John C. Brown House

John C. Brown House
Front of house facing over lawn, flanked by chimneys at each end, with front entranceway obscured.
John C. Brown House is located in Kentucky
John C. Brown House
LocationCropper Rd. (Kentucky Route 43), 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of Kentucky Route 12 in Mulberry, Shelby County, Kentucky
Coordinates38°16′26″N 85°08′24″W / 38.2739°N 85.1400°W / 38.2739; -85.1400
Area0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built1837
Architectural styleAntebellum Vernacular
MPSShelby County MRA[2]
NRHP reference No.88002856[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 27, 1988

The John C. Brown House, in Shelby County, Kentucky near Mulberry, Kentucky, was built around 1837, and it has additions done in approximately the 1960s.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[1] The property was deemed significant under the National Registers' criterion for design and construction, "as a well-preserved example of the early 19th century (1810-1840) 1-story, frame, center-passage, single-pile plan in Shelby County," balancing out the several different-but-from-the-same-period frame I-houses which had been identified in the study.[3] It features "antebellum vernacular" style and was built c. 1837.[3] It was listed as a result of a large 1986-1987 study of the historic resources of Shelby County.[2]

The house appeared "to have been built by John Cameron Brown shortly after his marriage to Sarah Ann Waters on September 12, 1837, on land he inherited from his uncle and guardian, the Rev. Archibald Cameron (first pastor of the Mulberry Presbyterian Church. John C. and his brother Archibald Cameron were reared by their uncle following the death of their mother. Both inherited land from the uncle whose will was probated in 1836."[3]

A cellar is a second contributing building in the listing. The listings' boundaries were defined to include the house plus "domestic-related space which includes the remains of an orchard, a vegetable garden, and a cellar as well as three non-contributing sheds. Although these sheds are of more recent construction than the house, they could not be eliminated from the nominated area without disrupting the relationship of the house and its setting."[3]

Past the mailbox on the east side of Cropper Rd. (Kentucky Route 43), it is way back up a longish driveway, which in the summer is surrounded by very tall corn.[4] The house faces east, away from the lane.

It is located within a multi-county study area for routing of a new highway connecting Interstate 65 and Interstate 71 avoiding Louisville.[5]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System – (#88002856)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Gibson Worsham; Charlotte Worsham; Christine Amos (January 1987). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Historic Resources of Shelby County outside Shelbyville. NARA. Retrieved August 20, 2022. (417 pages. Downloading may be slow.)
  3. ^ a b c d e C. Worsham (February 1986). "Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory: John C. Brown House". NARA. Retrieved August 20, 2022. Includes four photos.
  4. ^ Site visit, see photos at Commons category.
  5. ^ Environmental Overview / 65-71 Regional Connector / KYTC Item 5-564.00 / Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Nelson, Shelby, Spencer, & Oldham Counties (PDF). May 2, 2019. And final report is at HDR; Palmer Engineering; HMB Professional Engineers, Inc.; Integrated Engineering; CRA Associates, Inc.; Corn Island Archaeology; Civil Design, Inc. (September 2020). 65-71 Regional Corridor Study / Final Report / Prepared for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Central Office, District 5 (PDF).