252 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



inally in 1797 into 264 one-acre lots, of which compara- 

 tively few had been sold at the time of which we speak, 

 though nominal prices were asked and a few had been 

 given away to encourage settlement. 6 Audubon is re- 

 corded as having purchased four one-acre lots from the 

 town, two in 1813 and two in the following year, while 

 a long lease was taken upon land adjacent to the river 

 where later rose his famous mill. 7 



The old Audubon store for general merchandise, built 

 of hewn logs, in a single story, stood at the corner of 

 Main and Mill Streets (now Second Street), fronting 

 the latter, at a point where a modern departmental 

 establishment has since risen. Adjoining this primitive 

 store, on the main street, was his log dwelling, 8 of one 

 and a half stories, with a square porch at the entrance. 

 Immediately opposite, on the two-acre strip of land pur- 

 chased in 1814, lay a small pond which Audubon is 

 said to have stocked with turtles in order to gratify his 

 special fondness for this delicacy. 



Audubon's winning manners made him a popular 



6 In 1819, the year of Audubon's departure, 129 town lots had been 

 sold, while 29 had been given to privileged persons or to prospective 

 settlers. 



7 According to the town records, as quoted by Starling, on December 

 22, 1813, Audubon purchased lots numbers 95 and 96, which were one- 

 half of the square lying on the west side of Third Street and between 

 Green and Elm Streets, from General Samuel Hopkins, agent of the 

 Messrs. Richard Henderson & Company; on September 3, 1814, he bought 

 lots numbers 91 and 92, or one-half of the square on the west side of 

 Second Street, between Green and Elm. The mill site on the Ohio River 

 was a part of the land given to Henderson by the Transylvania Com- 

 pany, the original owners of a large part of Kentucky; this site was 

 leased for 99 years to J. J. Audubon, was sold and resold, but reverted 

 to the city of Henderson in 1915. In the latter year the project was 

 broached of obtaining the original mill site, together with adjoining prop- 

 erty along the river, and converting the whole into a public park dedicated 

 to Audubon. 



* At a somewhat later time the naturalist occupied a one-story frame 

 house, built in 1814, which stood at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets; 

 see Starling, op. cit. 



