"Historic Places at the Crossroads"

6th Annual Preservation Week 2004 Photo-Essay Competition

First Place: Christopher Bryant

Title: A House that Needs Life

I can see it now, 100 or more slaves working in the yard making bricks and building this house, and their master watching them.

This house may have been started in 1852 and finished in 1867. This was the start of Darrell B. Smith's Old Oaks Plantation. Smith was or may have been a riverboat captain; we know for sure that he owned horses. Smith lived his wife and 3 daughters in this home.

About the turn of the century Walter Northington bought the house. After him, Carter Allison bought it in about 1930, because TVA bought his farm to make what is now Lake Barkley. The famous poet Robert Penn Warren was a frequent guest at the house. His poem "True Love" is set in the home. The latest owner John Hansen bought it 12 years age.

This beautiful I-shaped, southern style house is one that shouldn't be lost. When you look at a picture of the house made about the turn of the century the corners look like stone. But its actually bricks painted white. Smith was a man with a tight wallet. The woodwork in the house looks like different types of woods, but its all tulip poplar stained different. You can tell where the original rugs were on the floor, because the floor was only stained to the edge of the rug.

Whenever the family hosted parties, the guest would pull up to a circular driveway around a heart shaped garden. The façade has even changed. The original front two-story colonnade had a balcony. It rotted and fell off. When it was replaced, only an iron gate was put in front of the door leading to the second story balcony. Now the whole façade has been painted white. The paint is coming off. I told Mr. Hansen that he needed to remove that old paint. In the mid 90's, during a storm lightning struck one of the six chimneys. It had to be replaced.

I didn't have the slightest clue that this house had this much history or that it even existed. It is by pure accident that I stumbled upon this house. My uncle went to work re-roofing the shed and he came home and told me that I should see this house, so I went. I fell in love with this house. This house is a diamond in the rough. Not only is this house known locally, it's known to anyone who has read the poem "True Love". Houses like this are far and few. On the third floor of this house is evidence of people who have lived here. They have signed the wall. The earliest signature is 1902. Not everyone can say his or her house has this much history. History is such a part of my life.

History shows up in some of the most unexpected places. This could be one of them. If we don't preserve this house this part of history will be lost forever. In these buildings there can be diaries, articles, and journals that can help us with our past. When I talk about preservation, people look at me odd. Sometimes change is good, but not always. Instead of building new modern buildings we can use the ones we already have, and modernize them to fit us. Some people just don't understand why the past is important.

In these buildings there can even be answers to your own family. In my opinion, I think before we demolish a place we need to check its history. It could be a historic place we need to check its history. It could be a historic place and we not know it. I watch television and see all of these small towns that are nice and restored. Then I look at ours and wonder what is wrong with ours?

Not long ago, on Sunday mornings, all of the churches rang their bells and downtowns were filled with people. Now the church bells don't ring, and downtowns are falling apart. If we preserve and restore these places it will attract more people. Old Oaks Plantation can be a model for the community. It could start a Restoration Revolution. Sometimes it is hard for me to look at an old picture and realize that it is the building I'm standing in front of, because we have not preserved our places. The decay of these areas probably makes people want to leave.

When we preserve our history and restore our buildings people will look in awe and say how did they do that? This will be something that we ought to show more pride.

Even though I'm only 14 I see preservation as more important than some adults do. I cannot preserve "Old Oaks Plantation" and all of our other historic places here alone, so join with me and help me preserve our historic places.

This essay and photograph(s) are the property of Preservation Kentucky, Inc. and Kentucky Heritage Council and that any use of the photo or essay must be approved by PK and KHC.