Draft:James E. Slaton House



The James E. Slaton House, in Hopkins County, Kentucky near Madisonville, Kentucky, was built between 1860 and 1864. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is a two-story, central passage plan I-House, with a one-story "L" extension. Besides the I-house, the listing includes three buildings deemed non-contributing to the historical character of the place.

Historic function: Domestic Historic subfunction: Single Dwelling Criteria: architecture/engineering

"The boundary follows a rectangle lot measuring 150' by 150' which contains the house and three non-contributing outbuildings. The boundary is defined by a driveway on the south and fence lines on the west, north and east. VerbalBoundaryJustification; The boundary for the James E. Slaton House is drawn to include the house and adjacent yard which has historically associated with the house and immediate outbuildings. The boundary excludes 20th century barns and outbuildings to the east of the property."

It was listed as part of a study of historic resources in Hopkins County.

According to the 1988 listing document, it is located at the end of County Highway 1221, which "deadends right in front of the house", but road names and alignments may have changed.

"The James E. Slaton House is a two-story frame, five bay, central passage plan I-House with a one-story ell completed in 1864. The house is sited on a hill overlooking small tributaries of the Pond River in a rural section of the county. Within a half-mile of the house are large strip mining areas but the integrity of the property's site and setting remains intact. On the main (west) facade is a two-story porch added in 1895 which extends across three of the five bays. This porch has square columns with Doric influenced capitals and square balusters on the porch's railing. The main entrance has ca.1900 glass and frame door with four-pane sidelights and a four-light transom. Also in the central bay, a similar doorway leads to the second tier of the porch. The house has weatherboard siding and windows are original six-over-six sash. The house has a gable roof of composition shingles and two brick exterior end chimneys."

It is on a hill overlooking Pond River tributaries. When listed in 1988, it was at the dead-end of county highway 1221.

Directions to the house are difficult in online maps, as some roads appear to be named incorrectly. If one enters destination coordinates into Bing Maps, directions will be given along the route whose directions are given below, but in Google Maps, while the roads can be seen, the software simply will not route one through, as if one or more roads were closed.

The following directions can bring one most directly about 6 mi southeast from Madisonville, Kentucky to the house: Drive south on Pennyrile Parkway (Interstate 69), taking exit 111 for KY 2171, turning left on Grapevine Rd. then left on Hubert Reid Rd. (KY 2171 and KY 336) to go east under the interstate. Continue northeast (going past left entrances towards Interstate 69) to where KY 2171 is dead-ending, take a jog to the right and left to continue northeast on which has run parallel to KY 2171 like an access road. In Bing Maps this road is named McLeod Rd., in Google Maps it is named (possibly incorrectly) Blue Valley Rd. Turn right (to the southeast) onto Kentucky Route 1221. Continue straight(to the southeast) half a mile to where KY 1221 now curves to the northeast. In 1988 the KY 1221 did not curve, but rather continued on to a dead-end at the James E. Slaton House. Exit off the curve onto a road or driveway (unnamed in Google Maps, named Pond River-Colliers Rd in Bing Maps) going southeast, continue another half mile southeast to the house.

In this Kentucky Transportation map of State Primary Roads in Hopkins County, the official route of KY 1221 is shown, marked as a purple "Supplemental Road". The house location is approximately where words "Flat Cr Bottoms" appear.