Tag: LostLexington

Go Vote Where Politics is the Damnedest

One of the most popular posts on this site has been the text from James Hillary Mulligan’s poem, In Kentucky, which I posted on election day, 2010. Today I make the same plea I made four years ago: get out and VOTE!

Today, I’ll give a little more background on the man who delivered the poem as it is recalled in my new book, Lost Lexington which is available on shelves today.

Judge James Hillary Mulligan * 

One of the great moments in the Phoenix Hotel’s storybook involves a speech delivered to a group of legislators by Judge James Mulligan. James Hillary Mulligan was the son of Dennis Mulligan, an Irish Catholic political boss whose machine swiftly controlled much of Kentucky. Dennis Mulligan gave his son a home on Rose Street as a wedding gift. The residence, known as Maxwell Place, has served as the home for the president of the University of Kentucky since it was purchased from the Mulligan estate by the college in 1917.

During his own career, James Mulligan reached high levels of political power, including a stint as speaker of the house in Kentucky’s general assembly. He preferred, however, the title of “judge” in deference to the position he attained in his legal career.

Mulligan also served as the consul general in the American Samoa and held positions in the United States Treasury Department. The Lexington Leader wrote that he was “a shrewd looking man, even through his spectacles, and has an air of always being alert. The Judge loves to debate, has a penchant for thoroughbreds, does not care for society, and can make a better humorous or satirical speech than any man in the state of Kentucky.”

It was that humorous and satirical spirit which provided Mulligan his greatest legacy. In the ballroom of the Phoenix Hotel in February 1902, Mulligan spoke before a number of state legislators. To conclude his toast, “he drew from his pocket, as if drawing a deadly weapon, dangerous-looking type written manuscript, and peering over his glasses with a smile of satisfaction that amounted almost to a leer, read” his poem, In Kentucky:

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.

The poem has seven verses and you can read them all here.

This post is based on an excerpt about the Phoenix Hotel from LOST LEXINGTON, KY.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.
Where to purchase LOST LEXINGTON?

Lost Lexington Hits Shelves & Tonight’s Event

Lost Lexington is front and center at the
Morris Book Shop

Today’s Monday morning update includes a few notes about Lost Lexington, which will officially be available tomorrow (November 4).

But you don’t need to wait: you can pick up the book at tonight’s book signing and discussion on historic preservation hosted by the Blue Grass Trust (details below) on shelves at local bookstores like Morris Book Shop.

For information about all the upcoming author events and for information about where you can purchase the book, visit Lost Lexington’s page. You can (and should) also “LIKE” Lost Lexington on Facebook!

And in case you missed it, check out Tom Eblen’s awesome write up about Lost Lexington in yesterday’s Lexington Herald-Leader.

Now a few details about tonight’s event at the Blue Grass Trust:

The Blue Grass Trust presents Peter Brackney and his book “Lost Lexington” Monday, November 3 @ 5:30 pm: Book Signing, Panel Discussion, and Sip & Nosh, at the Thomas Hunt Morgan House, 210 N. Broadway.

The evening will begin at 5:30 pm at the BGT’s newly-acquired Thomas Hunt Morgan House at 210 N. Broadway with Sips & Nosh and a Book Signing. 

Thomas Hunt Morgan House, site of tonight’s event. Photo: BGT 

At 6:00 pm, Mr. Brackney will speak about his book “Lost Lexington”, followed by a panel discussion about preservation in Lexington and the Bluegrass. The book signing, and sips & nosh will conclude at 7:30 pm. Event guests may take advantage of free parking in the lots at both the Thomas Hunt Morgan and the Hunt-Morgan Houses. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the programs of the BGT. 

You can RSVP for this event by calling the BGT at 859/253.0362 or on Facebook.

About Lost Lexington: Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants ae unknown to natives now. Join local blogger, attorney and preservationist Peter Brackney as he explores the intriguing back stories of these hidden Bluegrass treasures. The foreword of “Lost Lexington” was penned by Mayor Jim Gray.

Win a Free Copy of Lost Lexington!

In a week, Lost Lexington hits bookshelves. You should be able to pick up a copy at your favorite Lexington-area bookseller, order online, or buy it directly from the author if you see me out and about! Details about retailers, including preorder links, are available by clicking here.

There are a few author events scheduled, hosted by the Blue Grass Trust, Morris Book Shop, and Barnes & Noble. Details about each of these events are available by clicking here.

After the jump, check out the link to Lost Lexington’s Facebook page and learn about your chance to WIN a FREE COPY of Lost Lexington!

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Post by Lost Lexington.

A Lost Fall Tradition: Haggins’ Huge Party at Elmendorf

Green Hills Mansion – Lexington, Ky. UK Libraries.

