Ashland - Home of Henry Clay - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

The following information comes from www.henryclay.org

The Clays delighted in the pleasure that the grounds near the house provided to their guests, and Henry Clay frequently invited travelers to visit his farm and grounds.

At its largest the estate covered up to 600 acres. Hemp, tobacco and grains were grown and livestock was raised. Clay was very interested in stock breeding and imported pure bred stock, particularly sheep and cattle, from all over the world. During Clay's long stays in Washington, the farm was usually managed by his wife, Lucretia, and an overseer. The labor was performed by up to 50 slaves.

After Henry Clay's death in 1852, his heirs sold the estate to his son, James Brown Clay. Soon after James acquired Ashland, he had the original house, which had been in bad repair since the 1820s, torn down and a new one built. The second house was completed in 1857. It followed the plan of the first one and is documented to have been built on the original foundation or at least within the original builders trench. The 1990 archaeological excavations indicated that the second house was on the identical spot as the first house and that the original foundations had been rebuilt or extensively repaired.

During the Civil War, James B. Clay and his family moved to Canada because of his Confederate sympathies. James subsequently died in Canada in 1864 and in January, 1866, his widow, Susan Jacobs Clay, sold the estate to Kentucky University (the forerunner of the University of Kentucky) an amalgamation of the private Transylvania University and the state Agricultural and Mechanical College. At that time the estate covered 324 acres. From 1866 to 1878, the Ashland house was used as the residence of Kentucky University's Regent, John Bowman, and his family, and it was part of the campus. Several new buildings were constructed at Ashland, including a large Mechanical Hall.

In 1882, Kentucky University was dissolved and the Ashland estate was sold to Henry Clay McDowell and Anne Clay McDowell, a daughter of Henry Clay, Jr. and granddaughter of Henry Clay. The McDowells added numerous improvements to the house and grounds, including indoor plumbing. Henry McDowell died in 1899, and in 1915, the McDowell's daughter, Nannette, and her husband Dr. Thomas Bullock and their son, Henry, moved into the house with her mother. Anne Clay McDowell died in 1917. All of the property except the 20 acres immediately surrounding the house was sold by the McDowell heirs for "Ashland Addition," a development designed by the Olmsted Brothers' landscape architecture firm. Nannette McDowell Bullock died in 1948, and in her will she gave the house, property, and most of the belongings to the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation to be used as a museum in honor of her famous great-grandfather. She made provisions for her son to live at Ashland for as long as he desired. The first floor was opened to the public in 1950, and in 1964, when Henry Bullock moved out, the entire house was opened as a historic house museum. It is a registered National Historic Landmark.

Type of site: Historic Home Address: 120 Sycamore Rd. Lexington, KY United States 40502 Phone Number: 859-266-8581 Admission Charged: More than $5 Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: Not listed

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