Pike – The Kaintuckeean

6 Kentucky Sites Listed on National Register of Historic Places

On March 17, 2015, the Secretary of the Interior approved the inclusion of 6 Kentucky properties into the National Register of Historic Places. The properties are located in Campbell, Jefferson, Kenton, and Pike Counties and represent Kentucky’s manufacturing, residential, entertainment, and educational past.

These six sites were previously profiled here and here. And you can read more about the National Register of Historic Places here.

Marianne Theatre

Marianne Theatre Marquee. NRHP Application.

This Bellevue, Kentucky, theatre was designed by Registered Architect Paul B. Kiel in 1941 in the Art Deco and Moderne Style. It was built by owner-manager Peter L. Smith in 1942 in the center of the 600 block of Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue, Kentucky. Already on the National Register as part of the Fairfield Avenue Historic District, the property is being indvididually listed to draw additional attention to it.

There once were over 60 neighborhood theaters in northern Kentucky and the Marianne was one of the finest.

Charles Young Park and Community Center

Charles Young Center. NRHP Application.

Across the street from Lexington’s Isaac Murphy Memorial Garden stands the Charles Young Park and Community Center. This part of Lexington’s East End is undergoing a renaissance and the Charles Young facilities stand to be a landmark in this change.

The park has been owned by the city since 1930 and the one-story brick veneered side-gable community center is an icon of Third Street. During Jim Crow-era Kentucky, segregation dictated separate community facilities for blacks. According to the nomination, the “Charles Young Park provides an important physical and spatial indication of the existence of the East End community, and the importance that a public place holds for any community— for recreation and civic gathering.”

Lynn Acres Garden Apartments

Circa 1950 Aerial of Lynn Acres. NRHP Application.

The 66 two-story apartment buildings in Louisville’s southside were constructed between 1947 and 1950. The complex includes a variety of 12-, 8-, and 4-plex units with greenspace behind each structure intended for children’s play but which is now used by many residents for gardening.

The brick construction and side-gabled roofs had architectural attention in their design – a rarity in today’s residential apartment design. But perhaps the layout of the buildings deserves the most attention as the green space between them and the connected streets are key to good community design.

Louisville, Gas & Electric Co. Service Station Complex

LG&E Service Station Complex. NRHP Application.

Also known as the Edison Building, this gas and electrical service station was constructed ca. 1924. It stands on a 4+ acre lot at Louisville’s 7th and Ormsby, and all of the acreage is included in the nomination. Even before 1924, the site’s utility was related to generating power.

The main structure is cube-shaped and constructed primarily of poured cement. The south façade is the most decorated of the four sides and it is divided into 9 bays. The three-story structure was built with the potential of expansion to 8-stories, but demand was never realized for the additional square footage. A red brick gate house, ca. 1890, also stands on the property.

Hellman Lumber and Manufacturing Co.

Hellman Lumber. NRHP Application.

On Covington’s 12th Street, stands the Hellman Lumber and Manufacturing Co. This warehouse was built from 1886-1894 and the company is one of the community’s oldest businesses dating to 1879. Without a doubt, many of Covington’s structures have been built with wood that has passed through this facility.

The nomination form describes the main warehouse as “an intact two-story two-bay side-gabled brick warehouse-style corner commercial building that is approximately 14,000-16,000 square feet. The original foundation is wet-masonry limestone.” The building and its story represent an intact representation of the era’s booming lumber industry.

Elkhorn City Elementary and High Schools

Elkhorn City High School. NRHP Application.

Near the heart of Elkhorn City are its schools with the complex (6.8 acres) including 6 structures, of which 3 are contributing to the historic character: a 1938 WPA high school, a 1956 elementary school, and a 1956 music instruction building.

Elkhorn City lies in Pike County about 20 miles from the seat of Pikeville. During the academic life of these buildings as academic facilities, 1938 to the 1980s, the manpower required for coal mining increasingly declined even when demand was high due to mechanization of the process. The nomination form provides that “These facilities demonstrate a continual dedication to public education within this rural Kentucky community. Their existence displays a successful development from rural school facilities into a modernized educational system.”

6 Sites Recommended for the National Register (part 2)

Yesterday, I profiled 3 of the 6 sites recommended for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places by the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board. The sites were:

Marianne Theater in Campbell County;
Charles Young Park and Community Center in Fayette County;
Lynn Acres Apartments in Jefferson County;
Louisville, Gas & Electric Co. Service Station Complex in Jefferson County;
Hellman Lumber and Manufacturing Co. in Kenton County; and
Elkhorn City Elementary and High Schools in Pike County.

Below, I’m briefly going over the last three properties on the list: the Louisville, Gas & Electric Co. Service Station Complex, the Hellman Lumber and Manufacturing Co., and Elkhorn City Elementary and High Schools.

All 6 nominations which will be forwarded to the National Park Service (NPS) for final determination of eligibility. A decision on designation will be rendered within 60 to 90 days.

