The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Walter H. Kiser Drawings Collection, circa 1934–1942

Title

Subject

Dwellings

Sketches

Louisville (Ky.)

Bardstown (Ky.)

Description

Walter H. Kiser (1902-1980) was an artist born in New Albany, Indiana. After graduating from New Albany High School, he was awarded a scholarship at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana. Later he studied under Paul Plaschke at the Louisville Art Academy in Louisville, Kentucky. Kiser is known for his ink drawings of interior and exterior views of regional historic buildings in Indiana and Kentucky. From 1934 to 1942 Kiser ran a weekly column, "The Neighborhood Sketches" in The Louisville Times; these were later compiled in a book, Historic Houses, published by the Kentucky Library in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This gallery features selected pen and ink drawings from The Filson’s Walter H. Kiser Drawings Collection [Mss. A K61].

Creator

Kiser, Walter H.

Source

Mss. A K61, Walter H. Kiser Drawings Collection, The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky

Publisher

The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky

Date

circa 1934–1942

Rights

Property rights in the collection belong to The Filson Historical Society. The Filson Historical Society can provide high-resolution scans of original source materials from its holdings for non-commercial and commercial use. To learn about this process, visit https://filsonhistorical.org/collections/order-reproductions/

Type

Collection

Identifier

Mss. A K61

Coverage

20th century

1930s

1940s

Collection Items

Robert L. Bayne House

The description on the back of the sketch reads "Home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bayne near Shelbyville, KY"
Davis House

The Davis House, more commonly known today as Davis Tavern, was built by William White, the surveyor of Middletown, in eastern Jefferson County. By 1820 the home was purchased by Abraham Ramsey who modified the house into a tavern. In 1841 Susan B. Davis purchased the home and later passed the home to her daughter Susannah Brown, whose husband, Abell Brown, was granted a tavern license. Hattie Brown and her husband, Dr. Luther Paris Wetherby, inherited the tavern, and eventually converted the tavern into apartments. The structure still stands today, and is now used as the Middletown city hall.
Moremen's Villa (now Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing)

Built in 1837 by Gabriel Farnsley (1800-1849), Moremen's Villa, now known as Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing is one of the last remaining nineteenth-century houses in southwestern Jefferson County. The house stands at the center of more than 300-acre landmark property on the banks of the Ohio River.
Federal Hill "My Old Kentucky Home"

Federal Hill, the home of John Rowan, jurist and congressman, is located in Bardstown, Kentucky. Construction of the Georgian-style mansion began in 1795 and was completed in 1818. Undocumented legend maintains that the house may have been inspiration for Stephen Foster’s song, “My Old Kentucky Home,” published in 1852.