Category: Uncategorized

No Destination: Les églises de Paris

Paris, as well as its churches, are filled with history. There are several beautiful churches in Paris.

First Christian Church, Paris, Ky.

The First Christian Church in Paris was first organized in 1827. The beginning of the “Christian Church” actually began nearby in Bourbon County at the Cane Ridge Revival in 1801. The early congregation hosted leaders of the movement, Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell. The church is set on a slight hill and is the church’s third structure. Built in the Romanesque style, it was dedicated in 1902.

Annunciation Catholic Church, Paris, Ky.

The Catholic Church in Paris has lovely grounds with a garden walk. The cornerstone of this beautiful church was laid in 1858 by the first bishop of Covington, Bishop Carrell; the church was completed in 1861 and dedicated under the “Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” And as always, I love that Catholic Churches are open for prayer during the day!

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Paris, Ky.

Finally, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is located next to the Duncan Tavern. I can’t find much information about the history of this church, but I know it has a gorgeous sanctuary (my wife used to have her voice recitals there). Being so close to both Duncan Tavern and the Bourbon County Courthouse, one must know that it was a house of worship for many early leaders in the area.

Menifee County Courthouse – Frenchburg, Ky.


I really enjoyed Frenchburg. I’m not sure why, but it had a really pleasant small-town feel. It’s in the middle of NOWHERE, and its quite a pretty drive. I was on my way to court, and was pretty excited when I saw this courthouse. It’s unlike any other courthouse I’ve yet seen. According to The Kentucky Encyclopedia, it was built in 1928, and its entrance resembles a Gothic castle tower, topped by a colonial cupola. Its really striking.

As Peter mentioned in an earlier post, Menifee County is actually misspelled, which had to be pretty embarrassing back in the day. They were trying to name the county after Richard Menefee, a brilliant young politician who tragically died at the age of 32.

No Destination: Cumberland Gap Tunnel

Cumberland Gap Tunnel (Tennessee Portal), Cumberland Gap, Tenn.

Traveling between Middlesboro, Ky. and Cumberland Gap, Tenn. used to be quite a dangerous trip; old US 25E was nicknamed “Massacre Mountain” because of the number of fatalities occurring on the windy road. Today, that path has been restored to nature and is a hiking path. There is a great 33-photo-tour of the old US 25E soon after it was closed and the ‘restoration to nature’ project began. Here is a photo in 2002 of students planting saplings in the old roadbed. Of course, this old pass – one of only three natural paths through the Appalachians – “served as a gateway in prehistoric times, when Native Americans used it as a footpath and buffalo used it to seek greener pastures.” [*]

Vehicular travel now travels under the mountain through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel. Begun in 1991 and opened in 1996, there are two two-lane tubes with each traveling 4,600 feet.  During construction, subterranean mountain streams would have pumped hundreds of gallon every minute into the tubes. As a result, the tubes are lined with thick PVC piping. [*] The total project to construct the tunnel ran $280 million (the project was about 2x budget).

Interestingly, the Cumberland Gap Tunnel is one of only two tunnels in the United States that traverse a state line (the other is on I-77 between W. Va. and Va.). Although the old US 25E meandered also through Virginia, the tunnels do not (though they are mere yards away). [* – great link on planning, construction details]

Note: Yes. The photo was taken of the Tennessee portal, but the Kentucky portal looks about the same. And the latter is in Bell County. So there.

No Destination: Paris Cemetery

Gateway to the Paris Cemetery. Paris, Ky.

Driving from Lexington to Paris, one cannot help but notice the magnificent Gothic Revival entrance to the Paris Cemetery. Established in 1847, the cemetery’s entrance was completed in 1862. The entrance was designed by architect John McMurtry (McMurtry also designed a gateway for the Lexington Cemetery pictured here but that was torn down in 1890).

Buried in the Paris Cemetery are several notables. Among them Associate Justice to the Supreme Court Robert Trimble (for whom Trimble County is named); CSA Gov. Richard Hawes (Kentucky’s Second Confederate Governor in a pseudo-state government); Sen. Garrett Davis (credited with keeping Kentucky from seceding); and John Fox, Jr. (author of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the first book in American literature to sell over one million copies).

The oldest headstone in the cemetery is that of Elisha Ford, who died in 1807. Upon the establishment of the Paris Cemetery, many smaller cemeteries in town were closed and the bodies exhumed and transferred to the new Paris Cemetery. [*]

walkLEX: Bluegrass Airport Runway 9-27

My lil Kaintuckeean headed down the runway, Lexington, Ky.

Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport hosted this month’s Second Sunday (a monthly event in Lexington; once a year in October around the state) which is designed to get people out exercising. The new Runway 9-27 is 4,000 feet long and was the perfect venue for the event. People had bicycles, roller blades, roller skates, skateboards and scooters. There were old WWII era planes on display and various emergency vehicles were also present. The biggest hit was probably the LFUCG ambulance since its patient area is air conditioned (a plus in 90-degree weather!)

Runway 9-27 replaces the old runway, 8-26, from which the ill-fated Comair Flight 191 took off. Runway 9-27 is expected to open for general aviation traffic in August – just in time for the World Equestrian Games. Here’s what the Herald-Leader had to say.

