Author: thekaintuckeean

The George H. Bowman House is Gone but Not Forgotten

Bowman House - Lexington, Ky.
Bowman House – Lexington, Ky.

Earlier this spring, I spotted a sign in front of 4145 Harrodsburg Road indicating that a zoning request for the parcel would be from R-1D to R-1T. I rode onto the property, site of an abandoned home, to investigate further.

As it turns out, the residence was the George H. Bowman House, a ca. 1860 Greek Gothic Revival according to the Kentucky Historic Resources Survey conducted on the property in 1979.

Site Layout of Bowman House
Layout of Bowman House (Source: Resources Inventory)

Property owners, according to early county maps, identify the owner in 1891 as John McMeekin who was the son of Jeremiah McMeekin. The elder was a butcher who had purchased Helm Place in 1873.

The owner in 1871 was J. S. Burrier, originally of Jessamine County, who acquired the home and 165 acres that year. He was married to Alice Craig, daughter of Lewis and Martha (Bryant) Craig.

It is believed that George H. Bowman constructed this house ca. 1860, though he remained only a few years. After inheriting Helm Place from his father, pioneer Abraham Bowman, George H. was forced to sell much of his inheritance to satisfy a gambling debt.

A. J. Reed took advantage of the younger Bowman’s misfortune and acquired the Helm Place property in 1859. It is believed that our subject house was built for George’s occupancy after the liquidation of Helm Place. Within the decade, George H. Bowman had passed away and his children divided and sold their father’s property.

Back to the present. The zoning change mentioned permitted the demolition of the Bowman House and the erection of four townhouse units in its place. It is worth noting, however, that the data relied on in the Map Amendment Request (MAR) included inaccurate data from the Fayette County PVA office.

The existing house was build in 1940, according to PVA records. Unfortunately, since the grant of the previous zone change (and prior to the purchase by the applicant) the house has fallen into a state of disrepair. There are structural issues relating to the foundation. Also contents and mechanical systems of the house have been torn out by unknown persons. Exterior decay issues are present. For all these reasons, it is impossible to preserve the house. (MARV 2013-3 Amd.pdf)

Interior of Bowman House
Interior of Bowman House. Impossible to repair?

I truly doubt that preservation was an impossibility. Impracticable, perhaps. But not impossible. Several additional references existed in the MAR to the “1940 house.”

I have heard that the sitting PVA has plans to update historical property data to correct errors such as the one that may or may not have altered the decisions surrounding the Bowman House. In either event, this is a worthy cause and would be an excellent step forward by the Property Value Administrator and his staff.

I was glad to have snapped these pictures before the old Bowman House was demolished. (I’m assuming demolition has occurred – any updates to the project?)

Demolition of a Farmhouse: Nicholasville’s 603 West Maple

603 West Maple Street – Nicholasville, Ky.

The evidence is not in dispute: home ownership results in stronger communities and homeowners are more likely to improve their properties than are renters (or landlords). But in communities across Kentucky and the country, some below-median income homeowners simply cannot afford to make necessary (and expensive) repairs to upgrade their homes to meet current code.

Map of Nicholasville’s CDBG Sites
Source: Kriss Lowry, Project Manager

Last summer, Nicholasville was awarded a community development block grant (CDBG). This is a federally funded grant through the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Nicholasville’s scattered-site housing project is underway including upgrades to several owner-occupied single-family homes where eligibility criteria is met. Eligible properties must need at least $25,000 in qualified repairs. Admittedly, it is more ‘cost effective’ to demolish and build rather than rehab some houses.

But what considerations occur when one of the eligible properties is an older, potentially ‘historic’, property?

One such property was located at 603 West Maple Street – a couple blocks to the west of the Nicholasville Historic District, an area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The existing 603 is believed to have been constructed about 90-95 years ago, thus ca. 1920. In 1920, the population of Nicholasville was just in excess of 2,700 which is less than one-tenth of the city’s 2010 population.

The home was a simple farmhouse: one-and-a-half story wood frame. Atop a full 8′ concrete basement is an 896 square foot first floor and 640 sq. ft. on the second. A covered porch spans the length of the house’s front. Although the wood frame structure is simple in design, it was emblematic of the region’s farmhouse architecture from the period. Furthermore, 603 added character to the streetscape of West Maple Street.