Fall traditions in Kentucky abound. Each community seems to have a fall festival. Grand plans are made to enjoy the rites of Keeneland and Commonwealth Stadium. Each glorious event occurring with anticipation of the next. All the while, the weather turns brisk just as leaves turn their color.

James Ben Ali Haggin
LexHistory.

But one tradition faded into the recesses of our past. But a scion of central Kentucky would make his annual pilgrimage to his Kentucky mansion for a few months before returning north again.

James Ben Ali Haggin, the Mercer County native who made his millions on California gold, consolidated his equine holdings to Fayette County in 1905. It was here, on his Elmendorf Farm, that he built Green Hills Mansion.

Green Hills was 40-rooms strong and its construction costs are estimated in today’s dollars at over $200 million. Opulence was everywhere.

And the opulence continued at the gala hosted by Haggin and his wife upon their arrival at Green Hills each autumn.

Dining Room at Green Hills. UK Libraries.

The Lexington Leader had this to say of the inaugural gala in 1902:

Unusual interest centers today in the cotillion to
be given tonight by Mr. and Mrs. Haggin at Green Hills, their palatial country place
on Elmendorf farm. Scores of guests have arrived from
nearby and distant cities and are quartered at the hotels or with friends. The
caterers and decorators have several special cars sidetracked at Muir Station,
a few miles from Elmendorf.

The next day, the morning Herald gave its notes on the “huge party.” Each year, the Haggins hosted a “festive array” for both “the Lexington and country people.” But after only a few months in the Bluegrass, Haggin and his wife annually departed Kentucky and their empire here for their New York and Rhode Island homes.

After Haggin’s death, Green Hills was sold to Joseph Widener. By 1929, the vacant home was too costly to maintain and the property taxes too steep. Green Hills was demolished leaving behind only the columns as a “mute testimony” to the grandeur that once was.

This post is based on an excerpt about the Green Hills Mansion from LOST LEXINGTON, KY.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.
Preorder LOST LEXINGTON here

The Remarkable Run of UK’s Football Program … in 1950

1950-51 Kentucky Wildcats. U. of Ky. Libraries.

With Kentucky football on the brink of 5-1 needing a home win against Louisiana-Monroe tomorrow for the best record since 2007, times feel good with Kentucky football.

Historically, that isn’t an emotion we’ve gotten to ride very often.

But if you go back a little over half a century, you’ll find the greatest year for athletics at the University of Kentucky.

Bear Bryant, ca. 1950. U. of Ky. Libraries.

The familiar part of the
story is tied, of course, to basketball. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the UK Wildcats defeated Kansas State’s squad in the NCAA finals. It was the third tourney win for Adolph Rupp’s team which finished its season with a 32-2 record.

But on the gridiron, Bear Bryant’s Wildcats fought out a 10-1 record during the regular season and were destined for a Sugar Bowl matchup against the the University of Oklahoma.

In those days, final football national media rankings were determined prior to the bowl seasonAs a result, the national championship nod was given to the Oklahoma Sooners. But the Wildcats wouldn’t cooperate during on New Years Day 1951 in New Orleans. The following video clip from the news reel contains highlight from the matchup.


Vito Parilli passes the football during 1951 Sugar Bowl
U. of Ky. Libraries.

So under the arm of quarterback Babe Parilli, #8 Kentucky soundly clinched victory over the #1 ranked Sooneers. Hindsight, being 20/20, utilized the computer algorithms of Jeff Sagarain to recompute rankings of historic football squads, inclusive of their bowl records. Recomputed, Kentucky’s Sugar Bowl victory made it the National Champions for the 1950-51 football season!

In either event, there is no doubt that it would have been an exciting time on campus. Coaches Adolph Rupp and Bear Bryant both earned well-deserved welcomes in Lexington as they each brought significant trophies home to the University of
Kentucky.

Go Cats!

This post is based on an excerpt about Stoll Field & McLean Stadium from LOST LEXINGTON, KY.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.
Preorder LOST LEXINGTON here

The Horse Cemetery: Hamburg’s Last Vestige of Itself

Hamburg Horse Cemetery on Sir Barton Way, Lexington. Author’s Collection.

In the shadow of the Super Walmart at Hamburg Place in northeast Lexington is a small cemetery of famed equines. Hamburg was once a massive horse farm which encompassed some 2,000 acres. The horse cemetery is seemingly all that is left of the site’s heritage.

And the horse cemetery isn’t even in its original location for it has been moved a few hundred yards from its original site which is now the parking lot for the aforementioned Walmart.

Birdseye View of Hamburg Place. U. of Ky Libraries.

