Tag: Fayette

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was Delivered Seven Score and Ten Years Ago

Mural of Abraham Lincoln in downtown Lexington, Ky.

One hundred fifty years ago today, Kentucky native and sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the national cemetery near the site of the battle which changed the course of the Civil War.

Last week, a mural in downtown Lexington was painted by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra. It is a spectacular, modern look at the well known form of the seated Lincoln just as he is immortalized at his Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The words of Lincoln, now 150 years a part of our nation’s history:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Sears, Roebuck & Co.: An 85 Year Affair in Lexington, Ky.

Sears Roebuck, 1934. Photo: UKY (KDL).

In 1893, Richard Warren Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck collaborated on a mail order catalogue under the name Sears, Roebuck & Co. In 1894, the catalogue was 322 pages in length and featured farm implements, clothing, automobiles and even “vibrators for treating female hysteria.”

The successful business began opening brick-and-mortar stores in 1925 and the first Sears, Roebuck & Company store opened in Lexington in 1928 at 250-256 East Main. It was one of many department stores on Lexington’s busy Main Street.

In those days, success seemed to follow everything touched by Sears. In only two years, the Lexington store doubled its floor space and added several departments. Another addition, this time in 1932, added a full line of farm implements.

Outgrowing space opportunities in its location on the south side of Main Street, Sears relocated in 1934 to 213 East Main Street. The photograph above shows employees of the Brock Electrical Company installing the Sears & Roebuck Company sign at the new location that year.  The site is now occupied by the Chase Bank Building.

The changing face of America required the Sears, Roebuck & Co. to face modern realities beginning in 1939. The popularity of the automobile was ever-increasing and Sears capitalized on the transition by constructing a $12,000 service station at the site of the old Morton Junior High School, Short and Walnut Streets.

“The new super-service station of Sears, Roebuck and Company, conveniently located in down-town Lexington at Short and Walnut Streets is attracting motorists by the thousands. Fine service combined with high grade products and efficient workmanship and money saving prices are the reasons … for such splendid patronage.” (Lexington Leader, 17 Aug. 1940. (p. 3., col. 3-4)).

In addition to the service station, Sears offered another amenity for its customers: free parking. Even in 1940, businesses and cities were beginning to experience the challenges associated with limited parking facilities. As cities like Lexington grew in numbers and out into the suburbs, the automobile became a more major competitor for space in a confined downtown area. To satisfy this growing need, Lexington lose many historic buildings over the decades to follow. In 1956, Sears would open on East Short the cities largest parking lot: 145 spaces.

In 1950, Lexington’s Sears began to carry the newly introduced “non-bolt-down automatic washer and automatic clothes dryer.” Together with an ironer, the mid-century Lexington housewife could own a complete automatic, electrical home laundry.

Americans sought convenience and Sears, Roebuck & Co. recognized the market and capitalized on it. In fact, when Sears executives visited Lexington in the autumn of 1950, one remarked that “Lexington is one of the most promising markets in the United States.” And so it was as Lexington was entering into one of its most significant periods of growth.

Fayette Mall floor plan featuring Sears (CBL)

That growth, of course, again fueled a change in consumer demands. The growing suburban population sought to have amenities closer to them … and with more available parking. Sears recognized the change in consumer appetite and, in 1967, planned to relocate into a new 45-acre shopping center site on the southwestern corner of Harrodsburg Road and Mason-Headley.

Though approved by the zoning commission, the Trapp Center never materialized due to lawsuits filed by nearby residents. Another location was sought and, as they say, the rest is history.

Sears became one of the original anchors at Fayette Mall (the others were Cincinnati-based Shillito’s and Louisville-based Stewart’s). And since, Fayette Mall has gone through multiple expansions. The retail climate, however, has changed and Sears has opted to close its operations at Fayette Mall.

The auto center is already shuttered and the “store closing” sales abound. Next year, the old Sears store will have been remodeled into a collection of smaller stores and restaurants which are believed to include a two-story H&M, a Cheesecake Factory, a Lego store, and more.

