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Bowling Green - Warren County Bicentennial Celebration



National Register of Historic Places:
Warren County Residences

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The Historic Residence descriptions were taken from the Landmark Association's Architecture
of Warren County, Kentucky 1790 - 1940, Smiths Grove, Ky: AC Publications, 1984.

William Gossom House

 State Road 31W, Plum Springs vicinity. This house is one of six highly significant Federal style brick houses in the county based on the central passage plan. Later additions and alterations have not obscured the classic two-story, three-bay form common in such houses. The importance of teh house is increased by the survival of a nearby stone springhouse and by the prominent location at the intersection of several main highways. The original owner of the house was William Gossom (1774-1862), who came to Kentucky in 1808. Gossom's son-in-law, the next occupant of the house, Edwin T. Roberts, was part-owner of a steamship company that operated on the Barren River until the beginning of the Civil War. (National Register)

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John H. Grider House

1320 Park Street, Bowling Green. Built in 1851 for John Hobson Grider, the design of this house is similar enough to "Ironwood" and the John B. Clark House to support the notion that the same designer-builder was responsible for all. One of the few remaining Greek Revival resideces in Bowling Green, this house is architecturally significant because of the complex double pile plan. This house is also the last rural type dwelling remaining in this section of Bowling Green and is therefore an important reminder of the former boundary between town and country. Grider, a grandson of one of the founders of Bowling Green, was the son-in-law of Reverend James Davis Hines. (National Register)

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Tobias Grider House ("Fairview")

864A Fairview Avenue, Bowling Green. "Fairview," known also as the House of the Ten Gables, was built in the mid-1850's for Tobias Grider, grandson of one of the founders of Bowling Green, Robert Moore. The house is based on an H-plan, a rare type of plan in Kentucky, and is an unusual blend of Greek and Gothic Revival elements. The pointed-arch openings in the peaks of the gables and the pinnacles in the gables are reflections of the Gothic Revival, while the interior moldings

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Nan Burnam Hall House

 104 West Main Street, Bowling Green. This house is one of only several surviving Federal style structures in Bowling Green. It is an especially clear version of the single story, central passage plan house type popular in the Federal period in Kentucky. Most of the interior and exterior details have survived. The similar form and door detail of a house in the county (see James Kelly House) make it likely that the same designer-builder worked on both houses. In addition, the house is the only nineteenth century structure on Main Street remaining to serve as a link between two historic districts, the Downtown Commercial Historic District and St. Joseph's Historic District. Constructed as a residence and owned by Mrs. Nan Burnam Hall this structure was located directly opposite the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station, where visitors to this house witnessed the burning of the depot by Texas Rangers in February 1862. (National Register)

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James Hays House

U.S. 68 and State Road 259, Hays. One of few decorated cottages of the late nineteenth century in the county to have survived with its entire decorative scheme intact, this house possesses an added historical significance in that the town in which it is located was named for the original owner, James Hays, a local merchant. This house could be considered Eastlake in style. (National Register)

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James Hines House

1103 Adams Street, Bowling Green. Built for James Hines in 1840, this house is one of several mansions which indicate the prosperity of Adams Street during the late 1800's. Despite several alterations and the addition of a monument portico, the overall original form and Federal stylistic details of this house are evident. This is one of the few remaining structures from its period in Bowling Green and one of the few surviving 19th century buildings on this formerly prestigious residential street. (National Register)

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J. C. Jaggers House

 Hays-Pondsville Road, East of Pondsville, Pondsville vicinity. Built for J. C. Jaggers in the first third of the nineteenth century, this log house (covered with a later exterior) has a stone chimney marked with the initials "J.C.J.", those of the owner, and "H.K.E.", probably those of the builder or brickmason. The house is the most significant example in the county of a relatively rare form of log house -- the saddlebag form, characterized by two adjoining log pens sharing a central chimney. A third pen in the Jaggers House forms an ell. This house is the best preserved of the five remaining saddlebag log houses in the county. (National Register)