The origin of Hamburg Place began in 1898, when John Madden purchased 235 acres along the Winchester Pike. Madden, a successful thoroughbred trainer and owner, named his farm Hamburg after his horse of the same name, which had been sold and the proceeds from which were used to acquire the farm. Although John Madden died in 1929, his family continued his legacy and success.

That is, until development became too tempting.

In the late 1990s, development began by Madden’s family.

Lamenting the loss, a 2000 publication by the Sierra Club suggested that “the conversion of Hamburg Place, a historic farm outside of Lexington, is emblematic of the changes that poorly planned growth is bringing to Kentucky.” The report went on to note that “where once there were 400 acres of trees and pasture there is now an Old Navy clothing franchise and lots of parking.”

Although, the names of Madden’s horses – among them Old Rosebud, Sir Barton, Alysheba, Star Shoot and Pink Pigeon – can be found on Hamburg’s street signs, it is the cemetery which is the most tangible reminder of what once occupied this massive expanse of land.

Monument to John Madden in Hamburg. Author’s Collection.

Buried here are many of the horses named above, each with a headstone in a circle around the central monument to Nancy Hanks.

Nancy Hanks was born in 1886 and named after the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Her great achievement as a trotter was a world’s record of 2 minutes, 4 seconds to the mile.

There is also a memorial, though not the gravesite, of founder John Madden. “The Wizard of the Turf” and the “Founder of Hamburg Place.”

This post contains excerpts from LOST LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

Lexington has dozens of well-restored landmarks, but so many more are lost forever. The famous Phoenix Hotel, long a stop for weary travelers and politicians alike, has risen from its own ashes numerous times over the past centuries. The works of renowned architect John McMurtry were once numerous around town, but some of the finest examples are gone. The Centrepointe block has been made and unmade so many times that its original tenants are unknown to natives now.

Preorder LOST LEXINGTON here

Lexington’s Downtown Lakes and Waterways

A satirical “Lake Centrepointe” rendering. Centrepitte.

Political blog Barefoot & Progressive (B&P) recently posted about a “crowdfunding campaign to build ‘Lake Centrepointe’.” B&P was highlighting the independent, crowdfunding campaign to create a “people-made oasis of calm in the middle of the city [with] opportunities for sailing, swimming, fishing – or doing nothing at all.”

The B&P article didn’t delve into the history books, but a similar proposal was actually made by developers in the 1980s (though B&P has previously mentioned the subject of Lake Lexington).

Rendering of Lake Lexington, proposed in the 1980s. Barefoot & Progressive.

Lake Lexington would have created a visible and usable water feature of the historic Town Branch. I’ve made mention of this in my forthcoming book, Lost Lexington, which will be released in November:

[Lake Lexington] would have been a largely rectangular lake in the area roughly bounded by the Jefferson Street viaduct to the east, Main Street to the north, what is now the Oliver Lewis Way Bridge to the west and Manchester Street to the south. Developers of this proposal envisioned having Rupp Arena reoriented toward the new lake. A few slips included in the design suggested the possibility that sailboats, canoes or even some motorized vessels might take to Lake Lexington.

But just because two lakes (one imaginery and one not produced) haven’t materialized doesn’t mean that something isn’t afoot.

The Break Room at Pepper, part of the Distillery District. Behind the fence is the Town Branch.
Behind the building is a great patio overlooking said creek. Author’s collection.

Perhaps the most exciting news in terms of Lexington’s waterfront is what is presently occurring in the Distillery District. Multiple businesses are in the works with patio seating overlooking Lexington’s historic waterway.

The Break Room, Ethereal Brewing, Middle Fork Kitchen, and the Barrel House Distillery are truly making something of this incredible part of town that not long ago was just an industrial wasteland. And behind that wasteland was the historic (and surprisingly beautiful and peaceful) Town Branch.

And speaking of crowdsourcing, there is a public art project underfoot. There’s about 20 days left to help put a massive mural along the old barrel warehouse. Imagine the public art that could be fit on a 270-foot wide canvas?

20,000 square feet of public art. In one location. In Lexington. Where do I sign up for that? Actually, click on the crowd sourcing box on the right to find out more about the project and how you can help out.

Coming in November: Lost Lexington

If you’ve been missing your Kaintuckeean updates, my apologies. I’ve been busy finishing up my first book, Lost Lexington, Kentucky, which will be on shelves November 4, 2014. It is published through History Press.

I’m really excited to have received the cover design for the book and to be able to share it with you! The book is a collection of the intriguing back stories of the Bluegrass treasures that have been lost to history.

You can pre-order Lost Lexington now on amazon (click here) or wait until it is on shelves and purchase it at one of our great local bookstores! #shoplocal

You can also LIKE the book on facebook at facebook.com/lostlexington where I’ll keep followers updated on book events, etc.