Falmouth, Kentucky

Falmouth, Kentucky is a small agricultural town located in Pendleton County, Kentucky along US Highway 27 and the Licking River. It exists equidistant between two major metropolitan areas: Cincinnati, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky. As of 2019, the population sits at 2,577. Between the years of 2010 and 2018, the population of Falmouth saw a steady increase, but between 2018 and 2019 the population decreased from 2,915 to 2,577. The median household income as of 2019 sits at $31,517, while the poverty rate is at 32.3%. Occupationally, as a small town with limited jobs, the vast majority of employed people commute outside of the city to go to work. The average commute time being around 30 minutes. Those who do work within the city largely work in the agricultural industry, as government employees, or within the school system. In the heart of Falmouth lies the historic downtown area that has, in recent years, been subject to numerous demolition projects, as historic buildings have deteriorated from lack of upkeep. Much of downtown Falmouth is a part of the National Register of Historic Places. Falmouth, while notable for its charm, is most known for its history of natural disasters.

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The History of Falmouth

A History of Flooding

To begin a discussion on the city of Falmouth, KY, one must begin with a reflection on its history of flooding. Sitting in a river valley, at the confluence of two forks in the Licking River, Falmouth is in a very precarious position. The flood risk is constant, and in the last century there have been 5 major flood incidents. The flood of 1937, ranked as the worst flood in Cincinnati history, 1945,1948, 1964, and 1997. The Flood of 1997 is the most notable flood to those who are around today, as it was the most recent, and has seemingly had the most lasting impact on the city. The flood took the lives of 5 citizens, and 2400 people had to be evacuated. The water tore railroad tracks from the ground, homes from their foundations, and cars from the streets. A lot of businesses had to shut down indefinitely or relocated after the flood, and this left many vacancies in downtown Falmouth. It has been 24 years since the flood, and with each passing year the citizens of Falmouth see more and more historic buildings coming down as a result of post-flood neglect. Pictured in figure 37 is a flood marker sign, once located on the historic Assembly Building. The Licking River still poses a continuous threat to the citizens of Falmouth. In May of 2020 the river rose past flood stage and was predicted to crest at a level that would cause major flooding once again, though it crested lower than predicted, sparing the city. It became clear then that another flood is imminent in the coming years if

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there are no preventative measures are taken.

The Founding

Falmouth, Kentucky was founded in 1776. The earliest recollection of Falmouth is stated as such:

At one time the fifty miles below the mouth of the Licking River was one of the favorite crossing places of the Indians for sneaking captives out of Kentucky. In 1780, Colonial Henry Byrd, an official of the British Army, ascended the Licking River at Falmouth with his Canadian and Indian forces, en route to attack pioneer stations in Kentucky. They unloaded their artillery and a cannon on wheels here as they cut the first road through Kentucky over which wheels could travel. The road they cut virtually marked the trail of the present day U.S. Highway 27.1

The terrain ranged from rolling hills to thousands of acres of bottom land in the valleys, as well as springs where the first settlements were made. Settlers made their living by growing flax and cotton, raising sheep, and making clothing out of deer skin.

Their cabins were built with logs, clapboard roofs, slab doors hung on deer skin thongs and earthen or puncheon floors. The latter made by splitting logs in two and laying the rounded sides down and flat side up. The windows if any, were usually of deer

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skin soaked in bear grease and stretched until fairly thin and transparent. Inside the cabin a window shutter was made to slide over the deer skin so it could be barred for protection. The chimneys were made of sticks and clay mixed with deer or pig hair. The logs were motorized together and the clapboards and rafters were held fast with wooden pegs cut by hand from black walnut or hickory.2

The name Falmouth comes from the Virginia settlement of Falmouth, which was brought over from England. The settlers were largely Englishmen and revolutionary soldiers from Virginia. In 1798, Pendleton County was formed from Bracken and Campbell County, and Falmouth became the county seat. Falmouth was chartered on June 23rd, 1792, but the citizens at what was then called “Forks of the Licking,” lived there long before that. From the time frame of 1793-1876 the population of Falmouth grew from 100 to over 1,000. The land that Falmouth comprised of was originally a military land grant, given to Colonel Hall Richardson, and later acquired by John Waller, Alvin Mountjoy, and John Cook. It can be seen how the land was originally divided up in the map in figure 38.

