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#4 – The Haunted History of Burlington’s Oldest House
OCTOBER 2, 2026
The Joseph Graves House is the oldest standing building in Burlington and was built by Joseph Graves in 1814. Graves was born June 20, 1773 in Culpeper Co., Virginia. He moved to Kentucky with his family in about 1797. He married Malinda Watts, daughter of Johnson Watts and Susan Davis of Boone County on May 4, 1812. Graves became Sheriff in October 1820. His older brother, Absalom Graves, pastor of the Bullittsburg Baptist Church, was Clerk of the Courts for many years. Joseph Graves died April 22, 1836 and is buried in the Graves Cemetery near Hebron.
This building is more commonly known in recent times as Washington Square. Renovations have been made to update the house for a new use, but the core structure has remained intact. That doesn’t mean something…spooky…wasn’t stirred up. Over the years, restaurant employees have heard footsteps on the second floor and on the stairs to the second floor as they are working in the kitchen early in the morning. An old-fashioned bell, which is used when an order is ready, sometimes rings on its own as if a ghostly entity is hitting it. Past employees have also heard a young boy giggling behind them in the kitchen. Joseph and his wife, Malinda, did have a five-year-old son that died in 1815 after this house was built. Could this be their little boy heard giggling?
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#3 – National POW/MIA Recognition Day
SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
It’s National POW/MIA Recognition Day and we have a couple of interesting stories to share with you.
The first comes from the Korean War. Donald Wayne North of the First Cavalry Division was born in Constance on October 21, 1933. He enlisted in 1950 and served in the Fifth Medical Detachment. North was captured on September 6, 1951 and became a prisoner of war in the Changsong POW Camp 1, where conditions were so brutal it has been estimated that 500 Americans died over a three-month period.
He survived there for 24 months, being repatriated on August 21, 1953. He returned home at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, where his family, friends, representatives from Veterans of Foreign Wars and Boone Post 4 of the American Legion, Judge C. L. Cropper, and the county attorney greeted him. There was also a “motor parade” through Erlanger, Crescent Springs, and Constance.
In November of 1953, North was driving up from Fort Knox, since he was due back there after a 30-day leave and had three months left in the military before being eligible for discharge. One mile outside of Independence on Madison Pike, North’s car struck a telephone pole, leaving him with a skull fracture and internal injuries. He was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Elizabeth Hospital. North was awarded the Infantryman’s Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, and the Unit Citation Award. He is buried in Hebron Cemetery.
The second story is one we’ve told before but never gets old hearing the pure drive to survive when an Army pilot was shot down and presumed dead during World War II. Cornelius Reagan was a basketball star at Florence High School. In 1940, he enlisted into the U.S. Army Air Corps right after college. He was serving in the South Pacific when his plane was shot down on February 25, 1942, over the island of Java. Shortly after, the news of his death when his captors demanded he read propaganda to other prisoners over a public address system, Reagan refused and broke their equipment, bringing him a severe beating and sentence of hard labor was delivered to his mother, Bertha, via telegram.
After an official notification from the military and even an obituary placed in the paper, his mother quietly held out hope for her son’s return. Little did she know, she was right. Reagan had deployed from his plane and landed in rice paddy in Japanese-controlled Java. He was soon discovered by locals and turned over to the Japanese. In hopes of saving his life, he represented himself as an Irish Journalist. When his captors demanded he read propaganda to other prisoners over a public address system, Reagan refused and broke their equipment, bringing him a severe beating and sentence of hard labor. Soon, Reagan was moved to a harsh internment camp. More than three long years after he was shot down, the British forces arrived and Cornelius Reagan was liberated. It was on his 29th birthday, on October 5th, 1945, his mother got word that her son was alive and would return home. Cornelius Reagan was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal of Honor. He passed away at 95 years old and is buried with his wife in Arlington Cemetery.
#2 – Florence & Petersburg Schools
AUGUST 21, 2026
Are you ready to be taken back in time with some then and now photos? Schools in Boone County have had their fair share of changes. Over the decades, they went from one room schoolhouses to consolidated high schools. Changes in the education system meant changes in the school buildings themselves.
Florence, one of the bigger towns in the county, had its own high school for between 1911 and 1954. At the time, the only high school in the county was Burlington High School, which was quite a distance for students to travel who lived in Florence. Two rooms were added to Florence Elementary to house the high school students who could study there for two years. After the two years they would need to go to Burlington High School to complete their high school education. In 1913 Florence High School went to a four year program. In 1954 Florence High School closed. It was consolidated with the Burlington, New Haven and Hebron high schools to form the new Boone County High School, which opened its doors that fall. Today, the old Florence High School building is still a school and houses Rise Academy.
Consolidated graded schools, housing grades one to twelve under one roof, were built throughout the county in the 1900s, replacing the one- and two-room rural schools of an earlier era. The Petersburg Graded School was the best-preserved of these early consolidated schools. It served the county until 1986. Kelly Elementary School opened in the fall of 1986 replacing Petersburg Elementary. The building was torn down in 2004 and recently replaced by a new community center with a gym, firehouse, and the Chapin Memorial Library.
We have many yearbooks for several of the schools in Boone County, some dating back to the early 1910s! However, we still have missing years. So if you’re looking to get rid of any, contact us to see what we’re missing.
#1 – The Vest House
JULY 24, 2026
Our celebration continues with a new theme for our posts – Then and Now, where we will share photos from the past with a current image of the site today (whether the building is still standing or not). This property once belonged to Revolutionary War Patriot, George Vest. Vest was born in May of 1760. He enlisted in March 1776 in Virginia and fought for most of the war. His company fought against Lord Dunmore at Middlesex. He also fought against the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee. He was discharged in November 1776. The following March, Vest reenlisted as a Private. During this service, he was involved in battles against the Cherokee Indians and guarding the frontier. After 8 months, he was discharged.
In February of 1778, Vest reenlisted once again. This time, his company was assigned to the Army of George Rogers Clark. He served for another 3 years before getting sick and was discharged.
Vest first appears in Boone County in 1809, on the tax list. The following year, he is listed on the census. He built a home around 1840 on Walton-Verona Road in Verona, KY. He passed away on February 22, 1845. His house still stands today. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is used a vacation rental property.
This information was obtained from “Revolutionary War Soldiers of Boone County” by Anthony W. Frohlich.
