This brick, stately Federal style home on a high knoll was constructed around 1811 by Adam Rogers, and was his family’s home during the Battle of Richmond.  As well as the Rogers dwelling, it served as a roadside inn for many years.

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The residence was originally four rooms with a center passageway/stairway.  The kitchen was detached directly behind the house, which was common for the time.  It is safe to assume  that other out buildings, including slave quarters were also on the property, but those locations have been lost to history.  The Rogers family owned several hundred acres on both sides of the Old State Road, which ran in front of the house fairly close to where Battlefield Memorial Highway (US 25/421) lies today.  The 1860 census shows the Rogers Family owning over 20 slaves.

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For several weeks, the house witnessed much military activity on the Old State Road prior to the Battle of Richmond.  Fighting on August 29th, 1862, took place several hundred yards north of  the house, and Federal units bivouacked in and around this area. It is believed that Federal Brig. Gen. Mahlon Manson used this house as his headquarters.  

           

On August 30th, the house was 700/1000 yards north of the original Federal line.  The 12th and 66th Indiana Infantry Regiments were positioned 100/150 yards south of the house to stabilize the crumbling Federal line near Mt. Zion Church.   The Federals briefly rallied here during a lull in the battle.  The Federals re-organized and fell back approx. one half a mile to the intersection of the Old State Road and Duncannon Road, where the second phase of the battle was fought in the early afternoon.  This area is well within sight of the Rogers House.  The Rogers House was literally surrounded by some of the most intense fighting during the Civil War in Kentucky.  

 

The Rogers House served as a hospital for several weeks after the battle, hosting troops from both sides.  There are several accounts of the dead, wounded and dying in and around the Rogers House.  Some of the still visible brick repair on the south side of the home may have been a result of Confederate artillery fire, but this is not for certain.

 

Adam Rogers, the original owner, died in 1866, and the property passed out of the family.

 

The property went through a succession of owners until the early part of the 1940s when the U.S. government purchased the property as part of the Blue Grass Army Depot.  For many years, the home was designated as Quarters 29, and served as the depot commander’s residence.

 

In 2000, the U.S. Army closed the Rogers House and it sat vacant for several years.  In 2005, citing the home’s historical significance, the Army de-accessed the property to the Madison County Fiscal Court, which completely renovated the structure.  The Battle of Richmond Visitors Center opened to the public in October 2008.