So while a new chapter is being written at Fayette Mall, we won’t forget this community’s 85 year history with Sears.

“Business and Businesses.” Lexington Herald, 7 Dec. 1939 (p. 16, col. 8); 6 Sept. 1956 (p. 28, col. 2); 20 Oct. 1968 (p. 1, col. 3); “Fine products, prompt service featured at Sears new station.” Lexington Leader, 17 Aug. 1940 (p. 3, col. 3-4); “Free parking lot provided for patrons at Sears store.” Lexington Leader, 15 Feb. 1941 (p. 2, col. 3-4); “Sears Roebuck executives visit Lexington.” Lexington Leader, 20 Oct. 1950 (p. 17, col. 1-3); “Sears now distributed complete home laundries.” Lexington Leader, 25 March 1950 (p. 2., col. 6-7); “Sears-Roebuck to open new addition.” Lexington Leader, 11 June 1930 (p. 2, col. 3); “Sears, Roebuck Expands Store.” Lexington Leader, 20 February 1932 (p. 3, col. 5); “Sears to expand services with store opening on Thursday.” Lexington Leader, 26 June 1940. (p. 17, col. 1-2); “Trapp Center Denied; Sears Zoning Attacked.” Lexington Herald, 25 Aug. 1967 (p. 1, col. 3); 28 July 1967 (p. 1, col. 6).

The Haunting of Transylvania – Happy Halloween!

A Haunted Old Morrison Hall at Transylvania University – Lexington, Ky.

On this All Hallows’ Eve (aka Halloween), I remind you of the former professor of Transylvania University who cast a spell upon the school and is buried in the crypt beneath Old Morrison. Of course with a name like Transylvania, the school embraces this autumnal holiday.

Check out these great photos of their decorations and pumpkin carvings that annually are placed on the steps of Old Morrison.

The story of Professor Constantine Rafinesque is after the jump.

Jack-O-Lantern’s on the steps of Old Morrison – Lexington, Ky.

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.

VisCenter Opens Eyes to New Ways of Seeing the World

Davis Marksbury Building at the University of Kentucky – Lexington, Ky.

If you’ve ever Whenever you watch a college football or basketball game, you always see the commercial for the university. Typically in three parts, the school’s marketing team includes a scene from the school’s athletics tradition, a scientist looking into a microscope, and a group of students helping those in a third world country. Insert a tagline and maybe a #hashtag, and you’ve aced college marketing.

But in some corners of academia, really cool stuff does happen. At the University of Kentucky, one of those places is the Center for Visualization & Virtual Environments located in the Davis Marksbury Building. The VisCenter, as it is called, is a multi-disciplinary center charged with changing the way in which we view the world. (And the Marksbury Building, opened in 2011, was the first LEED Gold building on the UK campus.)

The applications stretch through medicine, security and defense, engineering, and the humanities. On last month’s Blue Grass Trust deTour, we were given access to this tremendous (and largely unknown) resource right in the heart of UK.

The advances occurring in facial recognition and the research being done to help educate those with autism is amazing, but the focus of our visit was on the visualization possibilities on urbanization and historic preservation.

Illustrating a stage in the photogrammetric 3D reconstruction process at the VisCenter

Photogrammetric 3D Reconstruction utilizes two-dimensional photography to reconstruct three-dimensional structures with precision by having a camera that can properly gauge distance. (I’m not the one to explain this, go to the VisCenter’s site for a better description). As it was explained, one could imagine the proper technology being mounted to a vehicle to create full 3D measurements of a structure or some other resource. Precise models of historic or natural sites could be created so that, if necessary, a model or recreation of the site could eventually made. At a minimum, the data utilization is endless!

