The Jacksonian Hotel

The Building That Once Stood at the Heart of Scottsville

Before the Allen County Public Library stood on the corner of Scottsville’s square, another building welcomed travelers, hosted community gatherings, and served meals to generations of local families.

 

For more than half a century, that building was known as the Jacksonian Hotel.

 

Three stories tall and built of brick, the Jacksonian was once one of the most recognizable landmarks in Scottsville. Its dining room became famous across the region for its Southern cooking, and its lobby served as a meeting place for visitors and residents alike.

But the story of the Jacksonian Hotel did not begin in 1919.

To understand its place in Scottsville’s history, we must go back to the earliest days of the county itself.

The First Settlers of Allen County

Long before Scottsville existed as a town, the land that would become Allen County was being settled by pioneers searching for farmland and opportunity.

The earliest settlers arrived around 1797, establishing homes in the area north and east of what would later become Scottsville. Among the early pioneer families were Joseph Ficklin, Toliver Craig, Henry Collins, and Daniel Monroe, who helped establish some of the first permanent settlements in the region.

 

These early settlers depended on nearby streams and fertile farmland for survival. By 1804, a mill had been constructed by Fred Carpenter, Ted Chambers, and Tom Oliver, providing an essential service for the growing community.

As the population increased, the Kentucky legislature created Allen County in 1815, forming it from portions of Barren and Warren counties. The county was named for Colonel John Allen, a Kentucky officer killed during the War of 1812.

Soon afterward, Scottsville was selected as the county seat, largely because of its location near the dependable Public Spring, which provided fresh water to travelers and settlers.

Scottsville quickly became an important stop along travel routes connecting Nashville with the interior of Kentucky.

And where travelers stopped, inns soon followed.

The Stagecoach Era Hotels

During the nineteenth century, Scottsville developed as a small but busy frontier town.

Stagecoaches traveling between Nashville and Louisville frequently passed through the square, bringing merchants, travelers, and news from outside the region.

 

To accommodate these travelers, taverns and inns were built around the square, offering lodging and meals.

One of these buildings was the Scottsville Hotel, which stood on the corner of the square for decades.
This hotel would eventually become the site where the Jacksonian Hotel was later constructed.

The Fire of 1918

In the early morning hours of May 2, 1918, disaster struck Scottsville.

The historic Scottsville Hotel caught fire around five o’clock in the morning while guests were still asleep inside the building.

Fifteen people were staying at the hotel at the time.

A Scottsville grocer named E. Ming rushed through the building knocking on doors to warn the guests that the hotel was burning. Thanks to his quick actions, everyone inside was able to escape.

But Ming himself nearly did not make it out.

After helping evacuate the building, he became trapped by smoke and was forced to jump from a first-floor window approximately fifteen feet to the ground, breaking a bone in his foot.

Several guests were injured while escaping the fire. One traveling salesman, Jewell Grissom of Bowling Green, slid down a post from the second floor to reach safety. Another traveler lost valuable sales samples that were destroyed in the blaze.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the Scottsville Hotel, the oldest structure in town, had been completely destroyed.

But the empty lot on the square would soon begin a new chapter.

The Jacksonian Rises

In 1919, construction began on a new hotel on the same site.

The new building was called the Jacksonian Hotel.

 

It was built during a time when Allen County was experiencing an oil boom, bringing workers, investors, and travelers to the area in search of opportunity.

The Jacksonian quickly became Scottsville’s primary hotel.

The building contained approximately 38 guest rooms with private baths, along with a spacious lobby, dining room, and kitchen facilities.

Visitors from across Kentucky and Tennessee passed through its doors.

For more than fifty years, the Jacksonian stood as one of the most prominent buildings on Scottsville’s square.

Inside the Jacksonian Hotel

Guests entering the Jacksonian stepped up from the sidewalk into a large lobby.

The reception desk stood straight ahead, where the hotel’s telephone switchboard was located behind the counter.

Comfortable chairs and couches were arranged on either side of the lobby, giving travelers a place to sit and relax.

The building had a distinctive V-shaped layout, which created an open area behind the hotel used for parking and deliveries.

