Oldham County 14 Painting

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	The Founding of Harmony Landing

			A Painting by Richard Luce


	36 x 64, oil on canvas

This painting by Oldham County resident Richard Luce depicts the founding of Harmony Landing after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Early on, there was a tremendous amount of travel back and forth by ferry between Harmony Landing and Charlestown Landing on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. McDonald’s Ferry is said to have operated as far back as 1790. McDonald’s Crossing was known as the safest route over the river to the Indiana Territory.

Captain Francis Snowden, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland and a descendant of a prominent English family, settled in Kentucky after the Revolutionary War. Snowden had encouraged a group of like-minded men to travel with him down the Ohio River by flatboat from Pittsburgh. Seven families came from the east to Harmony Landing prior to 1800 to help settle the new land the Native Americans (Eastern Woodland Indians) still called home. The settlers chose the name “harmony Landing” for the fact that for the first time in many long weeks they experienced a day of peace and harmony from danger on the day that they landed.

Captain Snowden selected 450 acres one half mile from present day Harmony Landing, and settled with his wife, son Richard and slaves to cultivate a farm. Eventually Captain Snowden built a brick home, the finest in the growing community. It is possible that in the home’s infancy, it served as a fort along the river front for early settlers who were continually harassed by marauding Indians, even though the war had ended. A Presbyterian Church was organized in the area around 1806 of which Captain and Mrs. Snowden were active members. They also helped organize The Academy, a neighborhood school for children in the area. A post office was added in 1833.

Captain and Mrs. Snowden were laid to rest in the family cemetery on their property. Their home is now the Harmony Landing Country Club. It is said that in the newel post of their grand stairway, Captain Snowden found the perfect spot for a long treasured souvenir - the button from the military coat of General George Washington.


	Newsreel of the Presentation




	Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele with artist Richard Luce. The painting will hang in the Oldham County Fiscal Court building. Prints will be available at the Oldham County Historical Society.