Even so, the City determined that the property is not historic. As such, demolish of the 90+ year old 603 occurred earlier this spring. Presently, a new single story for the existing homeowner is under construction. A rendering of the new 603 appears below.

Front Elevation of the proposed 603 West Maple
Source: Kriss Lowry, Project Manager.

Immediately noticeable is the absence of both the full length front porch and the second story dormer window, both of which added much character to 603 and to the neighborhood. The non-descript, vinyl-clad single-story replacement lacks character or interest and it is unlikely to survive nearly a century as did its predecessor.

The need to provide affordable housing is without question, but that need must be balanced with the the preservation of a community’s fabric. The same is true of economic growth and other governmental projects. On a federal level, all projects receiving federal funds must undergo a section 106 review to determine if alternatives exist which would be more suitable to historic preservation. To my knowledge, no analogous requirement exists on the state level.

When an older building, however, cannot be salvaged it is imperative that we document the loss as best as possible. Additionally, parts of an older structure can be reclaimed for future use in the replacement structure or in other properties. Solid wood doors, windows, and flooring are just a few examples. Companies exists solely for the purpose of salvaging these historic resources and non-profits like Habitat for Humanity have ReStores which make these items available.

For historic preservationists, not every battle can be won. And it seems many properties, like 603, are not even part of the fight. But it is always worth saving what we can when we can.

Sources: HUD (Linking HP to CDBG);  Jessamine-Journal; Jessamine PVA; Kriss Lowry (project bid, project floorplans, project guidelines,

This Just Happened, a weekly roundup

Good bye, deSha’s. [Herald-Leader]

Nicholasville Christian Church – 1 of 5
churches in the proposed H-1 overlay.
NCC supported H-1 designation.

Despite the best efforts of historic-minded people, Nicholasville failed to create a H-1 zoning overlay for its downtown commercial core [Jessamine Journal]

Geography isn’t the strong suit of the New York Times. Their Kentucky correction was spotted. [RiverCity News]

Will graduates of the joint MBA program of UK and UL be Cats or Cardinals fans? [BizLex]

Think the home of the Kentucky Derby is massive? The oversized facility Churchill Downs is planning to expand. Again. [Courier Journal]

Downtown Paris businesses unite to establish the Paris Antiques and Gallery District. Oui! [KYForward]

Remember Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corps and Native Kentuckian

President Ford with reporters, including Helen Thomas. Photo: Library of Congress.

Several years ago, I picked up a copy of the book “Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President” which was a collection of “wit and wisdom” from Helen Thomas, the dean of the White House press corps.

On Saturday, Helen Thomas died at the age of 92.

She was a remarkable woman who was known to colleagues and presidents alike as just “Helen.”

Reading one of her books helped me to better understand both her perspective and her position in U.S. history.

When Helen Thomas began her journalism career at United Press in 1943, the United States was in the middle of fighting World War II.

As a female, however, she was relegated to writing on homemaking and “women’s issues.”

It was not until 1960 that she was promoted to covering the campaign of John F. Kennedy. He won the presidency and Helen was assigned by her bureau to the White House Press Corps.

Here she remained after the Kennedy assassination and through the administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson.

She travelled with the press corps on President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972.

During part of the administration of Gerald Ford, Helen served as president of the White House Correspondents Association. It was only a dozen years earlier that the same organization barred females from attending its annual correspondents’ dinner; now a woman led the organization.

When Jimmy Carter was president, Helen Thomas was there.

And there she remained during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and into the first years of President Obama’s first term.

Her “ringside seat” to more than a half-century of American history gave her such a unique perspective.

Her front row seat in the White House briefing room also gave her the position to speak for those without a voice and to ask the questions which no one else would ask.

She believed this to be her mission and lamented that most journalists did not follow suit.

She was bipartisan in her pointedness and tough questions. She described George W. Bush as the “worst president in American history.”

And she found Barack Obama’s transparency with the press to be worse than that of Nixon’s.

And though 10 Presidents struggled to satisfactorily answer Helen’s questions, she was quick to restore a lost tradition at the end of each presidential briefing by simply saying, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

Of course, the fact I learned from “Thanks for the Memories” which I love most about Helen Thomas has nothing to do with what she did.

Rather, it is where she was born. In 1920, Helen was born right here in Kentucky — Winchester, to be precise.

To paraphrase this great Kentuckian who broke glass ceilings and asked the tough questions: “Thank you, Helen.”