Happy Weekend. Kentucky Notes of the Week

Vintage base ball appeared in Georgetown at the historic Ward Hall. [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Second Sunday in Lexington will be celebrated on the airport runway this weekend. Take advantage of this – when else can you play on a runway? [Tom Eblen]

Explore the folklore of burgoo, a traditional and almost exclusively-Kentucky dish. [History Burgoo]

The teahouse of Elmwood Inn in Perryville is profiled by Hometown Tours [WTVQ]

Bourbon tastings might still come to the World Equestrian Games. [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Columbia’s Steakhouse is a 62-year veteran of Lexington’s dining scene. Yum. [Ace Weekly]

The Distillery District in Lexington gets a new roadside historical marker and its history is profiled. [BizLex]

The mixed-use/condo market of Lexington is analyzed with the contrast of recent wins and fails in various greater-downtown projects. [BizLex]

CentrePointe developers are retooling the design, but not enough. Plus there are some serious questions left to be answered. [Lowell’s]

$3 million streetscape project will beautify the Second Street area adjacent to Louisville’s new Yum! Arena. [Courier Journal]

The Governor addresses the convention of the Future Farmers of America; informs the FFA that Kentucky farmers are essential to food, power supplies. [Governor’s Blog]

The Kentucky Hall of Governors at Frankfort’s Kentucky History Center will be getting a $215,000 upgrade with “a more modern approach.” [Bluegrass Politics]

No Destination: Union College

Union College’s Centennial Hall, Barbourville, Ky.

Barbourville’s Union College is one of the state’s smallest. Its campus is 100 acres; its undergraduate student body only counts 600+ and about 1000 graduate students. [*]. Despite its small size, it is a fine campus with several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Union College was founded in 1879 by the citizens of Barbourville who believed that “education was the path to leadership.”

Among these is Centennial Hall (originally, the Classroom Building). The structure, pictured above, was completed in 1907. From the College’s 1911-1912 catalogue:

This magnificent and spacious three-story building, constructed of brick and concrete, and trimmed with Tennessee marble. The building is steam-heated and lighted by electricity … and is scientifically ventilated to insure plenty of good fresh air. In is are the classrooms, the library, the President’s office, the chapel, and laboratories. The classrooms are fifteen in number. Each is equipped with single desks and slate blackboards of ample size. From the President’s office are speaking-tubes to each room, and also electrical connections, so that a modern program clock situated in the office rings automatically in each room the bells for the change of classes and other signals. The chapel is commodious and is seated with comfortable opera chairs. There are three laboratories – Chemical, Physical, and Biological. These are equipped throughout with modern apparatus and enable the student to do unusually through work in science.

Union College’s most notable alumnus is Nobel laureate Phillip Allen Sharp who won the 1993 award in physiology/medicine for his research on gene-splicing. Born in Falmouth (Pendleton County), Sharp was also awarded the National Award for Science in 2004.

walkLEX: Centrepointe Proposal 2.0

Rendering of Proposed Centrepointe, Lexington, Ky.

Yesterday, Dudley Webb unveiled his modified proposal for the Centrepointe development (47 page PDF). The modification includes several major changes. Most notably, the “peak and spire” design is gone being replaced with a flat top roof and a 60-foot flag poll. The original proposal was to be about 500 feet tall (35 stories); the modified structure just under 290 feet (23 stories). BizLex has a good summary of the differences in the two proposals, but Herald-Leader columnist Tom Eblen points out the obvious: with the economy in its current state, he doesn’t “expect to see it rise out of the pasture anytime soon.”

The proposal emphasizes the incorporation of and reinterpretation of historical architectural styles. The proposed structure is immensely better than the original proposal, but I’m still not entirely certain how the structure will complement the rest of downtown or how it will be uniquely Lexington. Although the tower doesn’t rise adjacent to the sidewalk, it is close to the Main Street side questioning what shadows it might cast.

Plus, I’ve posted before on my growing fondness of the downtown horse fence. It truly would be a great area for a 1.7 acre downtown park (a real park, with trails, etc.). That said, the proposal does offer the site for use by Spotlight Lexington and other downtown festivities associated with the World Equestrian Games.

Rendering from Kentucky.com as modified from the Centrepointe Application.

No Destination: Three States Cornerstone

Near the Boundary Marker of TN, KY & VA in Cumberland Gap, Tenn.

At the top of Tri-State Peak is the cornerstone of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Dr. Thomas Walker and Colonel Richard Henderson first surveyed this site in 1779. A National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark marker notes the Royal Colonial Boundary of 1665. The marker is at an elevation of 1,990 feet.

When Dr. Walker, for Virginia, and Col. Henderson, for North Carolina,  surveyed the land, the two states disputed the rights to lands west of the mountains.  The region was proposed to be part of the never-successful colony of Vandalia and the non-state of Westsylvania. Also, Col. Henderson is the same who purchased the non-state of Transylvania from the Cherokee in 1775, but which purchase was invalidated by Virginia the following year. The present state lines and boundaries were settled by compromise in 1802 and the Supreme Court’s decision, Tennessee v. Virginia, 190 U.S. 64 (1903), finally approved the location.

From the Tennessee roadside marker  pictured above, it is only 1.5 miles to Bell County, Kentucky and the Tri-State Peak.