Old Oscar Pepper Distillery, 7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles, Woodford County, KY

2016 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Entry
Significance: Labrot & Graham's Old Oscar Pepper Distillery is associated with the foundation of the bourbon distilling industry, a distinctly national spirit with its historic origins in Kentucky. Nearly all of the country's bourbon is distilled in Kentucky. The site retains much of the historic integrity of the distillery's architecture from both the pre- and post-Prohibition eras of the industry, as well as maintaining its rural location in Versailles, Kentucky. Many of the pre-Prohibition buildings are constructed of local Kentucky limestone, a common material in Kentucky vernacular architecture. However, the use of stone as a building material in the distillery industry is rare, and Labrot & Graham is the only one to actively use existing limestone structures today.

This is also the site of which bourbon distilling became a scientifically organized process. In the 1830s, Dr. James Crow was the chemist who used scientific instruments to test the properties of the bourbon, such as temperature and sugar content, to standardize the product and created the sour-mash method of bourbon distilling that is now a major component of the process.

Labrot & Graham highlights the evolution of the bourbon distilling industry from the traditional, small-scale copper still distilling to the mass-produced and highly-specialized process that it has become since the repeal of Prohibition. Unlike other historic Kentucky distilleries, Labrot & Graham has not been affected by suburban sprawl nor has it undergone significant rehabilitation and restoration projects.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2222
Survey number: HABS KY-161
Building/structure dates: 1838 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1885 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: after. 1890- before. 1895 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: after. 1865- before. 1870 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1933-1940 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1996 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 95001272