Hazel Patch - The first written reference to it, was by Bishop Asbury in April, 1793. Woods Block House The Hazel Patch 1769 Skaggs Trace 1795 1775 Boone Trace 1795 Bishop Frances Asbury Lodged Here April 10 1793 Historical Marker #53 in Laurel County commemorates the famous fork in the road. Here in 1775, Daniel Boone and his party of trailblazers followed hunting trail, known as Skaggs Trace, and continued on to mark Boone Trace. At this location Skaggs Trace turned westward toward Crab Orchard. Boone and his party, however, proceeded northward to Boonesborough where a fort was established. Shortly after Boone passed through Hazel Patch, John Floyd and Benjamin Logan diverted westward along Skaggs Trace to St. Asaph (modern-day Stanford) where Fort Logan was constructed. This trail ultimately extended to Louisville, which was then known as The Falls of the Ohio. Eventually, that route saw wider use than Boone Trace. It became officially known as the Wilderness Road in 1796. Hazel Patch earned its name because the hazel nut tree abounded in the area and produced a fruit on which small animals fed. Because it attracted plentiful game, the site became a favorite for long hunters passing through the area. Also, when the fruit was ripe, a hunter could easily fill a bag with the nuts and carry them on the hunt for nourishment. In close proximity to the Hazel Patch marker are two other markers that pertain to Boone Trace. One is about one mile north of the marker on Highway 490 in front of the Mount Carmel church. On a monument placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1915, this marker is one of fifteen DAR markers along Boone Trace. Behind the church is a small remnant of the historic Boone Trace. The other marker is a 1942 stone marker placed by the Laurel County Historical Society, which is one of eight commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Kentucky in 1792. This stone maker was placed at the site of Woods Blockhouse, one of the oldest permanent buildings in the wilderness and a refuge for travelers along Boone Trace. Bishop Frances Asbury, a renowned traveling minister, reportedly lodged there on April 10, 1793. It is located on private property and can only be viewed at somewhat of a distance across Hazel Patch Creek from Merritt Cemetery Road. Woods Block House: A small stone marker indicating the location of Woods Blockhouse in Laurel County was placed in 1942 near Hazel Patch Creek and along Boone Trace. Woods Blockhouse: The Woods Blockhouse marker sits on a knoll located along Hazel Patch Creek (in the tree line) on Boone Trace. Daniel Boone approached the creek from the south (right in the photo) and continued north to Boonesborough. John Floyd and Benjamin Logan shortly after Boone followed the creek which bends to the west (left in the photo) around the hill along Skaggs Trace toward Crab Orchard, Standford (St. Asaphs) and ultimately Louisville (The Falls of the Ohio). That path evolved into what became known as the Wilderness Road. Hazel Patch: This monument is located about two miles north of the Hazel Patch marker on Highway 490 in front of Mount Carmel Church. It was placed along Boone Trace by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1915, along with 13 others in the state. On top of the monument is a stone which was found on a nearby farm etched with the letters D Boon. It raises the question of whether or not Daniel Boone himself made the etching. In 1792, the year Kentucky became a state, there was only one documented resident in the area that became Laurel County. Russell Dyche writes in his Laurel County History (1954) that “John Wood resided in what has come to be known as Wood’s Blockhouse at the Hazel Patch.” When settlers began to pour through Cumberland Gap into what was to become the new state of Kentucky, blockhouses along the way provided crude but welcome places for travelers to rest. Wood built and operated Wood’s Blockhouse for a man named Remey who had bought many acres of land in the area, but who was an absentee land owner. He was of German descent and that he was one of Kentucky’s early land surveyors. his wife’s name was Margaret, that he had five sons and two daughters, and that he was named a constable when the first county government was formed in 1826. He purchased land from the George Thompson survey in 1808 he paid for it with English pounds. On Laurel County’s first tax list in 1826, recorded in the Commissioner’s Book of 1827, John Wood is listed as having 1,100 acres worth $2,200. John Wood didn’t just appear briefly on the scene and pass through. He and a man named Faris were active in the life of the community up until and for some time after Laurel County was established. John Faris, who had helped bury the McNitt dead in 1786 and later moved to Laurel county, being a large land owner, operator of a tavern, and having many descendants in Laurel county now. Also Nimrod Faris who had previously been with Lieut. Middleton, Cpl. Lewis Faris, and others with good Laurel county names, John Thomas and William and James Vaughn. Wood died before the first census of Laurel County was done in 1830. The John Wood named in that census is his son, John Jr., who married Ann Cromer. Not too many years ago, the grave of the elder John Wood was discovered on private property in the northeast part of the county. It was marked and is being maintained. From Woods Blockhouse, Boones Trace generally runs northward on