thekaintuckeean – Page 56 – The Kaintuckeean

walkLEX: Northside is a Tale of Two Cities


Ross Avenue – Lexington, Ky.		Hampton Court – Lexington, Ky.

Upon my first study of Northside, I learned that the expansive neighborhood is a tale of two cities. Large and opulent homes occupied the high ground while smaller, inexpensive homes filled in the lower elevations between. I wrote:

It has been noted that both the black urban clusters and the predominately white suburbs were both developed off of the major roadways, yet the former occupied the valleys between the more-elevated suburb.

And I noticed this division on a recent walk. Consider Hampton Court and Ross Avenue. These two parallel streets between Third and Fourth Streets appear as a Dickensian Tale of Two Cities.

Hampton Court, a hundred-year-old urban cul-de-sac surrounded by stone walls and arched entries. Built on the site of the old orphan asylum, the beautiful homes and luxury apartments of Hampton Court enjoy a central park-like area in the heart of downtown.

Contrast this with Ross Avenue which was built around the same time as Hampton Court. On its east side are the rear entrances to the Hampton Court homes which today means tall privacy fences and the occasional driveway. On the west are, as pictured, nearly identical one story T-plan houses. When built, this street would have been home to lower-middle-class professionals but today those residents have moved on to suburbia.

In the 1980s, Hampton Court residents, citing an increase in burglaries and vandalism, first padlocked and then welded shut an iron gate (pictured) that opened their court to pedestrians from Fourth Street. These two streets grew further apart.

But despite their differences, these two streets and their residents have lived and continue to live in facultative symbiosis. These two streets operate as a lesson and reminder of urban planning. A lesson which slaps an even more segregated suburbia in the face. A lesson that shows design excellence by providing affordable housing in a the urban setting with quality of construction. Quality exists on both Hampton and Court; if it did not these homes would not have survived one hundred years.

more photos of Northside on flickr

walkLEX: A Transylvanian Tomb and the Legends of Constantine Rafinesque

Rafinesque Tomb at Transylvania University - Lexington, Ky.

The Tomb of Constantine Rafinesque – Lexington, Ky.

No, it is not Dracula. Although Bram Stoker may be impressed with the story of the man entombed under Transylvania University’s Old Morrison.

Born in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Turkey) in 1783, Constantine Rafinesque immigrated to the United States in 1802. Here, he met a number of young botanists and began to collect his specimens. In 1804, while travelling in the Virginia-Maryland area he met President Jefferson. It was suggested, but never realized, that Rafinesque should join Lewis and Clark on their famed expedition. Whether he was rejected or declined an offer, Rafinesque returned to Europe with his specimens and settled in Palermo, Sicily.

In 1815, he returned to the United States and continued to work diligently in the fields of biology and zoology. He came to the Athens of the West (Lexington) and its famed institution (Transylvania) as a professor of botany in 1819. Throughout his career, Rafinesque published the binomial names of over 6,700 species of flora and fauna, but he was never recognized during his life for his work. Perhaps it was because he was a little too eccentric for anyone’s taste.

On one occasion, Rafinesque stayed at the home of French-American ornithologist (bird guy) J. J. Audubon famed for his detailed color illustrations of birds in North America. In his room was Audubon’s prized violin and a live bat which Rafinesque did not recognize, so Raf swung and destroyed the violin in an attempt to seize the bat for his specimen collection. To thank him for destroying the violin, Audubon later gave his guest a beautiful color illustration of a gigantic fish which swims in the Ohio River. Rafinesque wrote and published a paper on this eight-foot-plus beast only to thereafter discover Aubudon’s joke. Needless to say, the two were not close.

As a professor, Rafinesque was more likely to skip class than were his pupils. He used the time to take nature walks. It is believed, but not confirmed, that Rafinesque also was quite friendly (perhaps a little too friendly) with the wife of college president Horace Holley. Further, Rafinesque (a Unitarian in faith) did not endear himself to the more conservative faiths and faithful of Kentucky.

So, whatever the reason in particular, Rafinesque was forced out of Transylvania in 1826. Upon his departure, however, he left a curse on both president Holley and Transylvania itself: “Damn thee and thy school as I place curses on you.” (or something to that effect).

As with curses, they always come true. The following year, Holley was himself forced out from the college whereupon he and his wife set out to teach in Louisiana. But he caught yellow fever and died. Transylvania’s main building (then within what is today Gratz Park) burned within two years of the curse. And Old Morrison itself suffered from extensive fire damage in 1969.

Rafinesque returned to Philadelphia after being relieved of his professorship and continued his work until his death from cancer in 1840. Without a church home, Rafinesque was buried in Ronaldson’s Cemetery at 9th and Bainbridge in Philadelphia. Ronaldson created his cemetery for travelers and others in Philadelphia who could not, without membership, be buried in a local church cemetery, but who would not be relegated to the public pauper’s field. Even so, up to six bodies would share the same space at Robertson’s and over time, the area became part of Philly’s slums (today it is quite regentrified).

But when Robertson’s Cemetery was to be destroyed in the 1920s, a group of Transylvanians came to recover the body of the old professor with the hope that the curse would end. And so his body was removed from its grave, brought to the campus of Transylvania University, and re-interred in a small crypt under the steps of Old Morrison.

At least, we think it was Rafinesque.

additional photos on flickr

NoD: Boy Scouts Began in Pulaski County

Historic Marker – Burnside, Ky.

Two years before the Boy Scouts of America organized in the United States, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass gathered a troop of 15 Pulaski County boys in 1908. Utilizing British scout literature, she guided the boys in hiking and camping. A Kentucky roadside historic marker (#1007) on U.S. 27 in Burnside reminds travelers of this great contribution:

Before Boy Scouts of America was organized, 1910, a troop of 15 had been formed here, spring of 1908, by Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass. Using the official handbook of English scouting, she guided them hiking and camping, like scouting today. Known as Eagle Troop, Horace Smith was troop leader. Insignia was a red bandanna around neck. Reputed the first American Boy Scout Troop.

Of course, several other communities around the country declare themselves the home of the boy scouts. We Kaintuckeeans will hold to Burnside as being the groups American place of origin. Today, the Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Texas and boasts nearly 115,000 troops consisting of over 2.7 million youth members. Well done, Mrs. Bass!

walkLEX: The Kissing Tree @Transy

The Kissing Tree (Transylvania University) – Lexington, Ky.

Near the Haupt Humanities Building on the campus of Transylvania University stands a white ash tree believed to be about 265 years old making it forty years older than the college and almost fifty years older than our Commonwealth. Its moniker – “The Kissing Tree” – also dates to years ago when social mores and taboos were quite different.

Earlier generations frowned at public displays of affection and college administrators forbade it. But an unofficial policy permitted students to steal a sweetheart’s kiss when under the boughs of the Kissing Tree. And in keeping with these traditional rules of affection, the students’ kept their intimacy limited. The unofficial rule among students was that your turn was over when another couple came along. (Again, this was the Kissing Tree and not the ménage à trois tree.)

In 2003, the Chronicle for Higher Education named the spot one of the most romantic on college campuses. Today, the tree is ringed by a wooden bench popular more for meeting friends than for stealing kisses (not a necessity in the era of coed dorms). The tree also receives regular treatment to ward off the ~~sexually transmitted disease~~ insect (emerald ash borer) known for taking out all too many ash trees.

Sources: Transy Kissing Tree; Transy Romance

kernel: The Painting of Lexington’s Town Drunk, King Solomon

A town drunk so famed that they made a painting of him? Why, yes!

Painting of King Solomon – Bodley Bullock House – Lexington, Ky.

