James Paxton House
Old Washington, KY, near Maysville

Another short hike brought us to the house of James Paxton, abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad. John Paxton, an attorney and inn owner, ran a nineteenth century hotel, catering in part to all the slave sellers and buyers flocking into the Washington area. Unknown to his guests, Mr. Paxton's house served, at least for a time, as a hideout for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad. Several narrow and carefully hidden staircases have been recently discovered in renovation projects in the house, leading some to conclude that Paxton was another "conductor" of escaped slaves. Just a few hundred yards behind the Paxton Inn is the family home of Chief Justice John Marshall, still owned by descendants of the most famous Supreme Court Chief Justice in the first half of the nineteenth century.