Author: thekaintuckeean

On Main Streets Across Kentucky … It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas …

On Main Streets across Kentucky, holiday festivals and festivities have been underway since Turkey Day. There were a lot of holiday events last weekend and the festivities continue! Be sure to check out some of the terrific events in your community or one nearby.

Below are some local events in Nicholasville, Danville, and Princeton. And if leaving Lexington (or even your car) isn’t your thing be sure to check out South Elkhorn Christian Church’s annual Drive Through Bethlehem which is from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, December 13 at 4343 Harrodsburg Road in Lexington.

Take the jump for Danville and Princeton…

And God Bless Us … Everyone!

Another Nicholasville Demolition

202 N. 2nd Street, Nicholasville, KY. Jessamine PVA.

Over the weekend, Nicholasville’s Lady Sterling House was demolished following a fire two days earlier. Lady Sterling dated to 1804.

Now a neighboring property at 202 N. 2nd Street also faces the wrecking ball. Nicholasville NOW! director Tonya Coleman shared these photos of demolition this morning. You can see the remains of Lady Sterling in the foreground while the ongoing demolition occurs in the background.

Demolition of 202 N 2nd Street in Nicholasville on Dec. 10, 2014. Tonya Coleman.
Demolition of 202 N 2nd Street in Nicholasville on Dec. 10, 2014. Tonya Coleman.

How much more of Nicholasville’s past must be destroyed before we at least pause to consider it? Remember, demolition is forever.

Lexington’s First Airport was at Halley Field

The entrance to the Meadowthorpe neighborhood. Author’s collection.

Last month, a historic marker was dedicated at the Lexington intersection of Leestown Road at Boiling Springs Drive. The spot marks the entrance to Lexington’s first true subdivision: Meadowthorpe.

In a chapter on the Bluegrass region in Lost Lexington, I mentioned the Meadowthorpe neighborhood and the historic airport. From Lost Lexington: 

In the early 1950s, Lexington’s first true subdivision was developed off Leestown Road. The subdivision was named Meadowthorpe, after the large residence associated with the equine stock–farm that once operated there. The area was also once the site of Lexington’s first municipal airport, Halley’s Field. It was here that Charles Lindbergh secretly arrived to visit his friend in 1928. Despite an attempt at secrecy for Lindbergh’s visit, word spread of the famous aviator’s arrival and three thousand witnessed the challenging takeoff from the open field that was bounded by both tree and telephone wires. Subdivision of the farm and the erection of houses at Meadowthorpe began in late 1949, with the subdivision’s first homes being constructed from the limestone fences that once dotted the farm’s landscape. At the time, living in Meadowthorpe was still considered “rural living.”

Historic marker of “Lexington’s First Airport” at Meadowthorpe. Author’s collection.

The historic marker, #2440, offers this history:

Halley Field, Lexington’s first municipal airport, was located on Meadowthorpe Farm, owned by Dr. Samuel Halley. Although aircraft landed here as early as 1921, it officially opened May 28, 1927 and was dedicated June 10, 1927. World-famous aviator Charles Lindbergh landed here on March 28, 1928. Over.

(Reverse) Halley Field hosted air circuses, air shows, flight training, sight-seeing tours and small airlines. It reverted back to farmland in 1934 and became a subdivision in 1949. Meadowthorpe Farm included a two-story Greek Revival house, later purchased and enlarged by Col. James E. Pepper, distiller and owner/breeder of Thoroughbreds.

This post includes an excerpt from Lost Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.
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Nicholasville House Burns and is Quickly Demolished

At the corner of First and Walnut streets in Nicholasville stood a home of many-additions, the first of which was constructed in 1804. That original structure – a log cabin – was built in a year that was only six years after Jessamine County was carved from Fayette and Nicholasville was founded (though Nicholasville wouldn’t be incorporated for another 33 years).

A fire of unknown cause ripped through the structure on Thursday evening drawing a mutual aid by the Nicholasville Fire Department call that was responded to by the fire departments of Wilmore, Jessamine County, and Lexington.

A pile of debris from the old ca. 1804 log cabin.

