Johnston's Inn
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Historical Marker #1283 in Bourbon County marks Johnston's Inn, which was illustrated on John Filson's 1784 map of Kentucky.
Johnston's Inn is recognized as the oldest house in Bourbon County. It is located on John Filson's famous 1784 'Kentucee' map on the original road from Limestone (now Maysville) to Lexington near the middle fork of Coopers Run.
As Euro-American settlement commenced in Kentucky during the mid-eighteenth century, Captain Thomas McClanahan received the property as part of land grant following the French and Indian War. His daughter Peggy married Captain Robert Johnston in 1769. The couple ran an inn together at the site, which was located at Johnston's Cross Roads. In 1799, the inn was passed on to their son, Captain William Johnston. A visitor, Fortescue Cummings/Cummins, wrote in his "Western Traveler" in 1806 that he had seen as many as fifty covered wagons at the inn's wagon yard at one time.
In 1832, Joseph Helm Clay purchased the property, and named it "Rosedale." Clay raised his family there, and it became known as Clay's Cross Roads. Three Clay daughters died in the 1854 cholera epidemic and were buried in the graveyard that lies just south of the house. Later on, the house was white washed or painted white, and it stayed that way until 1982 when it was stripped and restored to the original brick.
Johnston's Inn remained in the Clay family until 1956, when it received some much-needed restoration attention. In 1982, it was sold again and benefited from additional restoration work. After nearly two and a half centuries in existence, it is difficult to discern what portions of the home may have been altered and when.
The house's interior contains a bar at the entrance hall with several wall cabinets. To the left, is the large dining room and the ball room, which has an enormous fireplace at the north end. The interior woodwork is walnut; the door knobs are brass; the floor boards are blue ash; and the old kitchen, later attached, is still in use with its original fireplace for cooking and warming.
Johnston's Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Files
John Filson’s Map of Kentucky
After a trip to Kentucky in 1783, John Filson made this map with trails, rivers, and some early settlements, or stations. In this segment of Filson's map, Johnston's Inn is labeled "Capt. Johnston" on Coopers Run, a tributary of the South Fork of the "Hingston," [Hinkston Creek] downstream from "Ruddles St." [Station]. Courtesy of Hopewell Museum.
Johnston's Inn
This photograph shows the Clay daughters’ gravestones in the side yard of Johnston's Inn. Courtesy of Hopewell Museum.