When leaving from the parking area to the welcome center, visitors can spot four grand purple martin birdhouses.
The collection of birdhouses at Kentuck Knob was acquired by Lord Peter Palumbo. Mr. Palumbo acquired the collection by an estate sale in nearby Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The birdhouse was previously owned by Uniontown optometrist Dr. Milton Friedman. Friedman was an avid lover of folk art and antiques, he likely acquired the birdhouse collection in the 1950s after the production company had been liquidated. Peter Palumbo purchased four from the collection, and one of the Capitol style birdhouses is installed on Main Street in Somerset, Pennsylvania. After the birdhouse collection was acquired by Lord Peter Palumbo, the collection was transported and refurbished by Fairchance construction. After being refurbished, the birdhouses were installed at Kentuck Knob and repainted and repaired as need since then!
The birdhouses came from the Jacobs Birdhouse Company (1883-1947), and was headquartered in Waynesburg, PA. Jacobs had a fascination with the natural world and later studied oology and ornithology. After attending the World Columbian Exhibition in 1893, Jacobs combined with a love of birds and nature and combined with architecture. The structures were typically designed for wrens and purple martin birds. Unfortunately at Kentuck Knob, purple martin birds are not native to the region and the birdhouses were installed close together and near a forest where purple martins need more open to perch. As Jacobs developed the birdhouse company, his designs focused on transforming a box for birdhouses in an elaborate and eloquent work of art.
