of their names and then called them in to another cell phone where you would get a recording that told you if you were right or wrong and give you the next set of coords. We did this 4 times until we got the set of final coords. We drove to the location and it turned out to be the business of the cacher that put the cache out. As we were looking for it up walked the other 4 cachers we had just met as 3 of them hadn't found it yet either. So all 6 of us were looking for the cache and then we hear another voice and it was the owner of the cache and the business KY Hiker. We stood around and talked for awhile as we looked for the cache and finally one of us found it. We all signed the log and replaced it then went to look for another cache close to his backayrd. After finding that one we all decided to go out to lunch to the Old Vault Deli which is a sandwich shop located in an old bank and still has the walk in safe there which they use for a store room. We all had sandwhiches which were very good and sat and talked for awhile then each of was off to wherever after saying our goodbyes.
We continued our caching.
Our next 3 caches weren't anything special as there were 2 in small parks and the other was a miniature ammo box hanging on a fence in a parking lot. Then we were off back to the RV and Mom did our logs and I showered and worked on the pictures. By that time it was dinner time so we ate and called it a day. Well until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad