Elizabethtown
back toHardin County


Hardin County was 1st settled on the river and  Pioneers started coming after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  The same year , this area was ceeded to the Undited States by the Indians.
Most of the settlers were the young sons of those who 1st entered Kentucky and Tennesssee.  Germans came from Pennsylvania ad New York and the Scotch Irish, from the Carolinas and Virginia.
One of whom was James McFarlan in about 1804. 
Elizabethtown bears his wife's name.  Early on he worked for roads and built a tavern which is known today as the Rose Hotel.  It still stands today as a wonderful reminder of our early American history.
                 
                     the rose hotel                                                    rose hotel                                                   the rose hotel gazebo
 
In December 1972, the Rose Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  It has since been fully restored and in full operation.
It's a beautiful treasure and I had the pleaure of receiving a tour  of it.
 Several generations ran this Hotel until Mrs. Sarah Rose purchased it in 1890 from James McFarlan the second, after having run things for him for 6 yrs.
She has operated it for 55 yrs then was later purchased by Mrs. Gullet.
 In 1988 the state of Illinois purchased it from the Gullet family and  then it was renovated .

7/15/06  written by Deanna Heneghan