No Destination: Hampton House

The Hampton House in Frankfort

Located at 101 West Main Street in Frankfort sits the Hampton House which is the city's oldest surviving stone house in the city. It was built sometime before 1840 by John Hampton; the Walking Tour of Frankfort points to the erection of the home to be in 1815.  It is made of "patterned river limestone with jack arches over both the windows and doors."

Hampton and his family operated a number of taverns in the area, receiving their first licenses around 1818. The home was enlarged around 1840 and was used as a boarding house in the 1850s.

In 1879, the Franklin County sheriff, Col. H.P. Williams, lived here and on at least one occasion entertained Judge John Elliot of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Col. Buford of Henry County stopped by during this visit and invited J. Elliott to go hunting with him. The Judge declined the invitation. Buford then invited the Judge for a drink; the judge again declined.

So Col. Buford shot and killed Judge Elliott. Buford later said that he shot the Judge because of a decision rendered by J. Elliott against Buford's sister in the amount of $20,000. Buford was tried in Owen County, but was acquitted following an insanity plea. Held in Anchorage, Ky., Buford escaped to Indiana and could not be extradited due to weak extradition laws at the time.