Hanging in the Bodley-Bullock House in Lexington is this painting of William “King” Solomon, the town drunk who buried the dead of the city following the cholera epidemic of 1833 previously profiled by NRK on The Elkhorn Vale. The painter was Samuel M. Wilson.

walkLEX: Remembering Smiley Pete

Smiley Pete Plaque – Lexington, Ky.

The dog’s grin resembled a human smile and so he was given the name “Smiley.” During the mid-twentieth century, downtown Lexington had a roving landmark. Smiley Pete.

Of course, his other nicknames gave a more perceptive look at what Smiley was really up to. Magnificent Mooch. Canine Con Man. Panhandling Pooch.

Yes, Smiley Pete new how to work it.

And he did. With a daily routine of hamburger and waffles for breakfast from Brandy’s Kitchen (Main & Limestone) followed by a bowl of draft beer from Turf Bar (122 North Limestone). A little bit later, chocolate was needed from the Short & Lime Liquor (figure it out). The Panhandling Pooch finally would eat a dog treat and water from Carter’s Supply (339 West Short) before retiring for popcorn at the movie theater operating at the Lexington Opera House. According to a 1950 Lexington Leader report, Smiley would also make the trek to U.K. where he would enter a classroom only to yawn at a professor’s lecture.

Local police turned a blind eye to Smiley Pete, even as other strays were regularly rounded up. Only in 1949, during a rabies scare, was Smiley “incarcerated” by his friends in quarantine at a veterinary clinic on Southland Drive.

At the age of 14 (that’s 98 in dog years), Smiley Pete died in June 1957 and he was buried by his human friends at 904 North Broadway under a marker which reads “Pete – Our Dog – A Friend to All and A Friend of All.” Another plaque was placed closer to the dog’s old stomping grounds at Main & Lime in front of Welch’s Cigar Shop. The plaque was removed in 1990 but replaced close to its original location at the courthouse plaza.

Smiley Pete is also remembered annually by an award given by the LFUCG to those who make “people feel good about being downtown.” Live on, Smiley!

Sources: BizLex; local.lexpublib.org; LuAnn Farrar (H-L)

NoD: Grayson Lake and the Kitchen-Horton House

Grayson Lake – Carter County, Ky.

Named for the Carter County seat, Grayson Lake was formed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1964 from their formation of an earth and rock dam on the Little Sandy River. Now, almost 75 miles of shoreline in Carter and Elliott counties surround this beautiful lake of approximately 1,500 acres.

Filled with bluegill, bass, catfish, crappie, and trout, the lake is very popular with local anglers. But history has its tale at Grayson Lake as well. Whenever I visit an Army Corps manmade lake, I’m reminded of the scenes from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
when the valley is flooded saving George Clooney et al. from the gallows (Youtube) as well as the following scene where he opines on the New South being hooked up to the grid (Youtube). Surely, much in the flooded valley of Grayson Lake was lost when the waters rose in the mid 1960s.

One structure, however, was moved from its foundation on the north bank of the Little Sandy River and now rests 700 feet northeasterly in a recreational area adjacent to the lake. The historic Van Kitchen Home (pictured at left) was built around 1835 by Elijah Horton. This log cabin was built in the “saddlebag” design, meaning two cabins close enough to one another that they share a common chimney. Although once prevalent through eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, the design has become quite rare.

After reaching Grayson during his “masterful retreat” from the Cumberland Gap, Gen. George Morgan (USA) continued toward Camp Dennison, Ohio with the Thunderbolt of the Confederacy – John Hunt Morgan – nipping at his heels. Gen. George Morgan supped at the Horton house and his men camped nearby, but their stay was disrupted by Gen. JHM’s men and a skirmish ensued. Bullet holes are still visible in the walls of the ol’ saddlebag’s second floor. The Van Kitchen House, named after the last family owning the house prior to the government’s acquisition in 1965, was listed on the National Register in 1974.

additional photos on flickr

walkLEX: Thomas Hunt Morgan House

Thomas Hunt Morgan House (and Appendages) - Lexington, Ky.

Thomas Hunt Morgan House – Lexington, Ky.

