Home | Publications | Newsletter | Museum | Preservation Efforts | Queries

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Billy Fowler & Guests at the Handy House

(Photo by Philip Naff)

Gotta Light?

When you are the only man in a dark room with a flashlight, it goes without saying that you probably will have a captive audience, but flashlight or no, Harrison County Historical Society Vice-President Billy Fowler captivated his audience of HCHS members and other visitors with a presentation of the history and architecture of Cynthiana's Handy House during the society's monthly meeting in August.

After the excellent turn-out and wonderful response from the meeting held at the Handy House, Billy Fowler has announced that the Handy House Committee will be offering tours to civic, church, and other groups.  Anyone interested should contact Billy or Sharon Fowler at (859) 234-5110 or Marilynn Bell (859) 234-1311.

If you missed out on the August tour or can't make it to Cynthiana anytime soon, you can take a tour any day by visiting The Handy House pages at this website.  Just open the door (Click on the link!), relax and sit a spell to read the story of what it took to build and operate an early-19th century farm and of the efforts to preserve and restore this unique piece of Harrison County history.

The Significance of the Handy Farm

The nomination to have the Handy Farm listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places gives the following statement regarding the Handy Farm's significance:

The Handy Farm (HR-115) meets National Register Criterion A and is significant within the historic context “Agriculture in Harrison County, Kentucky 1820-1920.”  The area on top of the hill at the Handy Farm that includes the historic structures of Brown/Frazer/Handy house, rare early English Style Barn, late-nineteenth-century breeding stable barn, and late-19th- or early-20th-century tobacco barn, along with the open field that flows downward to the creek and highway below, capture the story of farming in Harrison County throughout the period of significance.  The Handy Farm is an excellent example of a family-owned-and-occupied farm and exemplifies prosperous agriculture in Harrison County, Kentucky, 1820-1920.