Liberty Hall is a historic house museum at 218 Wilkinson Street in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

. Built 1796-1800 by American statesman

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

, it was designated in 1971 as a U.S. National Historic Landmark for its association with Brown and its fine

Federal-style architecture Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

Description

Liberty Hall is located west of downtown Frankfort, at the southwest corner of Wilkinson and West Main Streets, overlooking the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

. It is a two-story five-bay brick house whose main section is in plan; it has a two-story rear ell which is in plan. With .

History

The documented history of Liberty Hall Historic Site can be traced back to 1786, when General

James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American soldier, politician, and double agent who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, b ...

purchased much of the land that is downtown Frankfort. Wilkinson laid out the town, naming the streets for friends, famous people and places, and himself. Some of Wilkinson's original streets, Wilkinson, Wapping, and Montgomery (now Main), form the boundaries of three of the four sides of Liberty Hall Historic Site. Wilkinson sold the tract that includes Liberty Hall to Frankfort resident Andrew Holmes. In 1796, Holmes sold the four acres to Senator

. Brown began construction of a home on the property shortly after purchasing it, though he was often away on government business in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. The architect of Liberty Hall is unknown, although Brown may have done some of the design. One of the earliest brick homes in Frankfort, this structure was made from bricks fired locally from clay dug from the cellar. The construction continued until 1800 when the house was substantially complete. It lacked only the glass windows, which were added in 1804. In addition to the main house, several dependent structures were built on the property, including a kitchen and laundry, smokehouse, a privy, stables, carriage house, and

slave quarters A barracoon (a corruption of Portuguese ''barracão'', an augmentative form of the Catalan loanword ''barraca'' ('hut') through Spanish ''barracón'') is a type of barracks used historically for the internment of slaves or criminals. In the ...

. In 1835 John Brown divided his property so that his sons would have equal inheritance. His elder son, Mason, inherited Liberty Hall. For his younger son, Orlando, Brown hired Gideon Shryock, designer of the

Kentucky State Capitol The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic P ...

, to design a new house. Constructed in the Greek Revival style, the Orlando Brown House was built by local contractor Harrison Blanton. The entire project cost $5,000. In 1934, Mary Mason Scott, John Brown's great-granddaughter and the last resident of Liberty Hall, died; she left Liberty Hall to her brother, John Matthew Scott. He sold Liberty Hall to a group of concerned citizens who had formed Liberty Hall, Inc., a nonprofit organization to preserve the historic building. They opened the house as a museum in 1937. The Orlando Brown House was occupied until 1955. Anne Hord Brown, Orlando Brown's last remaining descendant, left the house to the

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Pe ...

in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (NSCDA-KY). The Dames opened the house as a museum in 1955.

Residents

John Brown (September 12, 1757 – August 29, 1837) was a United States lawyer and statesman who was integral to creating the State of Kentucky. Before statehood he represented Virginia in the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

(1777–1778) and the U.S. Congress (1789–1791). While in Congress he introduced the bill granting statehood to Kentucky. Once that was accomplished, he was elected a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

by the state legislature for Kentucky, a position he held until 1805. Additionally, Liberty Hall has been the home of two other U.S. Senators, one Vice-Presidential candidate, one Governor of Missouri, one Commissioner of the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

, one Ambassador to France, one U.S. District Attorney, three U.S. Army colonels, two doctors, and one newspaper editor. It is the ancestral home of

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

, a noted children's book author. It was declared as a U.S. National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971.

Today

Today Liberty Hall and the adjacent Orlando Brown House are operated as a historic house museum and historic site. Tours of Liberty Hall are Monday-Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. from mid-March to mid-November. The site also hosts several special events and programs throughout the year. Liberty Hall Historic Site is owned and operated by National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Kentucky.

References

External links

*
Liberty Hall, Online Collections DatabaseNational Society of Colonial Dames of America in Kentucky
{{Frankfort, Kentucky Houses completed in 1796 Houses in Frankfort, Kentucky Historic house museums in Kentucky History of slavery in Kentucky Museums in Franklin County, Kentucky National Society of the Colonial Dames of America 1796 establishments in Kentucky Slave cabins and quarters in the United States