From the lobby hallway:

• a pay phone sat along the left side

• the dining room and kitchen were located toward the right

• the living quarters of hotel managers were located toward the rear

The dining room itself was one of the most elegant spaces in town.

Crystal chandeliers made in Czechoslovakia hung from the ceiling. Mirrors lined the walls, and tall windows allowed fresh air to circulate through the room.

White tablecloths and decorative drapes created what one writer described as a Victorian atmosphere for dining.

The Dining Room That Made the Jacksonian Famous

If there was one thing people remembered most about the Jacksonian, it was the food.

The dining room served hearty Southern meals family-style.

 

Typical meals included:

• fried chicken
• country ham
• roast beef
• vegetables and slaw
• biscuits and cornbread
• milk, coffee, or sweet tea
• homemade pies and cakes

Travelers from Bowling Green, Nashville, and Louisville often stopped in Scottsville specifically to eat at the Jacksonian.

 

Its fried chicken dinners became especially famous.

Tillie Starks and the Jacksonian Kitchen

One of the most important people in the Jacksonian kitchen was Matilda “Tillie” Starks.

Starks began working at the hotel when she was
just fourteen years old and spent many years helping prepare the meals that made the Jacksonian dining room famous.

She later recalled that the fried chicken everyone talked about had no secret recipe.

“We didn’t have any recipe for it. Just flour, salt and pepper and cook it in a big old iron skillet.”

Starks became well known locally for her desserts as well, and several of her recipes were later published in local newspapers.

Recipes from the Jacksonian Kitchen

Several recipes associated with the Jacksonian kitchen were preserved through newspaper features and local cookbooks.

Among the dishes shared by Tillie Starks were:

• Marshmallow Cake

• Sweet Potato Coconut Pie

• Gingerbread

• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

These recipes reflect the kind of home-style Southern cooking that made the Jacksonian dining room a favorite gathering place for residents of Scottsville.

A Community Gathering Place

For many residents, the Jacksonian was far more than a hotel.

Local organizations regularly held meetings in its dining room, including:

 

• the Scottsville Rotary Club
• the Business and Professional Women’s Club
• the Scottsville Lions Club

Families gathered there for Sunday meals, and travelers passing through town found both lodging and hospitality under its roof.

At times, the hotel also served as a long-term residence for several elderly individuals who lived there year-round.

 

The Final Years

The Jacksonian remained an important part of life in Scottsville for more than fifty years.

But by the early 1970s, the aging building required significant repairs.

 

The hotel served its final meal in December 1972, and officially closed its doors on March 20, 1973.

One of the last events ever held in the dining room was a wedding reception for Ralph E. Baker and Marcia Lynn Harper in February of that year.

Later in 1973, the building was demolished.

The Library That Replaced It

Today, the site where the Jacksonian once stood is home to the Allen County Public Library.

The library opened its current building in 1977, continuing the tradition of serving the community from that same corner of the square.

 

For nearly two centuries, that corner of Scottsville has served travelers, residents, and readers alike.

The Jacksonian Lives On

Even though the Jacksonian Hotel is gone, its memory remains part of Scottsville’s story.

The town still celebrates the Jacksonian Festival, an annual event that honors the building that once stood on the square.

 

Old photographs, newspaper clippings, and family memories continue to preserve the story of the hotel and the people who worked there.

The Jacksonian may no longer stand in brick and mortar.

But it still lives in the history of Scottsville.

This article is part of the Scottsville Journal, a project of Scottsville Candle Company dedicated to documenting the history, landmarks, and stories that shaped Scottsville and Allen County.

Jacksonian Timeline

1835 — First hotel built on the site

1865 — Hotel destroyed by fire and rebuilt

May 1918 — Scottsville Hotel destroyed by fire

1919 — Jacksonian Hotel constructed

1973 — Jacksonian closes and is demolished

Historical Sources and References

Historical information for this article was compiled using the following sources:

 

• Allen County KYGenWeb historical archives
• historical newspaper articles
• community archives and photographs
• Allen County Public Library historical records
• WNKY News and Bowling Green Daily News coverage of the Jacksonian

Additional photographs and materials were provided through local archives and community contributions.