Today, we all know that sex is determined by XX or XY chromosomes. But did you know that the man who discovered this scientific truth was born and raised in Lexington? Thomas Hunt Morgan, the “Father of Modern Genetics,” was born in 1866 at Hopemont but was raised in his parent’s home on the other side of the block. Through his father’s lineage, Thomas was related to the best families in central Kentucky. A great-grandfather on his mother’s side, Francis Scott Key, penned the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

While living in this two-story Victorian, a young Thomas began to show his interest in biology and naturalism as he gathered birds, birds’ eggs and fossils. By the age of 16, he was enrolled at the State College, later the U. of Kentucky, from which he would graduate as the valedictorian in 1886. The Lexington Transcript reported on April 8, 1886 that “Thomas Hunt Morgan, son of Capt. Charleton H. Morgan, was awarded valedictory of class at State College.” It would not be long before Thomas Hunt Morgan would escape the long shadow of his father – a Confederate veteran – and bring another chapter to the Hunt-Morgan family.

Armed with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins College in Baltimore, Dr. Morgan entered academia and, after 13 years in Pennsylvania, began teaching at New York’s Columbia University. There he created his infamous “fly room” (popularizing the use of the inexpensive and fast breeding species) where he studied heredity at a chromosomal level.

In 1933, Dr. Morgan became the first Kentuckian to receive the Nobel Prize when he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for “his discoveries concerning the role played by chromosomes in heredity.”

After twenty-four years at Columbia, Morgan headed west for Caltech in Pasadena.

In 1925, Dr. Morgan’s mother passed away at the family home on North Broadway. In time, it would become the home to the Woman’s Club of Central Kentucky – an influential organization begun in 1894 and credited with many of Lexington’s social reforms around the turn of the twentieth century. In 1964, the Woman’s Club purchased the old Seventh Day Adventist church building and opened its auditorium in the old sanctuary in 1972.

Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan passed away in 1945 in Pasadena. His alma mater, the University of Kentucky, named the biological sciences building after him in 1966.

photos on flickr

Sources: local.lexpublib.org; Nature.com; Nobel Prize bio; Women’s Club of Central Ky.

NoD: Salyersville Bank

Salyersville Bank Building – Salyersville, Ky.

One building in downtown Salyersville stands out: the Salyersville Bank at the corner of Church (KY 7) and Maple (US 460). An impressive two-story limestone structure in the Beaux Arts style constructed by Italian craftsmen who arrived in eastern Kentucky during a coal boom in the early twentieth century. Built in 1912, the Salyersville Bank anchored Salyersville’s growth.

A short-lived oil boom beginning in 1918 marked the county’s oil fields as producing the third highest volume in the state by 1922. The bank was instrumental in securing the funds the enterprise required. A 1927 flood caused great damage to Salyersville’s commercial district, but the bank remained open and able to help local merchants get back on their feet.

When the Great Depression hit, the Salyersville Bank continued to operate in part to its sound financial practices. The dirt roads of downtown Salyersville were certainly affected by the Depression, but this institution helped to convert the town’s center in 1936 from wood to brick. Many of the yellow brick buildings on Church Street across from the courthouse bear the 1936 construction date.

The Salyersville National Bank, chartered in 1902, no longer operates out of this location, but the institution remains in business elsewhere in the county. Although Salyersville and Magoffin County have fallen on hard times in the past few decades, the Salyersville Bank building remains as a testament to the community’s prosperity a century ago.

Source: Nat’l Register

kernel: Jesus to Heal Jefferson Street Building Damaged by Fire

More after the jump…

I was on a lunch walkLEX within a block of this building about four hours before the fire started. I trekked past the damaged market earlier this morning. According to reports (and here), the market operated for the latter half of the twentieth century in this predominately African American neighborhood. Across the street is St. Peter Claver Catholic Church and the pictured statue of Jesus; I couldn’t resist the juxtaposition.

More photos of the fire damage are on flickr.