KMI History

"Colonel Robert Thomas Pircairn Allen"

The Kentucky Military Institute was established by Colonel Robert Thomas Pircairn Allen, a graduate of West Point, who was experienced in military and education. After graduation in 1834, Allen served as a captain in the Seminole War and supervised military activities on Lake Michigan. He married Julia Bond, niece of President Andrew Jackson, whom he had met while visiting the White House. After his retirement from the Army, Allen served as a mathematics instructor at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Allen and Julia visited the Scanlan Spring, or Franklin Springs, as it was sometimes called. He was impressed with the beauty and country atmosphere and thought this would be a good location for a private military school. The property was located on Farmdale Road about six miles south of Frankfort. By carriage it took about an hour to arrive at the springs. In 1845, Allen purchased the property and opened his school as Kentucky Institute. Two years later a charter was granted by the General Assembly to Kentucky Military Institute. The school had a reputation for its excellent instructors, a demanding course of study and strict discipline. It attracted many students from the South and a few from the North. After the Civil War, the school changed its curriculum to prepare students for professional occupations. Robert Allen turned control of the school over to his son, Robert D. Allen. The school fell into bankruptcy in 1887 and closed its' doors, however, reopened the next year. Later KMI left its campus in Frankfort and moved to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky.

Dr. John Q. A. Stewart, superintendent of the Kentucky Feeble-Minded Institute, resigned his position and purchased the abandoned KMI property in 1893. He opened his establishment on September 1, 1893, as a school for the mentally challenged. Today, Stewart Home School remains under the supervision of the Stewart family as a well known and highly regarded facility for special education

In 1896, under the supervision of Charles Wesley Fowler, Kentucky Military Institute was again moved from Mt. Sterling to a campus in Jefferson County, Kentucky near Lyndon. Fowler, in 1906, began the practice of moving students and faculty to a winter campus in Florida during the months between Christmas and Easter. In 1924, the school again closed and reopened the following year under superintendent Charles B. Richmond. According to the city archives, KMI moved to Venice, Florida in 1932. The school prospered greatly under his direction. However, by the late 1960's dissatisfaction with the military and rising tuition cost caused financial difficulties for KMI and other military schools. KMI was closed for the last time in 1973.
Sources:
Capital on the Kentucky, by Kramer
The Kentucky Encyclopedia, by Kleber
Venice, Florida city archives