Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Poster |
Title |
Kentucky Military Institute |
Catalog Number |
2004.41.629 |
Creator |
Strobridge & CO. Lith. Cincinnati, O. |
Date |
1850 |
Material(s) |
Paper |
Dimensions |
H-20 W-25.375 inches |
Description |
This print is titled "Kentucky Military Institute, Chartered in 1846.--- Six Miles from Frankfort, KY." with "Col. R.T.P. Allen, Sup't." It depicts the front of the Kentucky Military Institute from about the year 1850. The center piece of the print is a large two story stone building with columns on the front of it and a dome on top with the American flag flying on top of that. To the left of that are what looks like barracks and classroom buildings. There are trees and bushes in the front and to the right side of the main building with several walkways running through the grass. There is a woman standing on a porch on the right side of the main building with a little girl running around on a path in front of her. There is also another woman in front of the main building standing with two men in civilian clothing talking to each other to the left of the main building. In front of the courtyard there is a stone wall and in front of that is a group of cadets lined up with their rifles at their shoulders. There is a cannon to the left of the line with cadets standing around it and two officers standing in front of the cadets. In the front of them are several bushes. |
Notes |
K.M.I. was founded is 1845 by Col Robert T.P. Allen, and chartered in 1846. Allen was a West Point graduate, veteran of the Seminole War, and a Methodist minister. The school was located at the old Franklin Springs, Farmdale, six miles from Frankfort on the Frankfort and Harrodsburg turnpike, until 1896 when it was moved to Lyndon, KY, near Louisville. For a few years before and after the War Between the States, the Kentucky Conference of Methodists gave some financial support. For a short period before the war, Col. E.W. Morgan was head of the school. It was closed during the war years. Superintendents of the school after the war were Col. Robert D. Allen, son of the founder, 1874-1888; Maj. David F. Boyd, 1888-1893; Col. C.W. fowler, 1896-1919; Col. C.W. Fowler, 1896-1919; Col. Edmund L. Gruber, 1919-1920;Col. Sheldon E. Ford, 1920-1955. KMI was the third military school to be founded after West Point, and is now the oldest private military school in the United States. The school was closed from 1893-1896. One history gives R.T.P. Allen as head up to 1874, except for 1848, and Morgan period of 1855-1861. In the early 1800's the property near Frankfort was owned by a man named Scanlan, and the springs he founded were first known as Scaalan Springs. It was the first health and pleasure resort west of the Alleghenies. In 1893 (or 1896?) Dr. John Q.A. Stewart acquired the property an established the Stewart Home Training School for Children. R.T.P. Allen started the Bastrop Mil. Inst. in Texas in 1857 and ran it, except for 2 years during the war, until 1865, when he returned to KY, repurchased K.M.I., and conducted it until 1874, giving place at that time to his son. He had been professor of math and Civil Engr. at Transylvania 1841-45. The son was educated at KMI and Univ. of Lou. R.T.P. Allen the great-great grandfather of A.T. Bishop, Jr. |
Collection |
Martin F. Schmidt Collection |
People |
Allen, Col. R.T.P. |
Subjects |
Military education Military flags Military training Military schools Buildings Cadets Officers, Military Trees Cannons Columns Domes Stone buildings Barracks |
Search Terms |
Kentucky Military Institute (KMI) |