First House in Kentucky
Barbourville, United States
Within a short distance of what is now Barbourville, an expedition under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Walker established a base for operations while exploring the eastern mountain range of Kentucky.<br><br>A replica of Dr. Walker's log cabin, 8 by 12 feet, marks the site of the dwelling built in 1750. It now stands in a 12-acre state historic site serving as a memorial to the surveyor and physician (born in Virginia in 1715) who constructed the first recorded pioneer dwelling in Kentucky.<br><br>Dr. Walker named the river the cabin overlooks in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II. The park acreage was acquired and the memorial cabin built by the Borbourville Post of the American Legion.<br><br>The reproduction of the old one-room cabin is built of round logs with wide chinked joints and a small chimney, curiously framed in at the base with notched logs.