The First Formal Architecture

The first courthouse in Falmouth was built in 1819 out of stone. John Waller allocated a courthouse square, and the building took up the entire block. In 1848, a new courthouse was constructed on the original site, with

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lots being sold from the town square to pay for the new courthouse . It is said that an aging John Waller, living at Bunker Hill on his farm, came into town with a shotgun, enraged over the breaking down and selling of the parcels of the courthouse square that he had given. He was put into jail until he cooled off. The courthouse was remodeled in 1848 and has remained the same since. Though no longer used as the courthouse, the building is still in use as the Pendleton County Clerk’s office. Figures 40 and 41 show a historic image of the Falmouth Court House, and the County Clerk’s Office as it is today.

Churches

The first church in Falmouth was the Baptist church, organized in 1792 by Alex Monroe. In 1793 the Falmouth Christian church was erected, along with the Presbyterian and Lutheran churches. Around 1854 both the Methodist church and the first Catholic church were built. The Christian, Catholic, Methodist, and Baptist churches still have active congregations in Falmouth today.

Education

Until 1814, students were taught in the homes of “accomplished young ladies” as Ethel Bell put it. The first school was a 20 x 30 feet brick building, built as a private school known as the Seminary. The bricks were burned in Falmouth, and the money for its construction came from the sale of public lands set aside by the state for the establishment of seminaries. The first teacher in Falmouth

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was Andrew Foster, who was paid only $280.00 for his yearly salary, this being provided by a public subscription and tuition for the school. Eventually, a new location for a larger building was located on 4th street (Figure 42). This school would be called the Pendleton County Academy. The Academy remained active until 1895, teaching the equivalent to high school and junior college.3 The Pendleton County Academy building was demolished to make way for a new high school in 1922. A ‘colored’ school operated out of Falmouth in the 1930s, though there was no colored high school. Local black students who wished to go to high school were sent to the Lincoln Institute, a black high school nearly 100 miles away in Simpsonville, Kentucky, with their room and board paid for. The Falmouth High School finished construction in 1925 (figure 43) and operated as a high school for around 40 years, seeing its last graduating class in 1968. It then operated as the Falmouth Middle School until the Phillip A. Sharp Middle School was built in 1995, and named after Nobel Prize Winner Phillip Allen Sharp who grew up in Falmouth. The building, though not operating as a school, then went on to serve other purposes. Up until 2020, it was known as the Falmouth School Center. Here, people could enroll in GED classes, and for a long time it operated as a location for students to participate in various workshops that tested and strengthened their skills in certain subjects. The gym and stage were used as a practice area for various plays and sports, and the Kincaid Regional Theatre Company put on all their plays here. For many students growing up in the Pendleton County School system from the early 2000s to the late 2010s, the

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Falmouth School Center became a place of comfort, where they could escape school to practice something they were passionate about. In 2020, the Falmouth School Center closed its doors to the public entirely, a result of neglect and out-of-control mold from the great flood of 1997. It now sits vacant, taking up a large footprint in the city of Falmouth. Today, the Pendleton County School District includes Pendleton County Memorial High School, constructed in 1957, the Phillip A. Sharp Middle School, and the identical Northern and Southern Elementary Schools, constructed in 1972. Both the high school and twin elementary school received additions in later years.

Historic Downtown Falmouth

In a 1992 article published by the Courier-Journal, Richard Wilson reflected on Falmouth’s small-town culture:

On a recent day, scores of folks filed in and out of the county clerk’s office, where Carol Ockerman and her assistants routinely greeted most people by name. Strangers are easily greeted; downtown parking is easy to find; and nobody seems to worry about taking spaces that signs say are reserved for local officials or police. And, while some locals feign shock that anyone would suggest Falmouth is off the beaten track, it isn’t one of the thriving centers in Kentucky’s ballyhooed Golden Triangle, the area bordered by Cincinnati’s Northern Kentucky suburbs, Louisville

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and Lexington. In fact it’s hard to find anyone who will be quite as candid as former mayor Max Goldberg, who acknowledges that “we’re in, what do you say, the boondocks” Nevertheless, that’s the way many residents like it.4

Downtown Falmouth consists of parts of Shelby and Main Streets, contained to around 4 total blocks of buildings. Downtown Falmouth saw its prime throughout the 1900s with thriving local businesses and a desirable small-town culture.

