COVINGTON — Simon Kenton and the wide-open buffalo trail that became the congested Dixie Highway will never be forgotten.

        They're being painted on the floodwall to remind the Tristate of its roots for generations to come.

The new mural depicts George Rogers Clark, Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone meeting at the Ohio and Licking rivers. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Visible from downtown Cincinnati, the Roebling Murals at the Covington Riverfront will tell the story of the Kentucky city's colorful riverfront history, starting with the buffalo crossing the Ohio River.

        “Since before the time of Christ, the buffalo crossed the Ohio River at Covington heading for the salt springs to the south,” said Dr. Joseph Gastright, vice president of the Kenton County Historical Society.

        The buffalo formed a trail that went all around the Bluegrass, and that trail was the basis for many of today's roads, including U.S. 25, or Dixie Highway, and Interstate 75, he said.

        Internationally known muralist Robert Dafford is painting these images and many others depicting Kentucky history over the next few months. Mr. Dafford, who has painted more than 200 large-scale public works in the United States, Canada, Belgium and France, recently turned his attention to Covington's floodwall.

IF YOU GO

What: Unveiling of Roebling Murals at the Covington Riverfront.    Where: Floodwall at the foot of the Roebling Suspension Bridge.    When: 10:30 a.m. Oct. 18.    To donate: Forward Quest, c/o Roebling murals project, 50 E. RiverCenter Blvd., Covington, KY 41011.    Information: (859) 291-2020.

        During the next three to five years, the 46-year-old Louisiana native plans to create between 15 and 20 murals spanning 700 feet of Covington floodwall from the Suspension Bridge to just west of the floodwall's Madison Avenue opening, said Traci Griffin of the Legacy group created by Forward Quest, the organization sponsoring the public artwork.

        For the past six years, Mr. Dafford's colorful floodwall murals depicting Paducah's history have been a round-the-clock attraction in the up-and-coming western Kentucky arts community at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, local tourism officials say.

        “Any time of the day or night, you can go near the floodwall murals and see cars slowing down to take a look,” said Rosemarie Steele, marketing director of the Paducah Visitors Bureau. “It's very hard to put a dollar figure on the economic impact, but they're definitely a draw. I think the murals solidify the fact that we are an arts community.”

        This week, Mr. Dafford has taken a break from the Covington murals to juggle similar projects in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Camden, N.J., but he will be back at his concrete canvas after that.

        “The murals are colorful and exciting and different,” said Sheree Allgood, spokeswoman for the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I think people will be curious to see them. And yes, I think (the project) will bring visitors down to the riverfront.”

        Backers have raised about $120,000of the $700,000 needed, and they hope to raise another $200,000 to finish at least six murals next year, Ms. Griffin said.

        About 80 percent of the financing will come from foundations, public arts grants and in-kind contributions. So far, businesses and Thomas More College have donated things from s food and lodging for the artists to scaffolding.

        The other completed panel depicts key figures preparing for what's been called the last battle of the Revolutionary War, in 1782.

        In retaliation for the Battle of Blue Licks — in which Shawnee Indians had attacked Kentuckians — soldiers met at The Point, an area of high ground now in the Licking Riverside Historic Neighborhood, before heading to the Little Miami River where the Shawnee lived.

        George Rogers Clark, an American frontiersman and a Revolutionary War leader, is shown in military uniform. Next to him is Simon Kenton, the Kentucky pioneer, scout and Indian fighter for whom Kenton County was named; frontiersman Daniel Boone; Benjamin Logan, who was a militia commander; and a scout.

        A third yet-to-be completed panel will show an 18th-century ferry crossing at the present-day Mike Fink restaurant and what The Point looked like in 1750, Dr. Gastright said.

        Although sponsors of the project are still developing the complete storyline, there will be special emphasis on the Roebling Suspension Bridge, which served as the prototype for New York's Brooklyn Bridge.

        Besides serving as the catalyst for the development of a much-discussed park along Northern Kentucky's riverfront, backers of the murals predict the project will generate untold numbers of tourists who will patronize riverfront restaurants and motels.

        “In Paducah, they'll tell you that there's been a real spillover to the motels and the restaurants,” Ms. Griffin said. “We're really encouraged by that. We think the local merchant community is going to benefit as well.”

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