Tag: Fayette

walkLEX: The Children of Downtown

Lexington has a number of statues in the downtown area. Three utilize children as their figures; one is a water-fountain and one is a fountain. Each are unique

At the Sayre School on North Limestone, two children are playing leapfrog:

At the northern end of Gratz Park, a young boy shows a young girl his sailboat as they sit atop a rock. The statue is part of a fountain. It was a gift “to the city’s children” from 19th century author and Lexingtonian James Lane Allen.

In front of the old Fayette Courthouse stands Trois Enfants dans le Font, a useful statue of three children in the nude clutching a tree (which is topped by a light fixture). Beneath the children is a water fountain for adults and at ground level, “a drink for our friend.”

walkLEX: Cheapside Park

Next to the old Fayette County Courthouse lies Cheapside Park. The park was expanded last year by the closure of a narrow street and the elimination of several on-street parking places. It was a great decision as many of the businesses along the park have added sidewalk dining and many downtown area brown-baggers (including yours truly) visit the park and its tables during our lunch hours.

Beginning next month, construction will begin on the Fifth-Third Pavilion, a glass and steel structure that will house the Lexington Farmer’s Market (as well as other functions and events). Cheapside Park has truly become a downtown center of commerce and activity (much as it was in its early history, though it was then used for the sad purpose of trading slaves). Pictured above is how Cheapside Park appears today; pictured below are artists rendering of Cheapside Park as it will appear next summer.

walkLEX: The Old Courthouse & Lexington History Museum

On my tour of the Old Fayette County Courthouse, my guide stopped to take pictures of children eating birthday cake. Whose birthday? The Lexington History Museum celebrates this month its sixth anniversary – happy birthday! During this busy day, I had the opportunity to walk and talk with Jamie Millard, the President of this great museum. Thanks to Jamie and the staff of the Museum for coordinating this tour on such a busy day!
The old Courthouse was finished in 1900 and is the fifth Courthouse to stand on the site. In the courthouse’s infancy, the the county required only one courtroom. But as dockets grew, room was made within the structure for additional courtrooms. By the 1950s, however, it was obvious that the courthouse was not sufficient absent significant change. A massive renovation of the building was done in the late 1950s.

Prior to the renovation, visitors inside the courthouse would have marveled at a grand staircase as they gazed up 107 feet to the dome ceiling. The dome, picture above, was painted a blue with dozens of lights which would have illuminated the dome – then one of Lexington’s tallest structures – and the surrounding area. The use of these electric lights in 1900 was groundbreaking; only Paris, France (the “City of Lights”) was using lightbulbs in such innovative ways. The lights would also have illuminated the beautiful interior – the carvings and paintings reminiscent of a 14th century Tibetan palace.

But during the renovations, the grand stairwell was removed and the dome sealed off. The area now below the dome is filled with HVAC and mechanical systems. Although I was disappointed that the remodeling done in the 1950s had hidden from view these great architectural attributes, Millard was quick to point out that this “adaptive reuse” resulted in the preservation of the building’s exterior. And it likely saved Lexington from having at its core a Soviet-era courthouse.

walkLEX will certainly visit the Lexington History Museum and the old Courthouse again – there is so much more to see.

walkLEX: Downtown Horse Fence


Bounded by Main, Upper, Vine and Limestone Streets lies a block of green grass and a four-rail fence. Fences like these dot the landscape of central Kentucky, but this rural landmark now appears in the heart of downtown Lexington.

The site was home to a block of buildings of varying degrees of historical importance, but with all needing significant inflows of time and money to be restored. In the end, the block was razed with the yet unfulfilled promise of a 40-story CentrePointe mixed-use development.

Regardless of its past or its uncertain future, this block (urban for 200 years) has returned for now to being undeveloped greenspace.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

walkLEX: Statue of Gen. J. H. Morgan

John Hunt Morgan Statue
Statue of Gen. John Hunt Morgan  – Lexington, Ky.