The Assembly Building

One of the most notable buildings in Falmouth’s history is the Assembly Building. Located on the corner of Shelby and Main Streets, the Assembly Building was the first to greet passersby gazing down Shelby Street (formerly Main Cross) from Main. The Assembly Building was built in the original courthouse square in 1892 by Gus Shubert. There were apartments and a recital hall on the top floor, along with retail space on the bottom floor. The retail space wore many hats, originally operating as a dry goods store and a drugstore, then a grocery store, a furniture store, and a watch repair shop. The recital hall was, at different times, the Pendleton Opera House, the Duncan Theater, and the Kentucky Theater. The Assembly Building housed a bank in 1922, a pool hall in 1938, and yet another pool hall in 1946. In 1940, half of the Assembly Building’s retail space became

4 Richard Wilson, “Isolated County Seat is Missing Out on Big City Problems-- and Promises,” The Courier Journal Dec 14, 1992.

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Moreland Drugs , while the other half became a furniture store in 1950. Eventually being purchased by Rite-Aid, then CVS, Moreland Drugs relocated to another location on US Highway 27. Murals of false windows were eventually painted over the windows on the second floor and the door on Shelby Street to conceal the decaying and unkept interior.5 The Assembly Building was vacated in 1997 after the flood, then became the home of the Assembly Café, a local bar and restaurant, in 2006. When the Assembly Café went out of business, the Assembly Building remained vacant for several years, and was demolished in 2021 as a result of decades of neglect. Today, the lot is grown over with grass and sits empty, with no current construction plans. (Figure 47)

The Masonic Building

Another prominent building sitting vacant along Shelby Street is the former Masonic Lodge. Built in 1873, the Masonic Building, pictured to the right , has been a meeting place for the KKK, the Odd Fellows, and the Masons. The Lodge eventually became the home of Houchen’s Clothes and Shoes, a business that still exists in Falmouth today, but has relocated to a different building, likely after the flood of 1997. The Masonic Lodge building could eventually meet the fate of the Assembly building if it continues to be neglected. So long as the structural integrity of the building is intact, the former Masonic Lodge holds great potential as a future commercial space and apartment dwelling should it be restored.

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Next door to the Masonic Lodge is the former New Pastime movie theater. The theater was relatively small, with only one screen. During the time of segregation, the top floor was referred to as the “crow’s nest” and was reserved for black people6. The sign of New Pastime has always been a distinguishing trait of historic downtown Falmouth, but the building has been vacant since the flood of 1997. As seen in the historic photo on the right, the movie “Scream” was the last movie played at the theater. Much like the Masonic Building, the New Pastime Theater could face demolition should its neglect continue in the coming years.

The Citizens Bank

Across from the Masonic Building and the New Pastime Theater is the former Citizens Bank Building, which today houses the Smoking Pig, a local barbecue restaurant. The Citizen’s Bank was constructed around 1902, and sometime later became a pizza factory. The building was greatly damaged after a fire in 1996, and parts of the top floor had to be removed. The two photos , to the right show the reduced height of the building following the 1996 fire. The Smoking Pig is a perfect example of a building being restored and continuing to contribute to the downtown culture. With the right investors and enough drive within the community, what remains of historic downtown Falmouth could be salvaged, restoring the business district to its former glory.

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There are a handful of other notable building along Shelby and Main Streets that are in dire need of restoration. If Falmouth wants to be what it once was, retaining its historic charm and small-town atmosphere, these buildings must be saved.

The Railroad

The Kentucky Central Railroad came to Falmouth in 1854, and quickly became important to the development and spread of Falmouth and Pendleton County. Around 1865, the first passenger train ran from Covington to Falmouth. Originally referred to as Kentucky Central, the railroad was later acquired by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. From there, it was eventually purchased by Seaboard Air Line, which then became a part of Family Lines, and finally merged with Chessie System to form CSX as we know it today. The train was referred to by the people of Falmouth as “The Dinky”:

