Episode 45
Let’s take a break from our daily routines and visit McConnel Springs Park to relax and see some beautiful sights on the grounds where Lexington was named, and the first settlement built.
Here’s a brief history from their website:
“In June 1775, a pioneer from Pennsylvania named William McConnell, his brother Francis McConnell, and their fellow frontiersmen were exploring the wilderness of the Virginia territory known as Kentucky. Like many other Scots Irish settlers of the time, they were interested in acquiring land and improving their family circumstances. As they surveyed and mapped the land around the forks of the Elkhorn Creek, they build crude improvements that allowed them to stake claims to the land under the laws of Virginia at that time. William McConnell’s claim included the land around a “sinking spring” where the party had set up camp. It was at this encampment that the explorers received word from nearby Fort Boonesborough that the first battles of the American Revolution had been fought April 19, 1775, in Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts. In honor of this event, the group named their future settlement “Lexington”. The ensuing years were marked by raids and invasions by the British & Indians, but the influx of settlers from the East continued. In 1779 a permanent blockhouse was built, and in 1780 Lexington was named seat of Fayette County, Virginia, and in 1782 the town was chartered. Kentucky then became the 15th state to join the union in 1792.”
That was from their website.
Today twenty-six acres have been preserved and is a protected sanctuary.
For a few years the site was an industrial dumping space. In the early 1990s debris was removed and the land was placed into the city park system. The park opened to the public in 1994.
A main feature is called Karst Topography which includes artesian springs where water sinks and rises through cracks in the limestone. One place where it rises is named the Boils. It looks like the water is boiling because of the pressure pushing it above ground. Another water feature is called the Blue Hole. It’s fifteen feet deep, giving it a blue color. There is also a beautiful wetland pond, and a rain garden.
Bring your binoculars.
You might see White Tail deer, raccoons, red fox, grey squirrels, mink, snakes, bats, turtles, bees, ground hogs, and many types of birds and plants.
The nature center hosts educational workshops about topics around the Bluegrass Region such as: animals, geology, habitats, insects, plants, water, and early pioneer history.
They’re located in Northwest Lexington inside New Circle Road at 416 Rebman Lane off Old Frankfort Pike. When you turn off Old Frankfort Pike on to McConnell Springs Road, you might think, “really! How can there be a twenty-six-acre park back here?”
Turn left onto Cahill Drive and Right onto Rebman Lane. Then you cannot miss it. There will be the beautiful Visitors Center and free parking.
They’re open year-round every day from dawn to dusk.
Go to relax, walk, and to take an out-of-town guest.
McConnell Springs Park WEBSITE
Pictures and Video from Wednesday March 13, 2024