This column originally appeared in the Jessamine Journal. 
It should not be republished without permission.

Inactive Fourth Street Church has Multiple Denominations in its History

St. Andrews Episcopal Mission Church – Lexington, Ky.

A carriage factory on West Fourth Street served as a house of worship for Lexington’s black population from the time Br. Thomas Phillips and his former master, John Brand, opened the Antioch Christian Church in April 1851. Brother Phillips departed this world in 1859, but his congregation continued to grow. In 1874, the old carriage factory was torn down and the congregation built a structure of its own.

One of the most impressive church buildings built for Lexington’s black community immediately following the Civil War, the structure was a simple brick three-bay church with a simple rose window above the inscription, “… the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26, KJV)

In only a few short years, though, the Antioch (Colored) Christian Church found it necessary to find larger quarters and they relocated to a newly constructed church on Second Street. Thereafter, that church would move again (to Constitution Avenue) but would remain known as the (East) Second Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The old Fourth Street house of worship would not remain empty for long. Thomas Underwood Dudley, the second Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, sought to expand the reach of his Episcopal Church. Overcoming many racist, segregationist views as well as the ghost of his own past as a Confederate veteran, Bishop Dudley pursued an integrated church: “God hath made of one blood all nations of men.”

The Episcopal diocese constructed a new church in the 1950s, but the mission founded by Dudley remained active until that point. Today, the old church structure is inactive and is used by its present owners for storage.

Sources: East Second Street History; NRHP

“Old Blue” Gave Tours at the University of Kentucky in British Style

Passengers Boarding “Old Blue” at the University of Kentucky, ca. 1976. Photo: UKY

In the UK – the United Kingdom that is – the red double decker bus is ubiquitous. In a city the size of London’s it has long been twice as efficient to carry two sets of passengers stacked on top of one another as part of transit planning.

On our side of the pond, we’ve long eschewed the monarchy (though you’d have been hard pressed to know it yesterday with the birth of the new prince) as well as the double-decker bus and the cabby.

The 1953 model double-decker, however, found popularity in a different UK years ago. The University of Kentucky, that is.

And “Old Blue” is the answer to last week’s #ThrowbackThursday.

Owned by the Alumni Association, the double-decker with signage guiding passengers to the Picadilly Circus actually transported campus visitors around campus and alumni to home football games.

Of course, when the bus was acquired in 1974 it was stripped of its traditional red hue and replaced with a blue befitting the University of Kentucky. Her maiden voyage through campus was on September 16, 1974.

Whatever happened to Old Blue? Well, an article by Don White reveals the tale but suffice it to say she has been mothballed for the time being in Lawrenceburg.

The winner from last week’s #TBT was none other than the University of Kentucky herself:

A “Most Attractive” Church at Mt. Horeb

Photos of the Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church – Lexington, Ky.

Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church is another of the small country churches that dot the bluegrass landscape. The congregation was founded April 21, 1827, at Cabell’s Dale – the home of Mary Cabell Breckinridge.

Robert Jefferson Breckinridge
Photo: Public Domain

Also born at Cabell’s Dale, albeit twenty seven years earlier in 1800, was Robert J. Breckinridge who would serve as the minister of the Mt. Horeb Church. He would also serve as a minister of great influence at Lexington’s First Presbyterian Church.

A historic marker at the church, no. 1687, reads

This church was organized April 21, 1827, at nearby “Cabell’s Dale,” home of Mary Cabell Breckinridge, widow of John Breckinridge, U.S. Senator and Attorney General in Thomas Jefferson’s cabinet. The original brick church, constructed in 1828 on this site, burned in 1925. Present building of similar design was dedicated in 1926. Presented by Kentucky Breckinridge Committee.

Old Mt. Horeb Church, ca. 1898. Photo: KDL

A photograph of that original ca. 1828 appears above, though it “was struck by lighting Saturday afternoon [June 6, 1925], during a severe electrical storm, and burned to the ground.” The congregation immediately went to setting plans to rebuilt and voted to rebuild eight days later.

Between the time of the fire and the completion of the new church structure, the congregation met first under a tent on the church grounds. As winter set in, the congregation began holding services on November 1, 1925, at the Russell Cave school.

On October 3, 1926, “impressive services … marked the dedication of the new building of historic Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church, five miles from Lexington. … The edifice [is] a beautiful stone structure, described as one of the most attractive and completely equipped rural churches in the [Presbyterian] Synod.”

