McBrayer-Clark House
a.k.a. Champ Clark House
N of Lawrenceburg on KY 326, Lawrenceburg, KYThe Stone House was the boyhood home of James Beauchamp (Champ) Clark, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 1911-1919, and Democratic contender for the Presidential nomination in 1912. It is also thought to be one of the oldest buildings in Anderson County, having been erected prior to 1792 when Kentucky was still a part of Virginia. One of only three stone houses still standing in Anderson County, its almost perfect stone walls reveals the skill of early masons. It has been featured in numerous articles dealing with stone structures and in publications regarding the life of Champ Clark, who lived here as a boy.
James Beauchamp (Champ) Clark (1850-1921) was born nearby. He attended the University of Kentucky, taught school in Anderson County (1870-1871), and graduated from Bethany College, West Virginia in 1873. . For a year. (1873-1874) he was the President of Marshall College in Huntington, West Virginia, the first normal school in the state. He studied law at the Cincinnati Law School, then settled in Missouri where he became a city attorney and newspaper editor before turning to politics, where he represented Missouri in the U.S. Congress for 24 years. He led the defeat of Cannonism, control of the House by the Speaker, then was chosen to be Speaker of the House and served from 1911 to 1919. In 1912 he became a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President. In the convention, he was ahead of Woodrow Wilson until the fourteenth ballot when he lost William Jenning Bryan's support. He died in 1921 at the age of 71.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.