KY:Historical Society - Historical Marker Database

KYHistorical Society

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Birthplace of Herman Chittison
(Marker Number: 2075)

County: Fleming
Location: Public Library, 303 South Main Cross St., Flemingsburg

Description: Born in Flemingsburg, October 15, 1908, to Charles and Sarah Jane Chittison. He played hymns at Strawberry Methodist Church as a child. Attended Walden College in Nashville, 1924; later Ky. State Industrial College for Colored Persons in Frankfort. Began his musical career with Zach Whyte's Chocolate Beau Brummels, 1928. Presented by Fleming Co. Bicentennial Com.

(Reverse) Herman Chittison recorded on both American and French labels as a soloist and accompanist for Ethel Waters and Mildred Bailey. Toured with comedian Stepin Fetchit and trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Played "Ernie" in radio series Casey, Crime Photographer (1942-51). Played several prominent clubs in New York during 50s and 60s. Died 1967 and buried in Cleveland, Ohio.

(Subjects: African American)

Fleming County
(Marker Number: 950)

County: Fleming
Location: Courthouse lawn, Flemingsburg

Description: Kentucky's 26th, was taken out of Mason, 1798. Named for Col. John Fleming who came to area to mark, improve land, 1776. Officer in Rev. War. Built Fleming's Station, second in county, 1788. Closely associated with other pioneers, John Finley, Michael Cassidy, and George Stockton, his halfbrother, who owned the land and who laid out and named Flemingsburg, 1796.

(Subjects: Forts and Stations | Revolutionary War)

Goddard "White" Bridge
(Marker Number: 1559)

County: Fleming
Location: Maddox Rd., just off KY 32 at Goddard

Description: This covered bridge is the only surviving example of Ithiel Town Lattice design in Ky. The timbers are joined with wooden pegs (tree-nails); its date of construction and original builder are unknown. The 63-foot span was restored in 1968 under the supervision of L. S. Bower of Flemingsburg. Goddard Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1975.

(Reverse) Covered Bridges - Covered bridges were first built in the 1790s but did not become widely popular until after 1814. They were covered to protect them from the weather. At one time there were more than 400 covered bridges in Ky. The timbered spans have played a romantic role in our history. Some were destroyed during the Civil War. The remaining ones are a nostalgic link with the past.

(Subjects: Covered Bridges | National Register of Historic Places)

Hillsboro Covered Bridge
(Marker Number: 1569)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 111, Fox Creek

Description: Built circa 1865-70, this bridge is a single 86 ft. span and a good example of Theodore Burr's truss employing multiple king posts. The yellow pine timbers have double-shouldered braces. Abutments are of "red stone"; corrugated sheet metal covers roof and sides. It was originally double-sided with yellow poplar. Listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1976.

(Reverse) Covered Bridges Covered bridges were first built in the 1790s but did not become widely popular until after 1814. They were covered to protect them from the weather. At one time there were more than 400 covered bridges in Ky. The timbered spans have played a romantic role in our history. Some were destroyed during the Civil War. The remaining ones are a nostalgic link with the past.

(Subjects: Covered Bridges | National Register of Historic Places)

Iwo Jima Hero
(Marker Number: 855)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 170, Elizaville Cemetery, Flemingsburg

Description: PFC Franklin Runyon Sousley USMCR. One of six of 28th Reg. 5th Marine Div. who raised flag on Suribachi 23 Feb. 1945. Immortalized in Joe Rosenthal's famed AP photograph. Sousley born Fleming County, 1925. Joined Marines, Jan. 1944. Landed on Iwo Jima 19 Feb. 1945, survived Suribachi, but killed month later. Reinterred, 1948, on hillside S.E. Purple Heart, 3 other medals. Over.

(Reverse) Photograph of men raising flag on Suribachi. Caption under photograph reads: Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

(Subjects: World War II)

James J. Andrews
(Marker Number: 173)

County: Fleming
Location: Courthouse lawn, Flemingsburg

Description: Andrews lived here 1859-62. In 1862 he led 22 Union soldiers into Georgia to cut the railway between Marietta and Chattanooga. Their capture of the locomotive "The General" and their pursuit by Confederates was a dramatic incident of the Civil War.

(Subjects: Civil War | Railroads | Union Army)

John F. Day (1913-1982)
(Marker Number: 1736)

County: Fleming
Location: Courthouse lawn, Flemingsburg

Description: A native of Fleming County, this prize-winning journalist began his career with the Lexington Leader; later worked with Washington Bureau of Louisville Courier-Journal. Director and Vice President of CBS News, 1955-61, where he won two Emmy awards. Wrote Bloody Ground, 1941, on Eastern Kentucky. John Day spent his last years in England publishing a weekly newspaper.

