An Ideal Place to Call Home
Published May 08, 2009
With a healthy dose of history, plus abundant parkland, educational opportunities and a smorgasbord of festivals, Madison County is a place where residents can be as active as they like.
Places to live include college cities Berea and Richmond, smaller towns, and rural areas known for their Bluegrass Country grandeur.
From the mid-19th century, when the Rev. John Fee established Berea and founded a one-room school that became Berea College, the community and the college have enjoyed strong ties. Today, Berea takes pride in its status as the officially proclaimed Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky.
Richmond is older, having been founded in 1798. It is not only the home of Eastern Kentucky University, but it’s also the Madison County seat and the largest city in the county. The historic commercial district near the courthouse has been hailed as one of Kentucky’s finest examples of downtown restoration and revitalization.
Green Space Galore
For history buffs, there’s also much to see and learn about the Civil War Battle of Richmond, in which the Confederate Army won a decisive victory in August 1862.
Battlefield Park, the site of that confrontation, is the star of the Madison County parks system, offering visitors a step back into history along walking trails where troops once marched.
Richmond and Berea also have plenty of green space.
“Battlefield preservation really didn’t start here until 2001,” says Phillip Seyfrit, director of Parks & Historical Properties in Madison County. Since 2001, “we’ve saved over 600 acres, opened a visitors center and a park, and added walking trails and interpretive signs.
“We’ve had great community support,” Seyfrit continues. “People feel like this is something worth saving.”
Other Madison County parks include Union City Park, Kirksville Park and White Hall Lake.
In Berea, Memorial Park – the city’s oldest – has picnic shelters and playgrounds and is a popular destination, says Maggy Kriebel, director of the Berea Parks & Recreation Department.
The 38-acre Berea City Park has a swimming pool, baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, walking trail, picnic shelter, horseshoe pits and sand volleyball court. City Park is undergoing a $2.3 million expansion, scheduled for completion in spring 2009.
Richmond has half a dozen parks, including the 600-acre Lake Reba Recreation Complex. All of them are well used, says Erin Moore, assistant director of the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We offer so many diverse activities for all ages,” Moore continues. “We offer things for the young, old and everyone in between.”
As for festivals and other events, they are held throughout the county and throughout the year, with the Russell Acton Folk Center in Berea one prime spot.
“The most rewarding part of this position,” Kriebel says, “is definitely being able to have a positive impact on the lives of so many people – to be able to provide programs, activities and facilities and places where people of all ages can go.”
Story by Anne Gillem
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