Author(s): Carolyn Murray-Wooley (Author), Karl Raitz (Author)
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Publication Date: May 19, 1992
Edition: First Edition
Language: English
Print length: 240 pages
ISBN-10: 0813117623
ISBN-13: 9780813117621
Book Description
Gray rock fences built of ancient limestone are hallmarks of Kentucky’s Bluegrass landscape. Why did Kentucky farmers turn to rock as fence-building material when most had earlier used hardwood rails? Who were the masons responsible for Kentucky’s lovely rock fences and what are the different rock forms used in this region?
In this generously illustrated book, Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Raitz address those questions and explore the background of Kentucky’s rock fences, the talent and skill of the fence masons, and the Irish and Scottish models they followed in their work. They also correct inaccurate popular perceptions about the fences and use census data and archival documents to identify the fence masons and where they worked.
As the book reveals, the earliest settlers in Kentucky built dry-laid fences around eighteenth-century farmsteads, cemeteries, and mills. Fence building increased dramatically during the nineteenth century so that by the 1880s rock fences lined most roads, bounded pastures and farmyards throughout the Bluegrass. Farmers also built or commissioned rock fences in New England, the Nashville Basin, and the Texas hill country, but the Bluegrass may have had the most extensive collection of quarried rock fences in North America.
This is the first book-length study on any American fence type. Filled with detailed fence descriptions, an extensive list of masons’ names, drawings, photographs, and a helpful glossary, it will appeal to folklorists, historians, geographers, architects, landscape architects, and masons, as well as general readers intrigued by Kentucky’s rock fences.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Expertly produced with excellent layout, illustrations, and organization. Clear, well-written, and interesting.”―Filson Club History Quarterly
“An outstanding study . . . the finest work to date on American fences.”―Geographical Review
“Offers a thorough introduction to the history, geography, and culture of the Bluegrass to both the armchair visitor and the seasoned Kentucky resident.”―Vernacular Architecture Newsletter
“This beautifully illustrated book traces the origins of Kentucky fences back to Irish and Scottish examples.”―Washington Post
“In this deeply research book, she brings all of her expertise and experience to bear on a notable built landscape feature of Kentucky: the pioneer stone house. This is an impressive, scholarly, profoundly researched, and fully illustrated book. Her writing is clear, making it accessible to a general public, and enhanced by a glossary of architectural terms. . . .An immediately essential volume on any architectural historian’s bookshelf.”―John Wolford, Ohio Valley History
“This book will be of interest to those with an interest in Kentucky history. The book is well-written, and the chapters are self-contained to the point that they can be read in any order, depending on the reader’s interests. The illustrations are such that “Early Stone Houses” can sit on the coffee table, to be paged through when the moment strikes.”―Andrew McMichael, Bowling Green Daily News
“The beauty and effort of this volume are a tribute to the past and to [the author’s] notable efforts.”―The Folio
From the Back Cover
Gray rock fences built of ancient limestone are hallmarks of Kentucky’s Bluegrass landscape. Why did Kentucky farmers turn to rock as fence-building material when most had earlier used hardwood rails? Who were the masons responsible for Kentucky’s lovely rock fences and what are the different rock forms used in this region? In this generously illustrated book, Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Raitz address those questions and explore the background of Kentucky’s rock fences, the talent and skill of the fence masons, and the Irish and Scottish models they followed in their work. They also correct inaccurate popular perceptions about the fences and use census data and archival documents to identify the fence masons and where they worked. As the book reveals, the earliest settlers in Kentucky built dry-laid fences around eighteenth-century farmsteads, cemeteries, and mills. Fence building increased dramatically during the nineteenth century so that by the 1880s rock fences lined most roads and bounded pastures and farmyards throughout the Bluegrass. Farmers also built or commissioned rock fences in New England, the Nashville Basin, and the Texas hill country, but the Bluegrass may have had the most extensive collection of quarried rock fences in North America. This is the first book-length study on any American fence type. Filled with detailed fence descriptions, an extensive list of masons’ names, drawings, photographs, and a helpful glossary, it will appeal to folklorists, historians, geographers, architects, landscape architects, and masons, as well as general readers intrigued by Kentucky’s rock fences.
About the Author
Carolyn Murray-Wooley is an architectural historian, former executive director of the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation, and founder of the Dry Stone Conservancy. She has also written The Founding of Lexington, 1775- 1776, and coauthored Rock Fences of the Bluegrass with Karl Raitz. She lives and works in Lexington, Kentucky.
Karl Raitz is professor emeritus of geography at the University of Kentucky and author of Bourbon’s Backroads: A Journey through Kentucky’s Distilling Landscape. He is coeditor of The Great Valley Road of Virginia: Shenandoah Landscapes from Prehistory to the Present and coauthor of Rock Fences of the Bluegrass.
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