Louisville, Gas & Electric Co. Service Station Complex

LG&E Service Station Complex. NRHP Application.

Hellman Lumber and Manufacturing Co.

Hellman Lumber. NRHP Application.

Elkhorn City Elementary and High Schools

Elkhorn City High School. NRHP Application.

And finally, a little bit more about the National Register of Historic Places:

The National Register

Owners of National Register properties may qualify for state and/or federal tax credits for rehabilitation of these properties to standards set forth by the Secretary of the Interior, as certified by the Kentucky Heritage Council, or by making a charitable contribution of a preservation easement. National Register status does not affect property ownership rights, but does provide a measure of protection against adverse impacts from federally funded projects.

The National Register is the nation’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. Kentucky has the fourth-highest number of listings among states, at more than 3,300. Listing can be applied to buildings, objects, structures, districts and archaeological sites, and proposed sites must be significant in architecture, engineering, American history or culture.

Hatfield & McCoy History Still Alive in Pike County

McCoy House – Pikeville, Ky.

The History Channel’s Hatfields & McCoys miniseries has brought renewed national attention to the deadly family feud that embroiled the Tug River valley for much of the nineteenth century. The Hatfield clan of West Virginia had a long-standing dispute with Kentucky’s McCoy family that included numerous deaths in both genealogies from 1865 to 1890.

During the New Year’s Night Massacre in 1888, the Hatfields rode to and torched the McCoy home on Blackberry Creek. Two of the McCoy children were injured, but the McCoy patriarch (Randolph, aka Randall) and his wife Sarah (aka Sally) escaped.

McCoy House Historic Marker
Pikeville, Ky.

The governors of Kentucky and West Virginia had urged the families to distance themselves from one another, and the New Year’s Night loss was enough to push Randall and Sally to Pikeville. There, the McCoys purchased a house at the corner of Main Street and Scott Avenue and Randall operated a ferry at the near crossing of the Big Sandy River.

Sally died first, date unknown. Randall lived until 1914 and both are buried in Pikeville’s Dils Cemetery along with other members of the McCoy family.

Pikeville’s and Pike County’s Hatfield-McCoy history lives with a number of other sites and markers; it is well worth the trek into history.

Source: C-J; Hatfield-McCoy Driving Tour Brochure

NoD: Celebrate Veterans Day by Thanking a Doughboy


Doughboy – Grayson, Ky.		Doughboy – Jamestown, Ky.

I’m sure that around the country, hospitals will see an uptick in deliveries and scheduled caesareans. And many couples will share their nuptials on this memorable date: 11-11-11. Grooms won’t have to worry about forgetting that anniversary!

Morehead, Ky.

But November 11 also has a symbolic meaning in our country and around the globe for on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in the year 1918, hostilities with Germany ended thus concluding “The Great War” (n/k/a World War I). In America, this date was celebrated for years as Armistice Day until after the conclusion of another great war – World War II – that the date became known simply as Veteran’s Day. In other countries, November 11 is referred to as Remembrance Day.

I am particularly fond of the original term Armistice Day because of its historic context. The young Americans in the early part of the twentieth century crossed the ocean to fight the Germans in an era when crossing the ocean wasn’t something you did for reasons other than immigration. Earlier this year, Frank Buckles of Missouri passed away – he was the last of the American doughboys from World War I.

Pikeville, Ky.

Statues of World War I doughboys stand in memorium around America in front of courthouses, in cemeteries and in town squares. In fact, the doughboy statue is the most reproduced life-size statue in America with 140 known copies. First designed and sculpted by E.M. Viquesney in 1920, “The Spirit of the American Doughboy” went through a few design changes over the years. Though most don’t realize it, Viquesney’s doughboy is likely the most witnessed sculpture in the United States other than the Statue of Liberty herself.

In Kentucky, eight Viquesney statues are known to exist in the following towns: Grayson, Harlan, Jamestown, Liberty, Monticello, Morehead, Pikeville and Winchester. The first of these to be installed was the Monticello doughboy in January 1923; the last was in Jamestown 75 years ago today on Armistice Day, 1936.

Whatever its name, it is a day to thank the men and women in uniform who have served our country. And though many people only recognize today as being a day when schools, banks and government offices are closed, it is because our soldiers fought that we can enjoy our freedoms today.

Source: Viquesney Database

NoD: President Garfield became a General in Pikeville

Pikeville City Park – Pikeville, Ky.

Last week on Jeopardy!, a question in the category 19th century Presidents concerned a man who simultaneously served as a congressman from Ohio, a senator-elect, and as President-elect. But before Ohioan James A. Garfield achieved these three titles, he served in the Civil War and was appointed brigadier general while encamped in Piketon n/k/a Pikeville.

President James A. Garfield

In early January 1862, Colonel James A. Garfield led Union troops to victory at the Battle of Middle Creek in Floyd County which forced Confederates out of southeast Kentucky and secured the Big Sandy Valley for the Union. During the battle, a company of Kentucky Unionists were almost the targets of a volley from their Ohioan compatriots but Col. Garfield – realizing the impending threat – caused the Kentuckians to let out a “Hurrah for the Union” – a cheer that saved their lives.