In front of the old Fayette County Courthouse (now the Lexington History Museum) stands a statute of General John Hunt Morgan, the “thunderbolt of the Confederacy.” He is mounted upon his noble steed, Black Bess. Sculpted by Pompeo Coppini in 1911, the statue is the only monument in Kentucky of the Civil War with a soldier on horseback.

As the story is told, Coppini arrived from New York for the great unveiling of his work. With dignitaries present, it was exclaimed upon the falling of the curtain that “Black Bess got balls!”

You see, Black Bess was a mare but Coppini had thought it undignified. “No hero should bestride a mare,” he had explained. An anonymous poet later wrote:

So darkness comes to Bluegrass men —
Like darkness o’er them falls —
For well we know gentlemen should show
Respect for a lady’s balls

walkLEX: Courthouse Plaza Topiary

walkLEX is the newest section of The Kaintuckeean. It will catalogue some of the sights in downtown Lexington as experienced by the authors. walkLEX is different from the Kentucky120 Project and No Destinations in that each post will focus on a small component of downtown Lexington, rather than on a town or county. This first post, on a topiary in the courthouse plaza is the perfect example.


After Nate posted about the Fayette County courthouse, Martha asked about the ‘wire horse’ located in front of the Circuit Courthouse.

I can’t figure out who designed it, but this twelve-foot tall Horse Topiary was placed in the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza in April 2009 as Lexington prepares for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Sustainable plants and flowers are slowly taking over the topiary and it should be filled in by the time the Plaza is used during the Games.

World Equestrian Games 2010


UPDATE (9-25-2010): Photographed nearly a year to the day after my original photo, you can see that the topiary is not completely filled. Even so, it is a nice accent for downtown and all the Spotlight Lexington festivities.

Fayette County Courthouse – Lexington-Fayette, Ky.

Hopefully Peter won’t be too upset, but I decided to just get Fayette over with today. Pictured below are the new Circuit and District Court buildings at the corner of Main and Limestone. They don’t bother me as much as they apparently bother others, though I do absolutely love the old courthouse above, which is now the History Center. There are TONS of stories to be told about this old courthouse (Cheapside Park, the statutes, the water fountains, etc.) but I’m going to let Peter tell you those, because he knows those stories better than I do. All I know is that this is the FIFTH courthouse to sit on this spot, and based on the pictures in some of my Lexington history books, most of them were really really beautiful buildings.
So, Peter…whatcha know?

No Destination: Athens

Leaving my home in Nicholasville, I traveled through eastern Jessamine County and southern Fayette County before arriving in the small community of Athens (pronounced with a long “A”, AY-thənz). Located in rural Fayette County (but part of Lexington-Fayette due to the 1974 merger of city and county), Athens was first settled in 1786 and was chartered in 1826.

Originally known as “Cross Plains,” it has been suggested that the name “Athens” is a reference to Lexington’s old nickname, “The Athens of the West.” The nickname was a statement of Lexington’s educational and societal strength during the early- to mid-1800s.

The village was a manufacturing center until most of the town had burned by 1860 (according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which listed the Athens historic district in 1979, a major fire occurred in 1853-54). Today, Athens is nothing more than a crossroads. The old Athens Elementary School was closed a few years ago and is now used as an antique mall.

What remains of the historic district sits at the crossroads: the Aubrey Inn (c. 1800) and the Marshall Tavern (c. 1840). These two brick structures have been well-cared for and are surprisingly imposing for this little hamlet; clear evidence of what once was.

No Destinations – May 27, 2009

On May 27, we started in Fayette County and drove through Woodford, Franklin and Scott counties. It was a fun drive with an in-depth exploration of downtown Frankfort – the state’s capital. Learned:

  • Bibb lettuce was developed in Kentucky
  • Kentucky has an “official” covered bridge; it is the Switzer covered bridge in Franklin County
  • Justice John M. Harlan, the lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson (the case established the “separate but equal” doctrine, which was repudiated in Brown v. Board of Education; ) , lived for a time in Frankfort. In his famous dissent, Harlan wrote: “But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.”