History, Holly Rood, and Barbeque Happenings

Holly Rood, also known as Clark Mansion, is one of the most his­toric homes in Clark County. Started in 1813 by James Clark (the 12^th Governor of Kentucky), it fol­lowed sim­ple lines of Federal style archi­tec­ture from his native Virginia. Upon com­ple­tion in 1814, the new house was named Holly Rood for the home of Mrs. Clark’s father. He had named his home in Virginia after the coun­try estate of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542−1587).

By the ear­ly 1970s, Holly Rood was home to the Winchester Board of Education. The Winchester schools merged with Clark County and relo­cat­ed to Lexington Avenue. Holly Rood was on the verge of immi­nent demo­li­tion. However, a small local cit­i­zen group stepped up to save the his­toric struc­ture. In 1974, with sup­port from the local gov­ern­ment, they formed the Clark County-Winchester Heritage Commission (CCWHC). Their mis­sion was to pro­tect and pro­mote the rich his­tor­i­cal lega­cy of Clark County and Winchester.

First and fore­most, the CCWHC sought to save Holly Rood. With a plan to pro­tect the site, list­ing the prop­er­ty on the National Register of Historic Places was accom­plished in May of the commission’s first year.

 After acquir­ing the prop­er­ty in September of 1976 and obtain­ing fund­ing from grants and oth­er sources, reha­bil­i­ta­tion and ren­o­va­tions began in 1977. With the exte­ri­or fin­ished, inte­ri­or work start­ed in June of 1979. Finally, com­plete and fur­nished with peri­od fur­ni­ture, an offi­cial open­ing was held in November 1980.

Here we are 49 years lat­er, and the CCWHC is oper­at­ing and main­tain­ing the his­toric struc­ture and pro­gram­ming for the ben­e­fit and enjoy­ment of the pub­lic. To sup­port these efforts, for the sev­enth year, a fundrais­er (“Pig Pickin’ for the Past”) will be held, with pro­ceeds going to CCWHC activ­i­ties and mis­sion. The date for this year’s event is September 27^th, 2025.

 An annu­al high­light since 2019, “Pig Pickin’ for the Past BBQ” is CCWHC’s most pop­u­lar fundrais­er held at the his­toric Beckner Street Home (28 Beckner St.), draw­ing fam­i­lies and his­to­ry lovers to enjoy live music, a silent auc­tion, and clas­sic bar­be­cue fare. BBQ will be pro­vid­ed by Pooh’s Queues and the Clark County Constables. 

But it’s more than just food. There will be Bluegrass Music by Raney & Maynard. Local favorite Ale-8-One will pro­vide bev­er­ages (maybe some Pawpaw). Attendees can place bids on silent auc­tion items from local donors and stay for the pre­sen­ta­tion of the Clark County Preservation Awards.

Why should you sup­port this event?

• Engagement Through Fun: The event attracts com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers who might not nor­mal­ly attend a Commission meet­ing but love deli­cious south­ern BBQ, and cre­ates a casu­al gate­way to her­itage aware­ness and support.
• Funding & Awareness: Revenue direct­ly sup­ports CCWHC’s ini­tia­tives from mark­er instal­la­tions to edu­ca­tion­al pro­gram­ming and recog­ni­tion of his­toric preservation.
• Showcasing Preservation Success: The Silent Auction and Heritage Awards encour­age par­tic­i­pa­tion and spot­light exem­plary local restora­tion projects.
• Building Partnerships: CCWHC col­lab­o­rates with ven­dors and incor­po­rates local busi­ness­es in events and spon­sor­ships, fos­ter­ing civic bonds across the community.

The suc­cess of this fundrais­ing event helps to ensure that the his­toric archi­tec­ture, cul­tur­al fab­ric, and envi­ron­ment of Clark County will con­tin­ue to ben­e­fit our com­mu­ni­ty for years to come.

PIG PICKIN FOR THE PAST
 September 27, 2025 @ 28 Beckner St. 5 ‑8 pm

Tickets are $15 per adult and $5 for chil­dren aged ten and under. Tickets are avail­able at the event.

Includes pulled pork BBQ sand­wich, coleslaw, baked beans, dessert, and drink.