A Pleasant Porch

Seen at the Adsmore House in Princeton, KY

I've always wanted to live in a house with a big porch -- not a big deck or a big patio, but a big, old-fashioned porch. I want pillars and steps and gingerbread trim.

When we came to Christian County (KY) in the early 1990s and searched for a house to buy, we bid on a little white house near Lafayette. I really liked its big front porch. We were a bit too late, though; someone else put in a bid a few hours ahead of us and bought that little house.

So, we bought another house instead. It has been our home for 20 years. It is the shelter that keeps rain and snow off our heads and the haven that welcomes us at the end of each day. It doesn't have a porch, though, and it's not even a style of house that would wear my porch well.

Thus, I enjoy a good porch when I see one. One of the best porches that I've discovered recently is at the Adsmore House, a museum at Princeton, KY. It's a back porch -- a pleasant, comfortable space that overlooks the garden, lawns, and carriage house.

I took this photo last fall on my second visit to the Adsmore. The tour guide saw me stop with my camera as we left the house. She asked if I would like her to take my picture on the porch. "No, I just want a picture of the porch!" I told her.

It was a gray, rainy afternoon, and my porch photo turned out dark and a bit unfocused. I was disappointed in it. I downloaded it to my computer and forgot about it.

A few days ago, I happened to look at the photo again, and I decided to work with it. After I straightened it, lightened a few areas, and added some "glow",  I installed it as my desktop background. It may not be a perfect photo, but it's my private window onto a very nice porch, and I've been enjoying it.

A Visit to the Adsmore Museum

Living history in Princeton, KY

Last Friday afternoon, I captured Isaac and took him on an excursion to Princeton, KY. Princeton is the county seat of Caldwell County, about 30 miles northwest of Hopkinsville. Our destination was the Adsmore Museum, a few blocks east of the Caldwell Courthouse square in Princeton.

It was our first visit to the Adsmore, and we didn't research the museum beforehand. On the drive over, we speculated that we might see an exhibit about the Night Riders and the Black Patch tobacco wars. We were wrong.

The Adsmore house, we soon learned, is a living history museum. It recreates a specific time and place in history. Currently, Adsmore is celebrating Easter and little Katharine Garrett's 6th birthday. Inside the house, the year is 1907, and everything is ready for the holiday and for a birthday party. The museum staff is dressed in costumes of the period.

Seen in Princeton, Kentucky

Caldwell County Courthouse and downtown Princeton, KY

I've been doing a little research lately on WPA buildings in this area of Kentucky. To my surprise, I learned that Princeton, a small town northwest of Hopkinsville, has one of the few Art Deco courthouses built by the WPA in Kentucky.

I had only been in the downtown area of Princeton once, so Dennis and I drove over to look at the Caldwell County courthouse last Sunday. It is a striking, concrete building that sits on the square in the center of Princeton. Each of its four sides has a dramatic doorway, but the main entrance with the widest steps (photo above) is on the south.



Here's a closer look at the south facade (above photo.) This is the area directly above the doorway. The very austere eagles are repeated around the building.

On the east and west sides, the stylized leaves between the first and second floor windows surely must represent tobacco. At the top of the building, another set of designs may represent plants -- tobacco again? I'm not sure.

One wall has a bust of George Washington (I think) under a giant, rounded-off, concrete ledge that is an architectural detail of that wall. You can see the ledge and the bust protruding from the side of the building in the photo below (upper right.)



This is the north entrance (above photo.) In case you get disoriented, the direction is inscribed above each doorway. I wonder if the pillars in front, with the inset glass blocks, might light up from the inside.





The buildings in the two photos above are just a few of the interesting old storefronts in the downtown area around the courthouse. I believe that Princeton has done a better job of preserving its old architecture and keeping some business downtown than Hopkinsville has done.



The church in the photo above is the Christ Tabernacle. The sign says it's a non-denominational church and everyone is welcome. Nearby there's also a large Baptist church. Both churches are only about a block from the courthouse.

I want to drive back over to Princeton and look inside the courthouse on a weekday. I'm curious whether the interior has any distinctive Art Deco features.

General Harlan B. Lyon of the Confederacy burned the Caldwell County courthouse, the Christian County Courthouse (in Hopkinsville), and others during the Civil War so they wouldn't fall into Union hands. He was said to be the "courthouse-burn'est" general around.

Caldwell County built another courthouse after the war was over. It must have been in poor repair or too small, because they needed another new one by the time the WPA was looking for projects during the Great Depression.