By Friday morning, a structure emerged that was badly charred. Without a doubt, the many additions would need to be demolished. But the log cabin which had withstood over 200 years of history and two other major fires seemed resilient. It might be able to be preserved.

The logs had been cut and hewn by hand. The trees from which those timbers came could have stood several hundred years before the trees were felled. If the log cabin couldn’t have been reclaimed, those logs could have perhaps been rebuilt on the same or another site. Or the logs could have been repurposed and reclaimed in other ways.

It would have taken preservationists only a few days to determine if some form of salvage was possible.

But those few days weren’t to happen. Despite attempting to save at least the old log cabin for a few days, the entire property was razed early Saturday morning.

The following video is just under 2 minutes in length and it contains some additional images and video which I took on my multiple trips to the site over the weekend.

The history of Nicholasville suggests a series of owners to the property. The most notable resident, though of whom little is truly known, was Lady Sterling who was born here. As an adult, she “became a lady in fashionable society in St. Louis, and later the wife of an English Lord, and the mistress of a superb mansion in London society.”

Recognizing Kentucky American Indians beyond November

By Helen Danser, Chair, Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission

American Indian Heritage Month has been observed in Kentucky each November since 1998, designated again recently by Gov. Steve Beshear. According to the gubernatorial proclamation, “American Indians have lived in Kentucky for more than 12,000 years… Kentucky’s American Indian heritage enriches the lives of Kentuckians and is worth preserving.”

This coincides with the national observance which, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, started at the turn of the 20th century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S.

President Barack Obama noted in his 2014 proclamation, “As we celebrate the rich traditions of the original peoples of what is now the United States, we cannot forget the long and unfortunate chapters of violence, discrimination, and deprivation they had to endure… but as we work together to forge a brighter future, the lessons of our past can help reaffirm the principles that guide our Nation today.”

These are sobering words I take very seriously as chair of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, established in 1996 to promote awareness of significant Native American influences within the historical and cultural experiences of our Commonwealth. The commission is attached to the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office (KHC) and made up of 16 appointed members, eight of Native American heritage, representing institutions of higher learning, the preservation or archaeological communities, the arts community and the public at large.

The commission has been working hard to fulfill our mission of advocacy, having met recently with the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to raise awareness of American Indians residing in our state and help link these individuals to services they may need, given particular health and social issues associated with their ancestry.

But education is our main focus, especially the need to refute pervasive myths and stereotypes that continue to be perpetuated in modern culture, to an alarming degree. We have made it a priority to address these through presentations at public schools and put tools into the hands of teachers so they can do so, as well. The commission’s education committee is working on a curriculum about Kentucky Native Americans geared to Common Core standards, which would enhance history curriculum already in place. And we are working actively with several school-related sports teams to encourage them to do away with inappropriately themed mascots.

Recently we were successful in having a commission representative appointed to the Governors Interstate Indian Council, which met recently in conjunction with the National Congress of the American Indian. The commission has also recently been accepted into the Southeastern caucus of the council, thus officially recognizing us as the Indian commission for Kentucky. This is important because the commission is not a tribe, as are most other members, and this gives us a voice at the national level to bring forth issues those of us in Kentucky face related to tribal or social service needs.

Many Kentucky American Indians are descendants of those who marched along the Trail of Tears, which forced tribes west as part of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.This tragic chapter in American history resulted not just in the eradication of Cherokees from our state, but also others including original Kentucky tribes Shawnee, Chickasaw and Yuchi. Some returned in later years, and today according to the Census Bureau, more than 30 tribes are integrated in Kentucky’s population. A number of these individuals are recognized as members of either federally or state-recognized tribes living off reservation.

Advocating for legislative approval of a legal definition of “American Indian” has been a longstanding effort by the commission, and we have made the case that Kentucky should simply adopt the federal Census Bureau language, which defines an American Indian as someone having origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central and South America, who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment, and is a legal resident of the United States.

Adopting a definition would serve as acknowledgement and validation that American Indians do, in fact, reside in Kentucky, and reinforce that we have, indeed, been an integral and distinguished part of its history, and now represent a vital part of the present and future of our Commonwealth.