In the realm of preserving relics and documents, consider the following explanation of the research on Digital Preservation and Visualization of Historical Artifacts: We are in race to use 21st century technology to preserve the traces of ancient cultures before the relics disappear forever. The EDUCE project (Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration) is developing a hardware and software system for the virtual unwrapping and visualization of ancient texts. The overall purpose is to capture in digital form fragile 3D texts, such as ancient papyrus and scrolls of other materials using a custom built, portable, multi-power CT scanning device and then to virtually “unroll” the scroll using image algorithms, rendering a digital facsimile that exposes and makes legible inscriptions and other markings on the artifact, all in a non-invasive process.

Images from the all-digital Porgy & Bess set design.

All of these advances are quite remarkable. So, too, is the technology that created an all-digital backdrop for a UK Opera production of Porgy & Bess. The technology trekked to Atlanta for use by the professional Atlanta Opera. Images of that technology were visible to those of us on the deTour on a giant touchscreen table similar to what you might see on election night on CNN.

A trip to the VisCenter for an adult is like a visit to Disney World for a child. The sense of wonder is overwhelming as you imagine a different way of seeing the world.

More photographs from the VisCenter are available on flickr.


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Learn more details about this exciting group on Facebook! You can also see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

A Plaque for the Friendliest Pooch, Smiley Pete.

Smiley Pete Plaque - Lexington, Ky.
Smiley Pete Plaque – Lexington, Ky.

Two plaques in downtown Lexington recall Lexington’s friendliest pooch, Smiley Pete. He was a roving landmark with a grin resembling a human smile. For that, his nickname was “Smiley.”

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.

Smiley Pete Plaque - Lexington, Ky.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)

Murder and Intrigue at Lexington’s old Yocum Motor Lodge

Yocum Lodge, 1229 S. Limestone – Lexington, Ky.
Photo: Lafayette Studios / U. of Kentucky (KDL)

When I stumbled upon the image of the Yocum Lodge, I must admit that I had no recollection of the building which was demolished in June of 1988 (two years before I moved to Kentucky).

All guesses to last week’s #ThrowbackThursday were accurate, with the winner being The Streetsweeper. As always, the ‘Sweeper provided a bit more insight:

A house of ill repute, eh?

Apparently, the sad tales of the old Yocum Lodge don’t end there. On Mother’s Day in 1984, a woman visiting her boyfriend who had a room at the old lodge was gunned down by a trio of criminals who were quickly caught on flight in Connecticut thanks to an FBI advisory. The details are contained in news accounts and I won’t recreate them here, but the tragedy was made more profound simply by the presence of the victim’s one-year old son.

University Inn – Lexington, Ky.
Photo: Fayette PVA

Seem’s very Dexteresque.

This tragic site was dozed over about four years later and is now occupied by the University Inn hotel which was constructed in 1997. The location is across South Limestone from the University of Kentucky at Waller Avenue.

A proposed apartment complex had been proposed for the site a few years before, but community efforts and city planners derailed the proposal.

Stay tuned for another #TBT tomorrow.

Beautiful Architecture and Rich History of Transylvania Revealed from Simple Marker

Marker affixed to a Stone at Gratz Park – Lexington, Ky.

In the lawn of Gratz Park, the children of James Lane Allen play while nearby a memorial plaque honors:

Transylvania
Pioneer College of the West
Founded by Legislature of Virginia – 1780
Moved to this Site – 1793
Erected by Bryan Station Chapter N.S.D.A.R. – 1931
To the uninitiated, the marker may seem out of place surrounded by the historic homes of Gratz Park while the stately Morrison Hall of Transylvania serves as the icon of the school that spreads north from Third Street. But it is here in Gratz Park that Transylvania flourished and with it the seat of knowledge that made Lexington the Athens of the West. 
The Main Building of Transylvania was “the crowning architectural jewel of this square.” It was designed by architect Matthew Kennedy and evidence of its style appears on an “elevation and first-floor plan rendering for the project, signed and dated ’18th April 1816′.”
Of the Main Building, Clay Lancaster wrote in in his Vestiges of the Venerable City,

a building with a wide pedimented central motif, with the first story given a basement treatment and te second and third stories laced by four engaged columns and two pilasters. Lower openings are arched, and a host of chimneys rises from the long, plain roof with end gable. … Its center pavilion was pedimented, it contained a fan window in the tympanum, a balustrade surmounted the cornice to the hipped roof elsewhere, and an elaborate cupola climaxed the composition. The topmost elements – the lantern with its colonnettes, finial urns, and bulbous roof and vane, and the balustrade – were Georgian Baroque in the manner of Sir Christopher Wren and considerably more old-fashioned than the Classic deliniation would have been; but together they comprised a more pleading form.

