The Cobblestone Path is a historic pathway along the east side of the

Bardstown Historic District The Bardstown Historic District, comprising the center of Bardstown, Kentucky, is a registered historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Prominent architecture located within the district include the Cobblestone Path, Nels ...

Bardstown, Kentucky Bardstown is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the list of counties in Kentucky, county seat of Nelson Count ...

, passing by eight acres of land. Once longer, due to various construction it now remains between Flaget Avenue and Broadway, directly across from the Bardstown Civil War Museum. Because it was always considered part of the city's street system, the Cobblestone Path is owned by the City of Bardstown, even though it now serves only pedestrian traffic.

History

The Cobblestone Path was built in 1785. The path was built by the citizens of Bardstown. Non-minister men between the ages of 16 and 50 were forced by a

corvée Corvée () is a form of unpaid forced labour that is intermittent in nature, lasting for limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state (polity), state for the ...

law to help build it and the other roads, or be forced to pay a fine of $1.25 a day when they were assigned to work, but didn't. It served as the main entryway to the town of Bardstown from 1785 to 1825, including the

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other ...

. It was due to this importance that both the Kentucky legislature and the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

paid for its improvements prior to 1800.Hall p.8–1 It was briefly part of the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike as well. With the building of the turnpikes to

Bloomfield, Kentucky Bloomfield is a home rule–class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 838 during the 2010 U.S. census. Former names of the city included Middlesburg and Gandertown. History The community on the east fork ...

and

Springfield, Kentucky Springfield is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Washington County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,846 at the 2020 census. History Springfield was established in 1793 and probably named for springs in the area. ...

, the pathway was reduced to walkers and equestrians. The Cobblestone Path lies on top of a bluff created by Stewart's Creek Towne Branch's deep canyon, the other side of which rests

My Old Kentucky Home State Park My Old Kentucky Home State Park is a state park located in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States. The park's centerpiece is Federal Hill, a former plantation home owned by United States Senator John Rowan in 1795. During the Rowan family's occupat ...

. The remaining path is long and varies in width from twenty-eight feet to twelve feet. The dolomite

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

used to cobble the pathway are not uniformly shaped, and range from six to thick. Natural outcroppings of limestone and even a limestone boulder lie beside the path, some of which may serve as a bench. The top portion of the path was long a popular picnic spot from the 1870s to 1900, and gained the name Lovers Leap. Less than thirty feet below the Leap is a small dry

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

almost impossible to gain access to. Erosion has always been a threat to the path, with few cobblestones remaining at the bottom of the path. During the 1920s and 1930s, Mrs. Ernest Fulton planted many flowers along the path, and did her best to fight the erosion. As a result, the path has bush

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

s, jonquils, and a spruce tree. With this and the natural undergrowth,

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

s, and native hardwoods, the path is essentially a tunnel.Hall p.7-4 On November 16, 1989, the Cobblestone Path was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, due to its importance in the history of transportation to Kentucky.

Gallery

File:Cobblestone Path 1.JPG File:Cobblestone Path 3.JPG

References

* * {{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Bardstown, Kentucky 1785 establishments in Virginia Geography of Nelson County, Kentucky Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Transportation in Nelson County, Kentucky Cobbled streets Footpaths in the United States Transport infrastructure completed in 1785 Pre-statehood history of Kentucky Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Kentucky