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James Kelley House

U.S. Highway 68 West, Bowling Green vicinity. This prominent house was built for James Kelley in the first third fo the nineteenth century. Much of the architectural significance of the house lies in the manner in which the single-story Federal structure was transformed into a Greek Revival I-house by the addition of a second floor and an entry portico on stone piers. The original form and arched door heading are similar to those of a house in Bowling Green (See Nan Burnam Hall House). By the 1880's, when the farm was sold to R.J. Meyler and John Dickey, both from Bullitt County, the property consisted of 1500 acres, three brick distillery warehouses served by a spur railroad, and numerous tenant houses. (National Register)

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William Merritt House

 U.S. 31W South, Bowling Green vicinity. The two houses on this site represent in well-preserved form two of the most popular building types in Warren County domestic architecture: the square, single-pen log house and the frame Greek Revival I-house. This form of log house dominated the landscape in the first third of the century and the I-house in the second third. The straight-sided chimneys of the frame house were a popular local alternative to shouldered chimneys in the mid-nineteenth century. The earliest known owner was William W. Merritt, Sr., who purchased the property in 1844. He was probably responsible for the building of the frame house, but the log house would seem to predate Merritt's ownership. (National Register)

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Jesse Middleton House

Tuckertown Road, Oakland vicinity. Located on the historic north-south route through Warren County, this structure is one of few in the state that reveal their original functions as stage coach stops. Unlike most buildings used as inns, taverns or stage coach stops, it was designed with a sense of informality and utility rather than in accordance with current notions of domestic styling. The central chimney is rare in Kentucky brick architecture. The interior moldings are extremely simple. The building was apparently constructed for William B. Smith (1779-1852), a native of Mississippi, during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The building is also known as the Jesse Middleton House after a later owner. (National Register)

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Mariah Moore House

801 State Street, Bowling Green. 1828. Brick, two stories, L-shaped, gabled roof, interior end chimneys, recessed center entrance with side lights set in segmental arch with decorative molding, 1st-story rowlock arched windows, 1 front storefront; two rear additions. Town's oldest brick building; built for family of one of town's original founders, George Moore. (National Register, 1976)

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Samuel Murrell House

Eight miles northeast of Bowling Green on U.S. 31W, Bowling Green vicinity. C. 1841. Brick, two stories, T-shaped, standing seam tin hipped and gabled roof sections, interior and exterior end chimneys with corbeled caps, center entrance with transom and sidelights, one-story entrance porch with projecting center section, stone lintels; interior walnut woodwork; porch addition and alterations, late 19th century; outbuildings include one-story log building, c. 1818. Greek Revival and late Victorian elements. Built for Samuel Murrell, prominent state and local politician; earlier log structure believed to have been residence of Susannah Henry Madison, sister of Patrick Henry. (National Register, 1976)

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William P. Neale House

 North of Woodburn, Woodburn vicinity. The William P. Neale House is one of six highly significant Federal style brick houses in the county that are based on the central passage. Both facades consist of four bays, and the house is further distinguished by a one-story end addition rather than the expected ell an by unusual segmental retaining arches over the first floor and basement openings. The interior finishing includes Federal style mantels with needed work, chair rails and an enclosed corner staircase. The house was built for William P. Neale sometime in the first third fo the century and sold to his son, Richard Dawson Neale, in 1853. The younger Neale lived here until he moved to the Wilburn W. Moore House in 1871. (National Register)

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Newton-Kemp Houses

804-806 Chestnut Street, Bowling Green. This pair of row houses, English half-I in form, is the only surviving instance in Bowling Green of this once common type. The houses illustrate the conjunction of two of the most popular styles in the first half of the nineteenth century: a Federal style row house on the right, built for James Kemp and a Greek Revival row house on the left, built for James R. Newton. In addition, the buildings are among the few reminders of Chestnut Street as an important nineteenth century residential neighborhood. (National Register)

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National Register || Residences || Churches || Brinton B. Davis Thematic Scheme at WKU || Districts

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Page last modified 22 October 1997