Historic Georgetown/SCAC, Inc
Scott County Royal Springs Park and Arts & Cultural Center anchor the highway from the Kentucky State Capital on either side of an amazing 200 year old dry-stack stone bridge to welcome the community and visitors to site of the first settlement in 1774, and the site of the ca. 1892 Scott County Jail Complex, now entering Phase 2 of 3 for the Scott County Arts & Cultural Center.
Sometimes the very problem of being in a wonderful community is that we miss treasures we see every day. An amazing dry-stack stone bridge carries you across Royal Spring Creek. Royal Springs was discovered in 1774 by surveyor John Floyd and William Nash. This spring is just as vital in 2011 as it was in the late 1700‘s. It is still the main entrance to our community at it’s birthplace.
Most people have no idea the bridge is there, but one has existed for over 200 years connecting what was then known as George Town to Frankfort, the state capital.
Elijah Craig, a busy man, making paper, building bridges, preaching, and creating Bourbon, settled this tract in 1786. He is credited with being the builder of all of the original bridges we cross over in Georgetown today. The Royal Springs bridge was laid stone by stone beginning in 1800. A 1904 book states that “The work is about as perfect as it could have been done with stone.”
The Old Scott County Jail Complex is located on the north side of the bridge with Royal Springs Creek flowing behind it. The house on Water Street (ca.1870) became the Jailer’s House in 1892 when the architectural “jewel of Kentucky county jails” was built behind 117 North Water Street.
The Scott County Arts & Cultural Center and Welcome Center is now located in the Jailer’s House. Since 2006 outstanding exhibitions of local and regional art with related cultural events are presented every month to six weeks. The 1892 Scott County Jail Complex will one day provide classrooms, art studios, a ceramic studio, gallery, performance, and multi-purpose space for teaching currently being provided to the community in a separate building.
The Historic Georgetown Gateway Project plan is to restore the bridge’s dry stone laid construction, remove skim-coating, and create a beautiful street-scape across the bridge connecting West Main residents to downtown. Period street lights will cross the bridge, with a replica of the original railing from the phone company once located on the corner of Royal Spring and West Main. Sidewalks will connect Main Street to the Arts and Cultural Center parking lot, and beautiful native garden will terrace the west bank to complement a multipurpose trailhead connecting cultural and historical landmarks in our community.
The Scott County Arts Consortium Arts & Cultural and Welcome Center offers the community programming and information for visitors and travelers who now wait impatiently to get into jail. We need to get the peeling lead paint out before we can let people in. The Historic Scott County Jail Complex will become a popular visitor destination for our region, and ultimately the home of “The ArtZone — the arts from A to Z.”
We are working together to assist our community with cultural and economic development by protecting and developing what has been provided by our ancestors. The children realize that THIS PLACE MATTERS; help them to share this with their children!
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