More photos of Mt. Horeb Church on flickr.
Source: local.lexpublib.org.

This Just Happened, a weekly roundup (Elmer T. Lee edition)

Bourbon aficionados said goodbye to Elmer T. Lee who passed away on Tuesday, July 16. Lee rose through the ranks at the Stagg Distillery (now Buffalo Trace) in Frankfort. He turned the bourbon world upside down when he introduced the very first single barrel bourbon, Blanton’s. It was my first taste of Blanton’s that made me love bourbon. On Tuesday night, I poured myself a Blanton’s for myself and one for Elmer, pouring his libation out beneath the stars.

Kentucky.com has put together a timeline for Centrepointe. Something must be in the works. [Herald-Leader]

Moving to Victorian Square was a good move for the Lexington Visitor’s Center. [KyForward]

A road project in Boyd County will result in the relocation of the Colvin Calvin Cemetery in Cannonsburg. [Ashland Independent]

Ahead of tonight’s planning commission meeting, the Blue Grass Trust took a position in favor of proposed H1 zoning overlay in Nicholasville. [Jessamine Journal]

Tates Creek road is getting some sidewalks. But you already guessed that if you saw all the trees being cut down/back. [Herald-Leader]

An Eagle Scout’s mission is to give a facelift to the Clark County Courthouse Square. [Winchester Sun]

Built in 1929, the old Deming High School burned Thursday morning in Robertson County. [WKYT]

An update with no update on the proposed Lexington to Versailles dinner train. [Herald-Leader]

Damnedest Politics in Kentucky as 2014 Election Cycle Gears Up

Campaign Signs in the Lawn – Election 2010

Within hours of polls closing on election night 2012, political pundits on television began talk of the 2014 midterms. For a few months, only those monitoring the 24-news cycle gave much pause to the elections a year and a half away.

Now 17 months still separate us from election day and I’m sensing that the political campaigns will soon be going into full swing.

That means it is time to DVR your favorite shows so you can fast forward over all those commercials. Living in central Kentucky, we’ve been rather isolated from all the campaign commercials in recent Presidential cycles when compared to the non-stop advertising in battleground states like Ohio and Florida.

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ recent announcement to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has elevated the race to one of the cycle’s top races in the country. That means we can expect to see a lot of commercials that will do little to inform us about either candidate’s position on the issues.

When Jessamine Countians went to the polls last time, our vote was split into two Congressional districts. Voters in the Second Congressional District returned Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, to Washington while those in the Sixth District replaced incumbent Ben Chandler with Republican Andy Barr.

Challengers are already announcing their candidacies in these races and going out into their respective districts to meet voters.

Democrat Ron Leach of Brandenburg just announced his intention to run against Guthrie. In the Sixth District, a few Democrats have announced their candidacies against Barr. Even more candidates are expected.

I was asked by a friend to walk with one of the Sixth District challengers, Elisabeth Jensen, one evening last week at the county fair. I obliged and watched as she met with voters and handed out stickers and fans, all bearing her name and campaign logo.

It was then I realized that the 2014 midterms are upon us. Like wildflowers, yard signs will soon dot our lawns. And it’s one of those “lots of yard signs” years, too. That’s because we’ll also be voting for state representative, judge executive, magistrates on the fiscal court, sheriff, county clerk, mayor, city commissioners, and all the local races where people we know are asking for our support.

Yes, it’s going to be a long political season, full of all the mudslinging and attack ads that make us just shake our heads.

And while we always like to think of better years gone by, politics have been this way for generations. I always smile at Judge Mulligan’s poem, In Kentucky, first delivered to a group of state legislators in 1902 at Lexington’s Phoenix Hotel. The first and last verse read:

The moonlight falls the softest
In Kentucky;
The summer’s days come oft’est
In Kentucky;
Friendship is the strongest,
Love’s fires glow the longest;
Yet, a wrong is always wrongest
In Kentucky.

Song birds are the sweetest
In Kentucky;
The thoroughbreds the quickest
In Kentucky;
Mountains tower proudest,
Thunder peals the loudest,
The landscape is the grandest—and
Politics the damnedest
In Kentucky.

Yes, politics are the damnedest in Kentucky.

So brace yourselves. It’s going to be a long campaign cycle.

This column originally appeared in the Jessamine Journal. 
It should not be republished without permission.