Batchelors Rest

Bachelor's Rest is in the southeastern part of Pendleton County north of Oakland.

At one point in time, the town of Bachelor's Rest was a 'happenin' place' with three churches, two stores, an ice house, a livery, a doctor's office , a blacksmith, a milliner and a hotel--Bachelors Rest.

Situated near Little Willow Creek, about the halfway mark between Milford and Falmouth, Bachelors Rest was a stop on the stagecoach route. During its busiest years, the hotel, Bachelors Rest, was home to single men, bachelors who traveled to work short-time jobs.

In those times, you really only had three ways to get around: it was overland so any kind of water travel was out; you walked, you rode a horse or (if you had the extra money) you took the stagecoach. There weren't any trains near the town and automobiles like Henry Ford's "Tin Lizzy" were unheard of yet.

In a 2007 article in The Lexington Herald-Leader, they note that there are only two bachelors in town and one of them was in his nineties. A 21st century look at Bachelors Rest gives you no inkling as to just how busy this place once was.

The Crawford family was the first to settle in what would become Bachelors Rest. Soon after came the Powells, the Kings and the Johnsons. The Browning family settled there after the Civil War.
Now there are only two families, the Oakland Christian Church (which holds two services every Sunday), the crossroads and a name: Bachelors Rest.

by Jim Deaton