Future Visitor Center
Under Construction
A brief history: In 1921, Virginia Creasey married Howard Mahan and were given Hill O’ Content Farm as a wedding gift by Virginia’s parents.
Virginia became well known for breeding “stalwart colts and mares of famous bloodlines.” Her most cherished horse, Bob Boy, brought fame for winning 22 consecutive blue ribbons.
As they did not have children, in 1975, they donated their farm to the community by forming a non-profit, Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve.
In 1981, only six years after Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve was founded, Howard Mahan and the Board of Directors made the decision to invite the Mahan Branch of the Oldham County Library to have a home in Creasey’s old dairy barn.
We’ve recently discovered the barn was built in 1828 out of locally harvested tulip poplar logs and limestone.
Between 1981 to 1982, Creasey Mahan retrofitted the barn by adding steel beams to the upper floor to support the extra weight of books and added built-in wooden shelves.
In 1983, 41 years ago, the Mahan Branch opened with much fanfare. The structure has been well used and favored by thousands of patrons.
A few years ago, the library deemed the space as being too small, at 4,631 square feet, to meet their future needs. In November 2024, the library moved, the library moved into a new ten-million-dollar structure with 15,000 square feet. They opened in January 2025.
Creasey Mahan’s Board and Staff, along with suggestions from the community, determined the best use for our beloved building is to re-envision it as a much-needed Visitor Center and Education Annex. The barn’s location is perfect, as it is the first building encountered when entering Creasey’s Main Entrance and a natural first stop.
The historic nature of the dairy barn influenced transforming the upper floor into a Visitor Center. The vision is to reveal the beams and barn wood and original structure that have been hidden all these years, and add large windows overlooking our rolling hills and beautiful grounds. We will effectively “raise the roof” to create the sense of more space and add visual impact. It will be very inviting!
As visible from the photos below, we are revealing the original barn structure! This will be a true asset to our community.
Through support from generous foundations, grants, and visitor donations, we have raised enough seed money to cover the initial “demo” phase that we are calling a “treasure hunt.” It has revealed two-foot-thick limestone walls, large beams and timbers, and the original tongue-and-groove pine floorboards. We are proceeding very carefully, as our plan is to restore as many historic features as possible.
The lower floor demo revealed the steel beams (rust colored) added in the 1970s, along with large wood timbers and hand-hewn beams. Also notable are the two-foot-thick stone walls.
The Visitor Center level will be expansive and have plenty of natural light with large windows overlooking our scenic location. We plan on having a gift shop area, comfortable seating, gathering areas for tour groups, and a video presentation section.
The Education Annex (lower level) will be used as a multi-purpose space providing offices, meeting rooms, and classrooms for field trips and school programs.
To prepare the building for its next usage, the structure requires substantive upgrades. New restrooms will be added to both floors. A complete renovation is required
All of us at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve would appreciate your support to help make this possible!
The projected completion date is Spring-Summer 2026. Naming opportunities are available.