I came to Falmouth on The Dinky in 1918. She came from the South West KY on the III. Central R. R. The ticket agent said there was no such place as Falmouth. When I got off the train the whole town turned out. I thought they had come to meet me, but I learned it was the pastime of the local citizens to meet the train. I looked around and said to myself I wouldn’t stay in this little jerk water town, 46 years later I’m still here. Falmouth had a certain charm in those days. The streets along Shelby and Main were lined with large trees

[emphasis added]. It didn’t take long to get to know everyone.7

Several train stations were built in Pendleton County, but as public road conditions improved and the automobile became popular, many of them were rendered useless. The Falmouth Depot building remained in the city until July of 1980 when it burned down. (Figures 50 and 51) The plot of land that previously housed the depot now exists largely as gravel, pavement, and overgrowth. There is opportunity to redevelop the vacant stretches of land along the railroad as extensions of green spaces, and possible direct connections to the river trails.

Agriculture and Industry

such: A 1976 newspaper article described Falmouth as

The county seat and largest town in Pendleton is Falmouth, settled in 1776. It now presents the image of a pleasant, thoroughly modern but unhurried, Kentucky town of 2,500 inhabitants, with treeshaded streets and well-kept old homes. It is a prosperous farming center and in recent years has acquired flourishing payroll industries.8

As Falmouth was settled early on in Kentucky’s history, it developed a farming economy quickly. The terrain lends itself to it, with hilly limestone soil and

7 Ethel Bell, “History of Falmouth,” 8 “Pendleton County - Industry Rises in this Historic Area.” 1976.

fertile bottom-lands along the Licking River forks. After the Civil War, the majority of the farmlands were used to grow tobacco. The failure of the farmers to properly rotate their crops, and the heavy rains that washed away the shallow surface soil led to abandoned farms throughout the city and county.9 One farmer, E.E. Barton, experimented using sweet clover, once thought of as an invasive weed, to recover the lands that would no longer grow crops. Barton’s experiment later became a model in using sweet clover to restore soil quality. The livestock grazed the clover, and farmers were able to move back into their farms and recover from their financial hardship. The farming of sweet clover also led to Pendleton County being known for the production of honey. Eventually, the farmers brought alfalfa raising into their system of building up the land, and alfalfa remains one of the main crops grown to produce hay in Pendleton County today. Between tobacco, sweet clover, alfalfa, cattle, and milk, Falmouth became a thriving and balanced farming region. Today, Pendleton County’s agricultural census states that the majority of its sales come from tobacco, hay, grains, oilseeds, dry beans, peas, and cattle. There are around 1,500 producers of farmed goods, 98 percent of which are family farms.10 Falmouth once had strong industrial ties, producing rebuilt engines, metallurgical limestone, and footwear. The footwear company Scholl Manufacturing once employed over 300 people, while Fuller Manufacturing and Supply Company, making rebuilt engines, employed over 100. Located in the neighboring city of Butler,

9 “Pendleton County - Industry Rises in this Historic Area.” 1976. 10 2017 Census of Agriculture United States Department of Agriculture,[2017]).

Griffin Industries rendered tallow and hides, and the River Mining Company, which produced metallurgical limestone, employed 150.11 While the other businesses closed their doors, Griffin Industries remained until the mid to late 2010s, when it was acquired by DAR PRO Solutions, a company that turns grease and meat byproducts into feed and fuel ingredients. The Butler facility still operates today under the DAR PRO banner. Newer industries include Hilltop Stone rock quarry in Butler, a Rumpke landfill, a Bakery Feeds manufacturing location, an exercise equipment manufacturer, along with a handful of smaller family-owned and operated businesses. As of the 2019 Census, the most common employment sectors among employed people in Falmouth are retail at 247 people, manufacturing at 212 people, and accommodation and food services at 101 people.12 This is not a proper representation of the Falmouth job market itself, however; as the statistics above include individuals who live in Falmouth yet work outside of the city. For those who live and work within Falmouth, main employment sectors likely include retail, food services, government, education, manufacturing, and agriculture. Finding a way to bring more jobs and employment into Falmouth and Pendleton County as a whole would bring more revenue to the city. If citizens are no longer commuting out of the city for work, they will spend more of their money on local businesses.

