Skip to main content

Elkton, Kentucky

Image
By


Elkton, the seat of Todd County, Kentucky, has one of the most active small-town public squares I have seen.  Restaurants, services, specialty shops, and more surround the historic Todd County Courthouse.

The former Todd County Courthouse is the centerpiece of Elkton's Public Square.

Elkton, today, is a town of roughly 2100 people.  The city was first called "Elk Fork" after a natural salt lick that attracted elk herds.  Located in the center of Todd County, Elkton was established in 1820 to serve as the Todd County Seat.  The historic courthouse, which serves as the centerpiece of the Elkton Public Square, was built in 1835.  It is currently the second oldest courthouse in Kentucky.  It now serves as the Todd County Welcome Center.

To the left is the former Campbell Drug Store building - the site is the former home of the "Nick and Will House," a tavern that burned to the ground in the 1800s.

Within Elkton Public Square, 20 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Elkton Commercial Historic District, which consists of the Public Square, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.  The city's Historic Elkton Walking Tour features 16 locations within or near the Public Square, with another 29 locations just outside the Downtown.

An original neon sign for the former Hotel Jefferson Davis.  The hotel closed in the 1970s. Originally named the "Elkton Hotel," it was renamed in the 1910s to the 'Jefferson Davis Hotel" after a renaming contest.

Elkton is near the birthplace of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  The community struggles with the balance of honoring its past while acknowledging the truths of the antebellum South.  Within the square, there remains a neon sign of the old Jefferson Davis Hotel.  Formerly known as the Elkton Hotel, the name changed to the Jefferson Davis Hotel in the 1910s, a period of memorialization for the former Confederacy.  The Hotel closed in the 1970s and is now home to specialty shops and apartments.

Weathers Drugs is the longest continuously operating Drug Store in Kentucky.

Throughout the year, Elkton's Public Square hosts numerous events, including monthly car cruises, Independence Day celebrations, and Christmas Tree lighting.  Elkton hosts an annual HarvestFest in the fall.

Sources & Links:

How To Get There:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more