(Subjects: Books | Courier-Journal (Louisville) | Lexington | Louisville | Newspapers)

Michael Cassidy (1755-1829)
(Marker Number: 1388)

County: Fleming
Location: Jct. KY 32 & Cassidy Rd., 2 mi. W. of Flemingsburg

Description: A fearless Indian fighter in over 30 battles, Michael Cassidy built Cassidy Station (site-one mile south) in later 1780s. A native of Ireland, he came to Va. as cabin boy at age 12. Enlisted early in Revolution and was with Washington at British surrender at Yorktown, 1781. Settled in Fleming Co., Ky.; served 1800-06 as first senator and several terms as representative.

(Subjects: Forts and Stations | Revolutionary War | Washington, George)

Morgan's Last Raid
(Marker Number: 621)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 11, W. of Flemingsburg

Description: On tragic last Kentucky raid, CSA Gen. John H. Morgan and Raiders entered state June 1, 1864, took Mt. Sterling June 8, lost it on 9th, took Lexington on l0th, and Cynthiana on 11th. USA under General S. G. Burbridge defeated CSA next day. Morgan retreated through here, reaching Virginia June 20. See map on other side. Raiders never recovered from this reverse.

(Subjects: Burbridge, Stephen G. | Civil War | Cynthiana, Battle of | Lexington | Morgan, John Hunt | Mt. Sterling)

Private Ambers Sapp
(Marker Number: 2257)

County: Fleming
Location: Hwy 170, Elizaville Cemetery, Elizaville

Description: Displayed great coolness & courage under heavy enemy barrage when he went forward without hesitation to destroy enemy wire entanglements & continued this extremely hazardous work until killed on Aug. 17, 1918 near Frapelle, France. Posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for “extraordinary heroism in action.” Buried in Elizaville Cem.

(Subjects: Cemeteries | World War I)

Ringos Mill Covered Bridge
(Marker Number: 1568)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 158, Fox Creek

Description: This bridge and the surrounding community developed because of a grist mill operating on Fox Creek in the mid-1800s. The single span structure is 86 ft. long and built, 1867, on popular Burr truss design. The original yellow pine trusses remain. Abutments are of "red stone" covered with a concrete facing. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1976.

(Reverse) Covered Bridges - Covered bridges were first built in the 1790s but did not become widely popular until after 1814. They were covered to protect them from the weather. At one time there were more than 400 covered bridges in Ky. The timbered spans have played a romantic role in our history. Some were destroyed during the Civil War. The remaining ones are a nostalgic link with the past.

(Subjects: Covered Bridges | Creeks | Grist Mills | National Register of Historic Places)

Sherburne Bridge
(Marker Number: 1438)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 11, Fleming-Bath Co. line

Description: The most unusual of Kentucky's covered bridges is the Sherburne "suspension" bridge, built 1867-68 at a cost of $3,500. In the early days a stagecoach route from Mt. Sterling to Maysville crossed the bridge, then privately owned. This bridge is 266 ft. long and has a single roadway 14 ft. wide. The heavy steel suspension cables and reinforcing timbers added in 1951.

(Subjects: Covered Bridges)

Site of Finley Home
(Marker Number: 789)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 57, Flemingsburg

Description: John Finley, 1748-1837, pioneer-surveyor who came to Ky. in 1773. Discovered Upper Blue (Salt) Licks, surveyed land to Ky. River near present Frankfort. Commissioned major, 1783, for notable service in Revolution. Judge Advocate of NW Terr., 1792. Came here with family, 1796, from Penn., farmed 1,000-acre land grant. Member Kentucky House of Representatives, 1800-04.

(Subjects: Kentucky River | Revolutionary War)

Stockton Grave
(Marker Number: 1411)

County: Fleming
Location: Junction of KY 32 & KY 1013, Flemingsburg

Description: In a field, 2 1/2 mi.east, rock slabs laid like a stone wall mark Robert Stockton's grave. Buried where he fell, killed by Indians, 1789. His wounded companion, Beacham Rhodes, went back to Stockton's Station. Returning to site with friends, they found his faithful dog standing guard, "a circle of torn earth all around body, marking rage and disappointment of wolves."

(Subjects: Forts and Stations | Indians)

Stockton's Station: 1/2 Mile.
(Marker Number: 97)

County: Fleming
Location: KY 11, west of Flemingsburg

Description: Site of station built in 1787 by Major George Stockton, who raised a crop here in 1786, while living at Strode's Station. This was the first of three forts in the area becoming Fleming County in 1798.

(Subjects: Forts and Stations)