Millersburg Precinct

BB-170

Neatham, J. A. Miller/Alexander McClintock House; antebellum

Ruddles Mill-Millersburg Road

 

Overlooking a branch of Hinkston Creek, this large two-story frame house with two-story ell has Greek Revival characteristics, including the superimposed central front entrances with sidelights and transom, the broad proportions, plain Grecian mantels and other woodwork. Nearby are several early outbuildings, including a stone springhouse.

 

J. A. Miller is indicated as the owner on the 1861 map. The farm was purchased by Alexander McClintock, listed here on the 1877 map. A farmer and livestock breeder, he also was on the board of the Millersburg Cemetery Company in 1882. McClintock was listed in the 1888 Lexington directory as the proprietor of Neathan, located eight miles northeast of Paris near Millersburg, and specializing in Jersey cattle.

 

Perrin, 66, 125-126, 513-514.

BB-191

McClintock/Layson Rankin House, Ash Woodland Stock Farm; before 1861 and after 1900

Millersburg-Cynthiana Road

 

Constructed prior to the Civil War, the impressive two-story brick residence with flush sandstone lintels has undergone several transformations. A two-story ell dominates the single-pile front block. Original interior appointments which remain intact include several Greek Revival and Tudor mantels, as well as a parlor chandelier medallion. After the turn of the century a huge one-story Georgian Revival porch was wrapped around the front and part of the sides, and a small "nursery" just behind the main block was enlarged by a semi-octagonal bay-window with charming cresting. The renovated interior received handsome cabinet mantels, chandeliers, and the like. Oscar Rankin, whose initials are in a frosted-glass pane of the enclosed side porch, was no doubt responsible for these alterations. The large porch was recently removed and replaced by a two-story entrance portico.

 

Indicated on the 1861 map, the house was probably built for William McClintock, Jr., a son of one of the original eighteen settlers of the Millersburg area in 1778. He was an organizer, stockholder, and first treasurer of the Millersburg Cemetery Company in 1860. In 1876 William Layson purchased the property from the McClintock family, and several years later the farm was acquired by Oscar R. Rankin who had married Layson's daughter in 1874. Rankin, an organizer and vice-president of the Millersburg Exchange Bank, developed the farm to 1,300 acres, known as the Ash Woodland Stock Farm.

 

Perrin, pp. 122, 125-126, 512-513, 779; Kerr, V, 643-644.

BB-199

Alexander S. and Joseph A. Miller/John W. Bedford House; antebellum

Paris-Maysville Road (U. S. 68)

This splendid Greek Revival two-story brick house is one of a group concentrated in the northeastern part of the county along the Maysville-Paris Road. The facade, articulated by six colossal pilasters, has only three bays, each of them triple in this case. The pilasters are contained here by a continuous entablature acting as cornice and by a fine stone foundation pierced by triple basement openings that retain some fine original castiron grills with acanthus patterns. Like other houses in the group, this seems not to have had an original portico. In this case the central bay is indicated by a low gable, and the ends are also articulated by pilasters. The interior woodwork is plain except for bold entablatures and pediments over the frames, whose rectangularity contrasts to the spiral staircase.

The Greek Revival dwelling was constructed shortly before the Civil War for Alexander Miller, the youngest son of Major John Miller. His son, Joseph, a grocer and merchant in Millersburg, inherited the farm, and is listed here on the 1861 map. The property later was acquired by John W. Bedford, a successful farmer in the Millersburg precinct.

Perrin, pp. 122, 124, 507, 508, 514-517.