Restoration sketch of Gratz Park by Clay Lancaster, Vestiges of the Venerable City.

A fire in May of 1829 marked the end of the Main Building and only its east dependency (a supporting structure) remains today as it serves as the home of the Blue Grass Trust. When Transylvania was reconstituted and the work of the school continued, it did so on the north side of Third Street with construction of Old Morrison beginning in 1831.

Our marker also suggests and earlier home for Transylvania with it having been formed in 1780 by the Virginia Legislature and moving to the site thirteen years later. As has been noted here before, the Transylvania Academy was first established in Danville. One of its first Transy trustees was Willis Green, whose Danville home is a historic gem currently for sale by a consortium of preservation-minded organizations.

A lot of history hidden on that little marker affixed to a stone in Gratz Park…

A Motor Lodge in Lexington #TBT

The “Motor Lodge” or “Motor Court” was a common site on America’s highways and byways decades ago as small numbers of lodgers would find comfort for the night.

In fact, Col. Sanders operated such a site in Corbin. The fried chicken served in the cafe at his motor court became the basis, of course, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

A number of such lodges or courts were in Lexington, including the one above. Though the building was torn down in favor or a larger sense of lodging, you may recognize its location?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Early John Wayne Western Part of Double Feature at the State Theatre #TBT

Double Feature at the State Theatre (1933)
Photo: Lafayette Studios Collection, U. of Kentucky (KDL)

With the announcement that the Kentucky Theatre will soon be closing for its first major renovation in a couple decades, it is important to remember her little neighbor that has become part of the two-screen gem at the heart of Lexington: the State Theatre.

The 80-year old photo above depicts a large number of children gathered on Main Street in Lexington under the marquee of the State Theatre. The “Two Feature Picture” includes The Phantom of Crestwood which was released on October 14, 1932 and Haunted Gold which was released on December 17, 1932.

The latter film depicted John Wayne as John Mason in what is considered an early Wayne western. Apparently, Mason returned to the Sally Ann mine to collect his share.

Do you have fond memories of the State Theatre? Share them in the comments!

And the answer to last week’s #ThrowbackThursday puzzler:

Last Week: 

A good number of you guessed the correct location of the old Coca-Cola bottling plant on Lexington’s West Short Street. A handy clue was the extant antique store and Catholic church which remained in the right edge of the frame. 
Now at this location are the Opera House Square town homes. So everyone there should pay homage to history and stock their fridges with a little Coca-Cola. 
Congrats to Brian who was the first to correctly guess the location of the old bottling plant, even if he (and everyone else) waited until Sunday to take a look!

Bell Court is one of Lexington’s loveliest neighborhoods

The BGT deTour of Bell Court – Lexington, Ky.

About one mile east of the courthouse is one of Lexington’s small, closely knit neighborhoods: Bell Court. Upon even a cursory exploration of the neighborhood, one can understand a portion of its history. The presence of the impressive mansion at the heart of this little community bears witness to the pattern common in Lexington of “subdividing the parks and pleasure grounds of its great antebellum houses.” Birchfield, 83.

A collection of photos of properties in Bell Court as well as our guide, Jim Birchfield. 

The good news is that in the case of Bell Court, the original mansions were not razed. Note that the plural is used because two of the old mansions remain. Each is surrounded by examples of early twentieth-century architecture of the Queen Anne, Romanesque, Arts and Craft and Colonial Revival architectural styles.

