Mather's Mill
Our Family Farm
History of the Mill
The origins of Mather’s Mill Farm predate the year 1800. In 1798, one of the founding families of LaRue County, which was then part of Hardin County began operation of a grist mill on the south fork of the Nolin River, approximately 3 miles south of present-day Hodgenville.
In 1802 Richard Mather acquired some 15,000 acres of the larger 30,000 acre track. The holdings of Richard Mather stretched south to the Tanner Community, in an area sometimes known as the “Barrens” several miles south of the grist mill to some 15 to 20 miles north of present-day Elizabethtown, KY.
Into the 20th Century and Beyond
One of Richard Mather’s sons, Carey Mather, married Elizabeth, the daughter of Gabriel Kirkpatrick, owner of Kirkpatrick’s Mill December 15, 1841. They had 14 children and resided in a substantial brick residence erected close to the mill site which later became known as the Mather Mansion on a 60 acre portion of the original Richard Mather acreage through the 1930s.
In 1917, the approximately 60 acre farm passed into several hands before it was purchased back into the family by Madison and Mary Mather in 1949. Madison and Mary, after purchasing the farm, never moved into the old brick mansion as Madison had promised Mary a new home as they had spent many years living in other homes on tenant farms that were old and drafty. Madison and Mary began the construction of their new home in that they lived in the rest of their lives, and which is now part of the Mather’s Mill event venue.
