Breakfast with Mr. Vance, Bowling Green (KY)

Sunday 8 October, the Clark party sat out early and eat breakfast at Mr. Vance’s Tavern, today’s corner of Main and 10^th, AKA College Street, Bowling Green, KY. The house rating was good but there was no comment on the quality of the food, costing $1.75.

Mr. Vance is described in an 1835 travel journal as weighing 393 pounds, the exact weight is interesting if not questionable. The article also described him as having the gait of an elephant. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Mr. Vance’s Tavern was a central meeting location and used for religious service for Bowling Green’s population of 29 whites and 14 slaves, in 1809. By 1810, the census reported 154 white people. The tavern, located at the corner of College and Main Street near the Court House and Jail, near today’s Fountain Square Park in Bowling Green.

Fountain Square, Bowling Green, KY

Courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Courtesy: https://www.wku.edu/kentuckymuseum/

Fountain Square Park was created in the 1870s from the old courthouse square. The surrounding streets—Main, Plain, Bridge, 10th/College—have remained central to the city’s layout and identity. These names reflect both the city’s early development and its preservation of historic landmarks.

If you are navigating the area, Main Street, Plain Street, Bridge Street, 10th Street (College Street), and the Park/Frozen Row are the primary public square street names to know for Fountain Square Park.

Early Plat for Bowling Green, KY- Fountain Square remains in the same location.

Courtesy: Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University

For several days the Clark party had been traveling through the region where the Great Revival of 1800, started at the near-by Red River Meeting House, creating an ecclesiastical storm that eventually raged through the Nation. ⁽³⁾ Local church history indicates that Mr. Vance was not sympathetic to the church meetings in his tavern and rang a bell to interrupt the services. Clark did not indicate that this disruption took place during the breakfast or that his Enlightenment View of the World conflicted with the regional religious excitement.

Courtesy: KentuckyFaithTrail.com

Courtesy: Kentucky Historical Sign data base

Leaving Bowling Green and heading north required the crossing of the Barren River at the Lawless Ferry, near the present-day I-65 bridge. ⁽⁴⁾

Traveling approximately 23 miles, the Clarks arrive at the Dripping Springs near Sunset. They met several people with their property headed to Louisiana. William Clark was meeting people migrating to cheap productive land with bright business opportunities in the Louisiana Territory. A land stampede, gripping the Nation, referred to as “Louisiana Fever”. At this point they were within 8 miles of the Mammoth Cave and were truly in “Cave Country” ⁽⁵⁾

Mammoth Cave National Park

Courtesy: Kentucky Library and Museum, Western Kentucky University. Date unknown.

In 1839, William Clark’s nephew Dr. John Croghan, the son of Lucy Clark and William Croghan, purchased Mammoth Cave as an investment and potential treatment center for consumption, Tuberculous. While the medical aspects of the investment did not turn out as envisioned, the tourism possibilities flourished. Dr. Croghan promoted Mammoth Cave tourism and built a new road leading directly the hotel. He enlarged the hotel which was near the cave entrance. ⁽⁶⁾ A significant part of the cave tourism development, came from exploration and mapping conducted by Stephen Bishop, an enslaved servant of Dr. Croghan. Many of the present-day cave routes were found, named, and mapped by Stephen. During January 1842, Stephen was at Locust Grove drawing and inking his cave map, published in 1845^{. (7) (8)}