. ·roU1z 1 5 3,81
e of the gentry and worked at the watchmaker’s trade. Louis Philippe
e and two brothers, on their way from the capital to New Orleans, crossed
e the Salt River at Pitts Fork with difficulty, on October 16, 1797, and
spent the night at Captain Bean’s tavern here. Though the Duke
er became very ill, he was left alone because the hrst company of stage
d troupers had come to town—an event causing great excitement. ·
d The ]oHN FITCH MONUMENT (R), on Courthouse Square, was
d erected by Congress to honor the man now acknowledged as the in-
ls ventor of the steamboat. john Fitch was born in Connecticut in 1743.
1. His first successful experiment with a boat propelled by steam was
.0 made on the Delaware River in 1787-20 years before Fulton launched
Ls the Clermont on the Hudson. Fitch came to Kentucky as a surveyor,
ne and the proceeds of the sale of a map he had made of Ohio and Ken-
zr tucky helped him to finance his experiments. His ideas of the possi-
bilities of the steamboat for use in reaching the West were regarded as
ng the ravings of a madman, and it was 1790 before he finally sold
:h enough stock to finance the boat that carried passengers between Phila-
al delphia and Trenton for several years. With the profits of this ven-
‘y ture a vessel was built for operation on the Ohio, but, just as it was
ld ready for launching, it was dashed to pieces by a storm. Unable to
obtain public recognition for his engine or financial aid to promote it,
ly he returned, in 1796, to the wilderness of Kentucky and to a life of
er seclusion. He came here to settle on land he had bought during a sur-
a- veying trip, only to find it overrun by squatters. While he was in
Bardstown he constructed a small model of a steamboat, which he
ld fioated on the town creek.
ne In the summer of 1798, bitter and disillusioned, he ended his life, it
is is said, with a dose of poison. In his journal he had written: "I know
·al of nothing so vexatious to a man of feelings as a turbulent wife and
steamboat building. I experienced the former and quit in season and
»e- had I been in my right sense I should undoubtedly have treated the
latter in the same manner, but for one man to be teased with both,
of he must be looked upon as the most unfortunate man of this world."
ng Back of the jail in an old cemetery is the marked GRAVE or ]o11N
an FITCH.
ls- The TA1.12o1:r HOTEL, on Courthouse Square, has been operating
of since its construction about 1800. In an upstairs room, probably used
It originally as a banquet hall, are murals that reflect the influence of the
in _ Italian school.
nd The BEAL R12s1DENcE (L), two blocks south of Courthouse Square,
by was one of the first brick dwellings in Bardstown; it was built between
is- 1790 and 1800. One of the Hrst race tracks in the State was on the
ge, Beal estate.
Construction of S1. ]OSEPH’S PRo1o-CATHEDRAL (R) was begun in
pe, 1816, the building was dedicated by Bishop Benedict ]oseph Flaget in ‘
wn 1819. The building is a notable example of church architecture of its
ren period. The woodwork and structural timbers, including the six mas-