The Boone County Public Library is launching a recurring local history series on Friday, July 24, pairing archival photographs with present-day images of county landmarks. The first installment features an 1842 Greek Revival house in Verona tied to a teenage Revolutionary War enlistee.
The series, called "Then & Now," appears on the library's BCPL Undiscovered blog and is authored by Liza Pruiksma, the library's local history specialist. Each post will show a historic photo alongside a current image of the same site, whether the building still stands or not.
The George Vest House
The debut entry spotlights the George Vest House at 13815 Walton-Verona Road in Verona. The two-story, five-bay sandstone house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000. The BCPL Archive and History Center calls it "one of the most stylish and best-preserved Greek Revival buildings in Boone County."
George Vest was born in May 1760 and enlisted in Virginia in March 1776, before his 16th birthday. He served multiple terms during the Revolutionary War, including a stint under George Rogers Clark's army beginning in 1778, before illness ended his service. Vest first appeared on Boone County tax rolls in 1809. The Vest family built the home around 1842, according to the National Register nomination. George Vest died Feb. 22, 1845.
The house still stands. It sits on the property of Verona Vineyards and is used as a vacation rental, according to the library's blog post. Pruiksma drew the historical details from Anthony W. Frohlich's book "Revolutionary War Soldiers of Boone County."
Part of a bigger anniversary effort
The "Then & Now" series is part of the library's broader America250KY programming, a statewide initiative led by the Kentucky Historical Society to mark the nation's 250th anniversary. The library received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and additional funding from the Kentucky Arts Council to support its anniversary projects.
Pruiksma also led the library's related "Patriots, Pioneers & Places That Transformed the County" outdoor history walk, a 15-panel exhibit at the Main Library in Burlington that opened June 28. Speaking about that project in a June 25 WVXU interview, Pruiksma described its scope: "We have from pre-history through the Revolutionary War with the Patriots, through the Civil War, highlighting enslaved peoples, and then into a little bit more modern times, because we talk about river towns like Petersburg and Rabbit Hash."
Boone County Public Library Executive Director Carrie Herrmann said in a June 23 news release that the anniversary projects "create new opportunities for residents and visitors to engage with history in a meaningful way."
What's next
The blog has not announced a date for the second "Then & Now" installment but invites readers to check back. Additional Boone County history resources are available through the library's Recollect digital archive at archive.bcplhistory.org.
Upcoming community events
- Friday, July 24 — "Then & Now" series launches on the BCPL Undiscovered blog at bcplundiscovered.org
- Ongoing — "Patriots, Pioneers & Places That Transformed the County" outdoor history walk, Main Library, 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington
