»  TOUR 1 6 391
— At 71.6 m., on the western outskirts of Morehead, is the junction with
` a hard-surfaced road.
Left on this road to CLEARFIELD, 0.6 m. (705 alt., 250 pop.), a f1re—clay
. manufacturing town. The extensive fire-clay beds here are a continuation of the
— Sciotoville deposit that extends southward and westward from Scioto County,
l Ohio. Non-refractory clays suitable for the manufacture of brick, tile, and terra ’
cotta are also present in this region.
A Right in Clearfield, at the fork of two unmarked roads on a narrow winding
l (  road 3.8 m. to the MOREHEAD FIRE OBSERVATORY (1,100 alt.), one of the 22 steel
Q observation towers in the Cumberland National Forest. From the glass—enclosed
_ observatory is a splendid view of the forested mountains. South of the observa-
; tory on an undulating ridge table is a Fonnsr CAMP (camping and picnicking
_ facilities).
; FARMERS, 78.1 m. (868 alt., 290 pop.), on the Licking River, is a
; 1 trade center of the clay region.
· US 60 proceeds through a region of steep-sided foothills—especially
‘ striking in the spring and early summer when rhododendron and azalea
are in bloom——int0 the Knobs area, a narrow belt of rounded or flat-
i topped hills almost surrounding the Bluegrass region, some of them ris-
; ing abruptly several hundred feet above the lowlands.
; OWINGSVILLE, 92.1 m. (1,025 alt., 933 pop.), seat of Bath County,
5 lies at the top of a low hill. The main and almost the only street is
lined with fine old houses. The town was named for its most promi- ~
{ nent early citizen, Col. Thomas Dye Owings, who settled on land
granted for services in the Revolutionary War, and became wealthy
, · through the mining and processing of iron ore. When this site was
1 selected as the county seat in 1811, it was owned by Richard Menifee
, and Colonel Owings, each of whom wished to bestow his name on the
_ new town. It was decided to name the village for the man who erected
3 the finest residence in the shortest time. Colonel Owings won with the
1 OWrNos Housn (open), on Main St. (L), just beyond the courthouse.
; This house, completed in 1812, is a two-story building of painted red
5 brick. One end of the old house has been torn down and replaced by
g a commercial building. The wide front doorway, now with colored
glass side lights, under a second-story Palladian window, was originally
( ‘ in the center of the house. All woodwork, windows, doors, and the
E lovely spiral stairway ascending three stories, were made by hand and
t brought from Baltimore by oxcart. The house, of Georgian Colonial
3 , design, has walls from three to four feet thick. This, together with its
n fortlike arrangement, servants’ quarters in the basement, portholes and
d entrance to a subterranean passage concealed behind the drawing room
fireplace, indicate that, with all its beauty of line and finish, safety from
d Indian and other attacks compelled consideration. After Owings’ death
g the house became an inn on the stagecoach route between Lexington
y and Washington, D.C. It was the center of social life for the entire
ll section during the first half of the nineteenth century. Louis Philippe
and Lafayette were among the distinguished guests, and in 1826 a grand