Throwback Thursday: Rocky Hill Inn’s old world hospitality

Twenty miles northeast of Bowling Green, a historic home with over 150 years of stories sits nestled in the Rocky Hill community in Edmonson County. Originally built in 1857, the Rocky Hill Inn is full of history and has been an overnight stay for many guests in Kentucky’s rough cave country. Thanks to information from the inn’s owner and hostess Janelle Marshall, this week’s Throwback Thursday is the story of Rocky Hill Inn.

It all began 167 years ago in 1857. The Civil War had yet to be fought. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad was a brand new shiny thing for southern Kentucky. The lovely “mansion on the hill” became known for offering hospitality to rail passengers. It was built in beautiful Greek Revival architecture by William Newman, the very first postmaster of Rock Hill Station. The railroad had made it to Bowling Green by that time, but would not be completed in Rocky Hill until 1859, so William was a visionary with big plans.

The property ended up selling to several new owners between 1860 and 1902, when husband and wife Woodford Harding Ford and Katie Morris Ford purchased it for just over a sum of $2,000 dollars. The Fords added the marvelous Victorian era wraparound porch. They say each bedroom housed six to eight cots, and railroad passengers would pay about 25 cents per cot for a night’s sleep. Guests would often be impressed with Katie Ford’s massive, home-cooked meals. The couple even renamed it to Ford Hotel in 1916.

The inn was often used by soldiers on their way to and from war, being a major stop during the Civil War and both World Wars. Locals would often sit on the large wall or walk around the park in front of the home just to watch passengers board and unload from the train station.

Then tragedy struck. In July 1941, a massive fire engulfed a lot of the town. The drug store, creamery, barber shop, post office, grocery store, homes, and even the sidewalks were absolutely obliterated in the inferno. And then…a lot of it wasn’t rebuilt. It became legend.

The Rocky Hill Inn mansion was remodeled in 2002 and 2010, and is now run as a bed and breakfast, even offering special teas and old world hospitality from bygone days. The home has a few bedrooms, all themed around warmth and coziness. The Jenny Lind room is the most sophisticated, named for the famous “Swedish Nightingale” singer who once visited southern Kentucky in the 19th century, as we have mentioned in other segments. You can even plan a tour and tea with three friends without booking an overnight stay.

Find more details about the Rocky Hill Inn and its southern hospitality on its website: Rocky Hill Inn