Annotation:Fontaine's Ferry

Back to 

 FONTAINE'S FERRY. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB'. A Kentucky piece from Darley Fulks (1896-1990, Wolfe County), recorded by John Harrod in 1977. Captain Aaron Fontaine's Ohio River landing and estate were known as Fontaine's Ferry, after he purchased the property in 1814. Fontaine had been a Virginia militiaman, and he, his 2nd wife Elizabeth Thurston, and their twenty-six children from their combined families developed the estate. In 1887 the property was sold and a hotel, bandstand, outdoor restaurant and a world-class bicycle racetrack were built. This was later developed into a large scale amusement park which opened in 1905 as Fontaine Ferry Park. It was heavily damaged in the race riots of 1969, and sputtered along under new names until it finally closed in 1975. The is land now part of Louisville's greenland park system.  Source for notated version: Darley Fulks [Milliner & Koken].  Printed sources: Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 210.  Recorded sources:

Back to