For more information:
• Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing, 7410 Moorman Rd., Louisville, KY 40272, (502) 935-6809

Producer, videographer, audio, editor: Cheryl Beckley

Digging Into the Antebellum Past

Archaeology at Riverside Farm

Archaeology is hard work: slow, painstaking, and sometimes downright tedious. Every once in a while, of course, some wonderful object emerges from the ground. But the real reward for all that systematic effort is the chance to touch the past—to get to know people who passed this way decades, centuries, or even millennia ago.

At Riverside Farm near Louisville, we looked over Jay Stottmann’s shoulder as he led an effort to get to know Kentuckians of the pre-Civil War era. Through both careful digging and sifting and efforts to reconstruct some of the farm’s outbuildings, the project helped to fill in the picture of what life in Jefferson County was like just before the Civil War.

To help them, Stottmann and his fellow archaeologists recruited local students. It was a mutually beneficial partnership: The enthusiastic young helpers did a lot of the “grunt” work, but they also made important contributions to the process of discovering their own past.

Riverside Farm and the Farnsley-Moremen House, an outstanding example of a 19th-century rural home, make up the Farnsley-Moremen Landing historic site. Owned and administered by Jefferson County, the site includes 300 acres of grounds and outbuildings that preserve a slice of plantation life from the antebellum era, plus an Ohio River landing where visitors can catch the Spirit of Jefferson paddlewheeler.

For more information:
• Seldom Scene Farm, 3605 Watts Ferry Road, Frankfort, KY 40601, (859) 873-1622

Producer, videographer: Ellen Ballard
Videographer: John Breslin
Editor: Dan Taulbee

Keep On Trekkin’

Alpacas and llamas at Seldom Scene Farm

Ah, the Kentucky bluegrass country: rolling green hills, miles of stone or wood fences, and the happy sight of frolicking young ... llamas?

At Seldom Scene Farm in Woodford County, that’s exactly what you’ll find. The Paul and Lindy Huber family raise llamas and alpacas there, as breeding stock as well as for their highly prized fleece. These friendly animals, native to South America, can easily be handled by women and children—as young Bobby Huber demonstrates in this visit. Llamas also make patient pack animals, and the farm runs frequent llama treks on which humans do the hiking while llamas do the carrying.

Seldom Scene Farm is on Watts Ferry Road between Frankfort and Versailles. Llama treks can be arranged on a few days’ notice, and a small gift shop on the premises carries samples of fiber products. Each spring, the Hubers host their annual Shearing Day and Country Festival.

For more information:
• City of Warsaw, 101 W. Market St., Warsaw, KY 41095-0786, (859) 567-5900

Producer, videographer: Dave Shuffett
Editor: Dan Taulbee

A Stroll Through History

Warsaw

In Warsaw, Kentucky, they don’t have to bring in archaeologists to uncover the 19th century—most of it is still here. This small river town, seat of Gallatin County, may have the most history per capita of any place in the state. When we visited, 118 of Warsaw’s buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which worked out to one for about every 10 residents.

And the residents value that history, as host Dave Shuffett learns on his visit. His tour guide is Mayor Richard Ward.

Warsaw, of course, is one of several Kentucky cities (London, Paris, Glasgow) that share the names of European capitals. And there’s a little interesting history in that, too:

The area that is now Warsaw was first settled between 1800 and 1803, and a town with the accurate if uninspired name of Ohio River Landing was established around 1814. When local citizens petitioned to be incorporated as a city in 1831, the town was to be called Fredericksburg after Adolphus Frederick, an early settler who had built the first dockyard in the area. But it turned out that a town in Washington County already had that name, so the Gallatin Countians needed to come up with something else. “Warsaw” did come from the city in Poland, but only indirectly. The immediate inspiration was actually literary: Two of the town’s leading citizens had greatly admired a series of novels by Jane Porter set in Poland and called Thaddeus of Warsaw.