Helen Danser

If you would like to become involved in our work, contact KHC staff coordinator Tressa Brown at [email protected], or 502-564-7005, ext. 125, or visit www.heritage.ky.gov.


Helen Danser, of Tyner, is chair of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission and is of Cherokee descent.


The foregoing post is adapted from a press release issued by the Kentucky Heritage Counsel/State Historic Preservation Office on December 3, 2014.

A deTour of Temple Adath Israel TONIGHT

Lexington’s first Jewish congregation was and is the Temple Adath Israel. It was established formally in 1904 “for the purpose of religious services, a Sabbath school and other matters pertaining to the moral elevation among the Jewish people of Lexington and Central Kentucky.”

Temple Adath Israel is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. According to reformjudaism.org, that movement of Judaism aims “to introduce innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.”

Tonight at 5:30 p.m. the Blue Grass Trust’s deTours program will host its monthly event at Temple Adath Israel’s historic sanctuary which is located in Lexington at 124 North Ashland Avenue. Specific event details are available at www.facebook.com/BGTdeTours or by calling the BGT office at (859) 253-0362.

The congregation first met in 1903, before charter in “a rented lodge hall on short Street in downtown Lexington, where a dozen of the it’s most prominent Jewish residents met to hold services, listen to the lecture of a visiting rabbi, and set in motion the establishment of a new congregation” according to the book The Synagogues of Kentucky. The congregation constructed and began worshiping in a synagogue on Maryland Avenue in 1904 in what was the first physical synagogue in Lexington; that structure is still standing.

Temple Adath Israel Sanctuary prior to remodeling. UK Libraries.

The only physical sign that the Maryland Avenue synagogue was a Jewish house of worship was “nothing more than a wooden sign near its door.” That sign has been on display at the Ashland Avenue synagogue since the congregation relocated to the location in 1926.

Sanctuary of Temple Adath Israel, ca. 2014. Author’s collection.

The Ashland Avenue facilities were expanded in 1950 and 1955, but those additions were removed when the entire complex was remodeled in 1984. At that time, the sanctuary was also partially remodeled with changes including the removal of the old pipe organ.

The congregation and its members have played a vital role in Lexington’s growth as well as our community’s commercial and spiritual activities.

We hope to see everyone tonight at the Blue Grass Trust deTour which begins at 5:30. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/BGTdeTours or call the BGT office at (859) 253-0362.

Lost Lexington Signing at Joseph Beth TONIGHT

What is currently scheduled as my last 2014 book signing of Lost Lexington will be this evening at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Lexington Green, 161 Lexington Green Circle, Lexington.

I’ll be discussing, reading from, and signing Lost Lexington beginning at 7 p.m.

Hope to see you there!!

Read a little more about Lost Lexington, plus links to media coverage by clicking here.

Support the Fayette Courthouse … TONIGHT

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

That’s the approach my grandfather took when tackling a big problem. And that’s the approach that Lexington will need to take in order to save the historic 1898 courthouse in the heart of Lexington.

It is time to take a bite and a step toward preservation of this important structure which served as the center of Fayette County’s governance for over a century.

The Lexington-Fayette UCG is requesting a $200,000 grant from the EPA’s Brownfields Program.
Brownfields are “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant” according to the EPA’s website.

The old courthouse, as has been well-documented and reported since the building’s public closure in 2012, contains a significant amount of lead-based paint, mold, asbestos, and guano (bird poop).

The city’s Division of Historic Preservation describes the old courthouse as a “property of extreme importance architecturally and/or historically.” There can be no doubt: the 1898 courthouse is significant and worthy of being preserved and restored. I don’t know what the ultimate use for this important structure will be, but nothing can be done unless and until the property is cleaned up and stabilized. Obtaining funds from the EPA Brownfields Program is a crucial step toward accomplishing the goal.

