“Generosity has never been the wrong decision. No matter the response or outcome, I’ve always emerged either happier, stronger, or wiser, richer in some way, when I have chosen to act in a generous way.”
~ Mary Carroll-Hackett
“Walnut Hill Church was constructed in 1801 on land donated by Mary Todd Lincoln’s grandfather. It is the oldest Presbyterian Church building in Kentucky.” So says the opening lines of their website. This enormous bell tower stands between the church and the cemetery where the first minister of the church, James Crawford, is buried. Turns out that, when he wasn’t holding service on the frontier, the Rev. Crawford was a delegate in the state’s Constitutional Convention in 1792. The bell tower, though… it’s an odd thing to see out in the country like it is.
I’ve been down Walnut Hill – the road – many times, but I don’t ever recall seeing this church. I found out about it through that same pamphlet from the Lexington Tourism Center that informed me about the old Mud Meeting House in Harrodsburg. Stacy and I went for a look last Saturday. It’s perched atop, you guessed it, Walnut Hill, and my, is the view incredible. It’s surrounded by horse farms and rolling fields of hay. And it’s massive front door? I don’t know what kind of wood it is, but it’s so unassumingly beautiful, as unassuming as it can be for being big. I bet the inside is equally gorgeous. The website links to their historic registry form that includes photos from 1971. You can tell they’ve really loved on the place since then, even tastefully adding an addition. I really must see the inside now.
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