And like its variety of architectural styles, the neighborhood has drawn a variety of middle- and upper- class Lexingtonians from different walks of life to create a vibrant sense of community that has been enhanced by a strong neighbhood association (active since 1964).

And while each house in Bell Court has its own beautiful story, constraints now limit their telling. What follows are the stories of Bell Place, Clay Villa, and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

Bell Place (ca. 1890)

The primary property in the neighborhood is Bell Place which was constructed on the foundation of Woodside. Woodside had been designed and built by local architect Thomas Lewinski for Henry Bell on thirty-five acres of land which Bell had acquired for $8,750 in 1845. The land had originally been part of the 1,000 acres owned by Col. John Todd.

The planning and building of Woodside required eighteen months work and was completed in 1846. In 1848, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln visited with her mother and wrote in a letter to the future President:

Ma & myself rode out to Mr. Bell’s splendid place this afternoon to return a call. The house and grounds are magnificent. Birchfield, 87.

Upon his death in 1883, Henry Bell conveyed the thirty five acres and Residence to his only son, David Davis Bell (D.D. Bell). Lewinski had passed the year before and was thus unavailable to help D.D. Bell in rebuilding the family home after it burned in 1884.

Photos of the Bell House – Lexington, Ky.

Bell retained Cincinnati architect Samuel Eugene Des Jardins whose 23-page specifications for construction contains frequent “superlative of adjective and adverb [but] nowhere any requirement for economies.” Birchfield, 90-91. In other words, cost was not an issue.

The wealthy Bell was an attorney and an astute observer of Lexington’s growth. To these ends, he formulated a plan in the early 1890s to have a portion of his lands (retaining several acres around the residence) subdivided. D.D. Bell died, however, before this could be accomplished though a directive in his will prompted his widow to accomplish these aims with profits being placed in trust for their only child. Clara’s life and wealth were well-documented in a post on Bricks + Mortar.

Clay Villa (ca. 1846)

The earliest home in Bell Court was the contemporary to Woodside. In fact, Thomas Lewinski’s journals indicate that he worked on designing both Woodside and Clay Villa contemporaneously.

Clay Villa illustration by Clay Lancaster, “Vestiges of the
Venerable City,” 1978.

The Lewinski design was commissioned by Henry Clay for his son, James. (Interestingly, Clay also took the opportunity to commission Mansfield for son Thomas at also at the same time. Lewinski must have been quite busy in the 1840s!).

From the National Register application, we observe that Clay Villa is

Italianate in style with Greek Revival details, [it is] a square symmetrical brick house with hipped roof and four long interior panel chimneys; its walls are divided into three sections by applied segmental arches between wide pilaster-like forms with narrow vertical panels. NRHP.

Collage of Clay Villa. With a Forest Avenue address (frontage at top), the original
configuration would have faced Main Street (lower left).

It was James who would, after his father’s death, raze and rebuild Ashland which had reputed to have fallen into disrepair.

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd –
Lexington, Ky.

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd (ca. 1925)

Formed as a mission of the Christ Church in 1888, the cornerstone for the Episcopal Church at Main Street and Forest Avenue was laid on August 30, 1925. The tale told of the funding of its construction is interesting, as told in the National Register application:

The fortunes of the church were given a great boost in 1924 when the Reverend Thomas L. Settles became the first and most effective clergyman to speak to the State Legislature against the anti-pari-mutual bill, thus gaining the support of followers of the turf. Wealth and prominent leaders of the horse industry, many not members of the church, began to support the ambitious building plans of Settle and the building committee, and the sanctuary was completed in 1926.

There are 39 major stained glass windows in this beautiful Gothic Revival house of God.

Additional photographs of the Bell Court neighborhood and its magnificent resources can be found on flickr.

Again, special thanks to our tour guide of Bell Court: local historian and curator of rare books in Special Collections at the UK Library, Jim Birchfield.


The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart). The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Learn more details about this exciting group on Facebook! You can also see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.