I was quite honored to read that much of the building’s history that was contained in the Brownfield Application references The Kaintuckeean‘s March 1, 2012 post.  If you are unfamiliar with the courthouse’s links to Tibetan palaces and the Canterbury Tales, then you should click through and read the history.

But here’s what you can do to help the grand old courthouse: Show your support for the Grant Application. In person, come tonight at 5:30 p.m. (December 1) to the public meeting (they are accepting public comment) to the third floor Phoenix Building conference room, 101 East Vine Street. Online, you can make your public comments (or statement of support) by sending an email to [email protected].

And for more details about Brownfields Application, visit www.LexingtonKY.gov/brownfields.

A Little Thanksgiving History

The First Thanksgiving 1621 by Jean Leon Jerome Ferris.

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November, 1863 to be a day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” It established Thanksgiving as an annual holiday in the United States.

From the days of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress or Congress or a president would declare “national days of prayer, humiliation, and thanksgiving” at various times through the years.

Governors of the various states, too, thought it appropriate to give thanks. Governor Robert P. Letcher proclaimed the First Thanksgiving Day in Kentucky back on September 26, 1844.

Of course, Thanksgiving is traditionally recognized as having been a harmonious celebration between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in the Massachusetts Colony. In reality, the Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest. That “thanksgiving” lasted three days.

The only contemporary account of the 1621 Thanksgiving was in a letter written back to England by Edward Winslow in which he noted that “although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you were partakers of our plenty.”

The plentiful harvest would have been especially important given that the prior winter bore witness to the death of half of the Pilgrims’ number. Those colonists would not repeat Thanksgiving as an annual tradition, contrary to modern lore.

Read more about Thanksgiving’s history, about Franksgiving, and remember to #ShopSmall by supporting local businesses on #SmallBusinessSaturday — all at

You can read the rest of my Thanksgiving column from this week’s Jessamine Journal (November 27, 2014) by clicking here. There you’ll learn more about Thanksgiving’s history and about Franksgiving. Plus, a reminder to #ShopSmall by supporting local businesses on #SmallBusinessSaturday!

Jack Jouett: Portrait of An American Hero

No portrait of Captain Jack Jouett was ever painted; his profile is known only through a silhouette. His story, like his face, have been by and large forgotten by history at-large. But for those who recall the tale of Captain Jouett, he has been remembered as the “Paul Revere of the South.”

Silhouette of Capt. Jack Jouett

Jouett, a Virginian by birth, heard that the British were coming one night while sleeping at the Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa County, Virginia. He hurried on a 40-mile ride to Charlottesville on the back of his bay mare, Sally. His rush to was to warn the members of the Virginia legislature and Thomas Jefferson that the British were headed in their direction with the intent of capturing the Patriots. All but seven legislators successfully escaped thanks to Jouett’s heroics. (Jefferson leisurely stayed at Monticello and escaped himself by horseback with only second to spare, but Jouett definitely warned him!)

A new children’s book published this year, Jack Jouett: Portrait of An American Hero
tells the story of this brave man, his devoted horse and the daring midnight ride of June 3, 1781. Recommended for readers ages 8-12, the story is told from the perspective of Matthew Jouett (the Captain’s son).

Jouett and his family would relocate to Kentucky. Captain Jack Jouett lived in Woodford County but passed away while visiting a daughter in Bath County. He was buried on her farm.

Matthew Jouett tells the story of his father almost regretfully. A celebrated painter who created wonderful portraits of many of Kentucky’s notable citizens never had his father in the studio for a portrait painting. As a result, the only ‘image’ of Captain Jack Jouett is the silhouette cut by Matthew.

So as the title of the book suggests, Matthew set out to create a portrait of his father by telling the story of what the elder Jouett has done. The story is delightfully told and the pencil illustrations by Rebecca Blair carry the reader back to that night in 1781.

An excellent little read for young children through which they can learn about one of history’s great untold stories.

And best of all, the book – penned in reality by Martha J. Hutcherson – was a commissioned project by the Jack Jouett House Historic Site in Woodford County. That means that much of the proceeds from the sale of Jack Jouett: Portrait of An American Hero go to the ongoing programming and maintenance of that historic place.