CNHI
11-10-10 — The Mill Springs Battlefield Association, Inc., which has led the restoration project, recently announced that the historic West-Metcalfe House has been stabilized and preserved for the interpretation and enjoyment of visitors and citizens of the community.
The project would not have been possible without the generous gift of the house and land to the association by Nick Cooley, a $250,000
grant from the Governor’s Office of Local Development secured by
State Representative Ken Upchurch, and the skilled workmanship of Ed
Wolf of Hollow Works whose untiring efforts saved the building from
irrevocable collapse.
The West-Metcalfe House is an important landmark in the county which
was close to disappearing.
The West family settled in the Mill Springs area of Wayne County
before it became Wayne County.
The house was built in 1799 and would have been the finest structure of its time for this area of Kentucky.
A center of hospitality and commerce in the frontier, the house and family entertained and hosted many famous people from the local community and nation. Pastor “Raccoon” John Smith, one of the
principals of the “Great Awakening,” preached multi-hour sermons and performed weddings at the house; during the period of the Civil War
Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer (leading an army of 6,000 Confederate soldiers poised to invade central Kentucky) used the house as a headquarters (although the West family were Union folk).
After the Battle of Mill Springs in January, 1862, the West-Metcalfe house again served as a refuge for the Confederate Army and field hospital.
Reporters with the Union Army in pursuit of the Confederates
observed numerous Confederate soldiers dead or dying in the front
yard of the West home. Today several simple stones with no engraving
mark grave sites just on the edge of the West family cemetery a short
walk from the house; even in death the West family remembered that
the young men who died there were sons, brothers or husbands whose
release from this mortal coil should be accompanied with great respect.
During the restoration project school children in the local
community had the opportunity to participate in archeological digs
and discover several artifacts that would have been appropriate to
the time including several arrowheads.
The Wayne County Museum’s Executive Director, Rev. Harlan Ogle
supplied numerous photographs and background information which
assisted in the restoration. Mudpuppy and Waterdog served as the
onsite managers and consultants for the project.
“It is a source of great pleasure that we can now open the West-
Metcalfe House to the community,” said Bill Neikirk, President of the
Mill Springs Battlefield Association, Inc.
Anyone interested in seeing the inside of the house should call
(606) 340-1656 for an appointment.
In addition to the West-Metcalfe House, in the past five years the
association has purchased for preservation the Brown-Lanier House,
nine acres of land adjoining Mill Springs Mill and over 70 acres of
land containing fortification and Confederate encampment sites, all
in Wayne County.
Preservation of these sites, is important for its history but also
for the income it generates for the community from tourists who visit
the sites and stay.