11 “Pendleton County - Industry Rises in this Historic Area.” 1976. 12 “Data USA: Falmouth, Kentucky,”

Kincaid Lake State Park, located about 4 miles outside the city of Falmouth, was established around 1958. With 800 acres of land purchased with money raised by Falmouth residents, development of Kincaid Lake State Park began. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife built a dam at Kincaid Creek which impounded what we now know as Kincaid Lake. In the coming years the State Park would develop a beach, bathhouse, boat dock, picnic areas, internal roads, amphitheater, and parking areas. Today, the park has grown by 50 acres, and houses 84 campsites, as well as a gift shop, grocery, and multipurpose building with seating for up to 240. The Park also maintains a 38-slip marina with boat rentals, a mini-golf course and playground, a 9-hole golf course, a swimming pool, and some hiking trails. The state of the Park has deteriorated in recent years, seemingly from lack of funding. The amphitheater has sat vacant for a long time and has damage from overgrowth and neglect, the lake is too polluted to swim in, and many of the other facilities have visible age and degradation. The Park is no longer the destination that it used to be, and is in need of some critical repairs. Restoring the park would prove beneficial to both the citizens of Falmouth and the tourists visiting the Park.

The Kentucky Wool Festival

The Kentucky Wool Festival is an event that takes place the first full weekend of October, it is emblematic of the changing of seasons, and is one of the most culturally

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important events to happen in Falmouth, Kentucky. Schools are closed in Pendleton County on the Friday of the Wool Fest, vendors prepare all year to sell their handmade goods, and many organizations rely on the revenue earned during Wool Fest weekend to sustain their endeavors. The origins of the Wool Festival go back to Kentucky’s past as having a large sheep industry. When the Wool Fest committee was formed, Pendleton County was chosen to host it as Pendleton was one of the leaders in the sheep industry. The first Wool Festival occurred in October of 1983 at the fairgrounds in Falmouth, later migrating to its present day location. The Falmouth Woolen Mill was started by the Woodhead family in 1866, where they manufactured “famous” Pendleton blankets. The mill carried on through the lineage of the family for many years. An excerpt from a letter of Charles Kennett reads:

The last ownership of the old Falmouth Woolen Mills, to my knowledge was my uncle Joseph Woodhead, for who my two older brothers and I all worked in the mill at various times before we left Falmouth for other fields, I being the last to leave in 1905. During two summers I operated three of the machines in the preparation of making blankets, yarn and other woolen goods. My brother, Martin Floyed Kennett, wove blankets, some of which may still be used in Pendleton County homes. Uncle Joseph ran the spinner and his son, Joshua, also worked in the mill.13

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Though the woolen industry is not necessarily flourishing in Falmouth anymore, the Kentucky Wool Festival has kept that aspect of history alive within the town.

Today, tens of thousands of people turn out to attend the Kentucky Wool Festival, which takes place adjacent to Kincaid Lake State Park, about 4 miles outside of the city of Falmouth. There are over 40 different food and drink vendors, 100 craft vendors, a full schedule of performances by local performers on two different stages, a petting zoo, and scheduled sheep shearing and herding events that take place. There is even a fundraiser event called “Ewe Doo” where a sheep defecates on a grid of numbers, the winner whose number is “dooed” on wins. With a growing turnout, the Kentucky Wool Festival brings a lot of people to Falmouth, Kentucky on this single weekend of the year. That begs the question, why hasn’t it helped stimulate the economy and tourism within Falmouth in recent years?

Falmouth, Today

Falmouth, Kentucky, today is facing very desperate times. The Covid-19 pandemic placed financial stress on every local business, and some did not make it out alive. Following the demolition of the Assembly Building in 2020, the citizens of Falmouth have grown weary of what is to happen with the rest of the historic fabric of the city. This has sparked some interest in investment from various community members, but the city itself is not in a financial position to be able to save these buildings and improve the general infrastructure of the city. As it sits

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now, the sidewalks throughout Falmouth are crumbling. The city that was once advertised as having tree shaded streets downtown no longer has any. Buildings are visibly falling over, and nothing is being done about it. The saving grace of Falmouth will come down to making it a destination. This could come about in a few different ways and this thesis aims to discover a way forward. How might Falmouth be re-envisioned as a thriving city and tourist destination? How may we use the culture, history, and roots of the city to bring it back to what it once was? This thesis aims to get to the root of what a thriving small town is meant to be, looking at precedents and case studies of similar cities. It will analyze writings and research on the topic, and figure out a path forward for Falmouth.