CRAB ORCHARD, Ky. — An original brick house built by Whitley County namesake William Whitley is undergoing a $400,000 restoration.

        The William Whitley House in western Lincoln County, near Crab Orchard, is one of the oldest brick houses in Kentucky. The historic site was one of the first brick houses built in the frontier west of the Allegheny Mountains in the 1780s.

        The restoration project includes a wood-shingle roof that will be more historically accurate than the current one, and replacement of mortar between the bricks with mortar formulated to be as close as possible to the original. Workers also will repair wood trim and windows, waterproof the basement, update the heating and air conditioning systems, and install new sidewalks and a wheelchair lift.

        “Another few years and the house would really have begun to deteriorate,” said park manager Jack C. Bailey II.

        The restoration, funded with a federal grant, began in September and should be done by March or April. The house will remain open for tours.

        The work to preserve history is painstaking.

        “You've got to take your time at it, make sure you don't cut into it,” said Billy Hale, of Garrard County, as he used a small tool to gingerly scrape old paint from a wooden window.

        Pioneer William Whitley began building the house after moving to the area, which was then still part of Virginia, according to the Kentucky Encyclopedia. Whitley was a noted Indian fighter and an avid horseman; he called his house Sportsman Hill, and built a track with a twist that survives him.

        “Having an aversion to anything English, he used clay instead of turf for the surface of the racetrack that he laid out in 1788, and he raced the horses in a counterclockwise direction,” the Kentucky Encyclopedia says. “To this day, all American sports using oval tracks race counterclockwise.”

        Mr. Bailey said the race track is now on private property and the state has no plans to restore it.

Police officer found not guilty
Reaction is mix of relief, outrage
Police expand complaint process
Battles for benches break tradition
Fuller gambles on single TV ad
Loveland could amend charter
Methodist church also a haven
Next school board faces big challenge
Seafood Fest will be a 2-way
Surgery lets baby breathe normally
Tristate A.M. Report
Voters decide system's future
MCNUTT: Neighborhoods
SAMPLES: Bilingual kids
Bond issue for schools would bring state money
Butler, Warren at odds on site
Fairfield confronts crossroads
New faces in Mill Creek area
Prosecutors finish case against dad
School candidates list priorities
Top court to rethink funding
Transport tax a balancing act
Three up for Mason board
Householder firm on Ohio tax holiday
Officer charged in Cleveland road rage case
Ohio post offices checked for anthrax
Kentucky News Briefs
First day for Murray State president
Guard called out to help fight forest fires
Historic brick house in Lincoln Co. to be restored
Kenton Co. GOP plans fund-raiser
Louisville detective facing DUI charge
Man faces charges in Covington stabbing
Open sites to strip clubs, Callery says
Pipeline drilling may begin
State license board wants power to investigate doctors
Three injured in bar fight; man held