Y TOUR I 6 39 5
`  Virginia, in 1776, and built his cabin here. In the spring of 1779 he
 1 induced a number of men from his home county, whom he found at
H Boonesboro, to accompany him back to this site. They built about 30
"  cabins and erected a stockade around them, a defense work about 300
. feet long and 100 feet wide, in which they sheltered themselves against
. the British and Indians, and reared their children in comparative safety.
The MCCORMICK SEED HARVESTER WORKS (open to public), 125 m.
I (R), a one-story frame structure covered with sheet metal, manufac-
tures machines for harvesting Bluegrass seed. The operating principle
‘ is that of the closely serrated board once used by slaves to strip the
matured heads of the bluegrass of their seed. The machine, operated
‘ by one man, can harvest 10 to 15 acres a day.
` In this region were formerly several famous cattle farms, which have
since been broken up into smaller units. The earliest and most notable
was the Matthew Patton farm on which, in 1795, were the first pure-
bred shorthorn cattle west of the Alleghenies. At the old Renick farm,
the shorthorn was brought to such a state of perfection that breeders
‘ from other countries came to it to purchase their stock.
The W. R. SPAHR HoUsE (L), 126.3 m., a massive two-story red
— brick house, built after the War between the States, has a classic two-
story portico visible at the end of an avenue of tall trees.
The JOHN WINN PLACE (L), 127 m., a fine old two-story red brick
house of Victorian style, was built around 1878 to replace a much older ‘
. frame house. It stands in a grove, almost hidden from the road.
The DAVID PREWITT PLACE (R), 129.7 m., also known as Dunreath,
is typical of the estates along US 60 between Winchester and Lexington
I that were acquired during the early decades of the nineteenth century.
The house is one-fourth of a mile from the road on a lawn shaded by
locust, wild cherry, ash, maple, and walnut trees. In the 1840’s,
‘ ]. Howard Sheffer, then living in a log cabin, fenced off this area and
gave instructions to mow around every tree shoot in order to improve
the setting for the home he planned to erect. The two-story red brick
building is Georgian Colonial in style with a one-story white frame
» porch across the front. The roof line drops several feet to that of a
two-story wing at the right. The bricks, laid in Flemish bond, as well
as the lime for the plaster, were burned on the place. The timber was
cut from near-by woodlands, and the roofing was brought from Belgium.
The BENJAMIN GRAVES HOMESTEAD (L), 130.5 m., also known as
the Wilson House, is a two-story red brick structure standing in a
' grove a short distance from the road.
. LEAFLAND (R), 132.1 m., was built almost a century ago by jacob
Hughes, and is the oldest of three mansions associated with him. In his
day Hughes was one of the leading farmers and stock traders in Ken-
tucky and was Fayette County’s representative in the legislature. He
( owned 6,000 acres of land in Fayette and near-by Clark and Bourbon
Counties. The other two houses, the Prewitt House and the Benjamin
I Graves Homestead, were built by Hughes’ sons—in-law (]. H. Howard
' Sheffer and Benjamin Graves). Like most of the homes in the region,