The Bledsoe County Historical and Genealogical Society was blindsided last month when a local commissioner suggested the historic Ross House should be sold or torn down. But now he and other local leaders have had a change of heart, and instead the county is rallying to support preservation efforts.
The issue first came up at a Jan. 22 meeting with the newly formed county commission committee assembled to study the feasibility of continuing to maintain the site on Frazier Street in Pikeville as a county property.
Bledsoe County Commissioner Johnny Mack Swafford had been looking at all county spending and wasteful costs. He had discussed the Ross House with County Mayor Gregg Ridley and believed it might be unnecessarily costing taxpayers money, The Bledsonian-Banner reported. Sell the house for money to use in developing other county property or tear it down for courthouse parking space, he suggested.