or adjacent to Ky. 490 for about 2.8 miles. I had the opportunity to talk to Henry McWhorter who stated that the rock carved with Boones name was found on the north edge of his farm. Upon nearing the old Baugh place, the trace swings to the west of Ky. 490, passing about 2,000 feet due south, then 2,000 feet due west of the Nelson Cemetery. It then proceeds down this hollow, or the adjacent ridge, finally reaching the main part of Parker Creek, which it descends to the Rockcastle River. Here the river was crossed, and the trace followed the north bank downstream to Trace Branch Creek. Boones Trace shows the difference from London to the Original Hazel Patch (Woods Blockhouse) via Pittsburg, Kentucky. South of London shows the old State Road, and labels it the road of 1775. It is reasonably certain that Boones Trace was used prior to 1796 when the new wagon road or Wilderness Road was built by the new state of Kentucky. because of numerous Indian massacres. Skaggs Trace, the original route followed by early settlers to Stanford and Harrodsburg (then Logans Station and Fort Harrod). This trail departed from Boones Trace at Woods Blockhouse at the original Hazel Patch, and proceeded west along this ridge to the junction of Altamont Creek (originally called Laurel Creek on old surveys) and Hazel Patch Creek. From this junction the only possible route for the trace is westward through the Hazel Patch Creek bottom to Wood Creek. The trace may have followed this creek to the Rockcastle River, then down the river; however, another and better route would have been from Wood Creek to Rockcastle River via the high ridge north of Wollum Branch. This choice also seems to better fit Filsons and Governor Hamiltons narratives. After crossing the river, Skaggs Trace apparently followed Big Trace Branch, then crossed the ridge to the west into the East Fork of Skaggs Creek, near Pitman Branch; it then continued up Skaggs Creek to its headwaters, and proceeded to Crab Orchard. Southeastern part of Skaggs Trace was part of an older trail frequently used by the Indians. This trail no doubt followed up Trace Branch to Sand Hill, one of their favorite camping places in this area. The path ran northwest along Chestnut Ridge to the present site of Mount Vernon, where it dropped into the valley. In 1796, when the new wagon road or Wilderness Road was laid out, it was placed on this same ridge, running from the existing towns of Mount Vernon to Livingston, by way of Sand Hill. This ridge route was not favored over the creek route by the first travelers because it lacked abundant watering and grazing spots for their horses and stock. John Woods Blockhouse (historical), KY is a locale located in Laurel County at N37.23878° W84.09277° (NAD83) Eastern Legacy of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition from the mouth of the Missouri at the Mississippi to the mouth of the Columbia River in what were to become the states of Washington and Oregon. The Eastern Legacy is intended to map the trails east of the Mississippi that they used before they left in setting up the expedition, and after they returned from the northwest when going to report Thomas Jefferson at both Monticello and Washington D.C. William Clark’s brother, George Rogers Clark, William Clark and Lewis had passed through what is now London and Laurel County in one direction or the other. the Kentucky Sesquicentennial historical marker on the Courthouse square that notes G.R. Clark’s trip to Virginia from Louisville in 1775, “to help the colonies,” passed through Laurel County. One of the L&C affectionados who sat in front of me turns out to be from Lexington, Jim Mallory. We spoke a bit and he confirmed that Lewis and Clark passed though this area after returning from the expedition. Lewis made the first trip and Clark came later because he wanted to stay for a while with his family in Louisville. William Clark’s memorandum book charting his trip from Louisville, he had brought at least some of his family, to meet with Pres. Thomas Jefferson. He left Crab Orchard on Skaggs Trace on Nov. 2, 1809, after spending the night at Mr. Pleasant’ home. He had breakfast somewhere in Crab Orchard. He paid a Mr. Taylor $2.25, the Pleasants at Crab Orchard, $1.50 and the Stone House $1.50. The next day, he arrived at the home of Mr. “Faress,” which could have been Faris. The Wood Block House at The Hazel Patch in what is now Laurel County. He paid $6. . Mr. Faris had taken over the Wood Block House after Wood had perhaps died or just decided to sell,. Clark mentioned that it had rained the night before and he paid someone named Mr. Bell 50 cents and someone else $2.85. Nov. 4, he spent the night at a Mr. Anderson’s place. Clark noted that it “rained all last night and morning, roads bad.” He had left Louisville on Oct. 26 and made it to The Hazel Patch by Nov. 3. Five days later, he’d made Bean Station in East Tennessee. By Dec. 7, he’d made it to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home and was in Washington by Dec. 18. { now 25E } At The Hazel Patch that was in the area of what is now Hazel Green school on KY 490 that passes on the east side of Wildcat Mountain, the Skaggs Trace that traveled from that area to Crab Orchard, Mt Vernon, then headed south from the Hazel Patch to Barbourville then on the Wilderness Road.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 02:42:50 +0000
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