It was the victory that prompted Garfield to receive the commission of brigadier general in January 1862. Already headquartered in Pikeville when his commission arrived, there was no senior military brass to swear-in Garfield so the task was left to a justice of the peace, squire John Charles. Garfield was sworn in at the Ratliff Tavern (pictured below, at left) where he was also headquartered. The Ratliff Tavern was torn down in the 1930s to make room for the Pikeville City Park pictured above.

The following month, Gen. Garfield and his troops experienced what Pikeville residents were all to familiar with: flooding. In a letter to his wife, Garfield wrote:

Ratliff Tavern; source info.

The house where I am staying, which is sixty feet above the usual level of the river, is now surrounded. A wild river roars around it on all sides. Two large steamboats are up in the principal street of the village. Houses, stacks of wheat and hay, gigantic trees, saw-logs, fences, and all things that float are careening by with fearful velocity.

The flood left Union troops without supplies and they were forced to re-encamp on higher ground. The flood was so mighty that it even left two steamboats in the streets of Pikeville.

Garfield would leave the military for service in Congress where he would serve several terms before supporting his friend, John Sherman (the Treasury Secretary and brother of Civil War General William T. Sherman). President Grant was pursuing a return to the White House for an unprecedented third term as President, an outcome which many opposed. On the 36th ballot, Republicans picked the ‘dark horse’ James A. Garfield as their nominee for President. Garfield would go on to defeat General Winfield Scott Hancock in November. As history would have it, the Garfield administration was short-lived as he was assassinated only months after being sworn in.

Sources: Eastern Kentucky Battles; Johnson County History

NoD: Pikeville College began in today’s City Hall

City Hall – Pikeville, Ky.

In 1887, three men rode into the hills of eastern Kentucky as members of the Ebenezer Presbytery, now part of the Presbyterian Church, USA. These men – Dr. W.C. Condit of Ashland, Dr. Samuel B. Alderson of Maysville, and Dr. James Hendricks of Flemingsburg – were concerned that “some of America’s finest people were being neglected both in educational and spiritual development.” After several trips into the area and upon the urging of the people, it was determined that Pikeville (then a community of about 300 people) should be the situs for an educational facility.

Ground was broken in 1889 for the Pikeville Collegiate Institute and the Institute held its first classes on September 16, 1889. Using clay from the nearby Big Sandy River, bricks were fired on-site to create this two story structure which rests upon a foundation of locally sourced stone. The building is the oldest educational building in Pike County, even though its purpose is no longer educational. The building is also considered to be one of the oldest within Pikeville’s city limits.

Pikeville Collegiate Institute, in 1909-1910, split into Pikeville College and the Pikeville College Academy, a prepatory institution. The Academy occupied this building, dubed the “Old Academy Building,” until the Academy closed in 1955. When the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, it was used for art classes but had been used over the years for classes, as a community center and as a chapel. After a period of abandonment, the City of Pikeville restored the Old Academy Building as its City Hall.

Bibliography
Cornelius Carroll
Historic Marker
National Register

NoD: “The Man Who Moved A Mountain”

William Hambley, “The Man Who Moved a Mountain” – Pikeville, Ky.

From 1973 until 1987, over eighteen million cubic yards of earth was moved in a project known as the Pikeville Cut-Through. It was the largest earth moving project ever undertaken in the United States and only the second largest in the western hemisphere, paling only to the Panama Canal project.

But this isn’t about the project, it is about the man behind the project. A man who loved Pikeville, but who didn’t like how dusty she was. So he decided to take action.

Even in elementary school, William Hambley didn’t care for the railroad tracks that divided his hometown and the local college. The tracks also created a “wrong side of the track” mentality and the substandard housing that comes with it.

The railroad tracks also brought dirty coal cars through the middle of Pikeville. Intermittent flooding of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River, which created a horseshoe around Pikeville, was a major problem for this eastern Kentucky community.

By 1960, the young William Hambley had grown. He was a doctor who ran and won the office of mayor in his beloved Pikeville. And through his perseverance, he maneuvered the red tape of over 20 federal, state and local agencies to improve Pikeville’s lot.

Thirteen years after his election, the Army Corps of Engineers broke grown on moving the Peach Orchard Mountain. The river, the tracks and a highway were put in the new cut-through and the old riverbed was filled and reclaimed. Over it, a roadbed – the William Hambley Blvd. – allowed for Pikeville’s expansion.

“The Man Who Moved a Mountain” served as Pikeville’s mayor for 29 years – until 1989 – and oversaw the entire project. Today, the bronze statue of Dr. Hambley forever looks down Pikeville’s changing and growing Main Street from its perch in City Park.

NoD: Pikeville’s Pauley Bridge

Pauley Bridge – Pikeville, Ky.

Walking across the wooden bridge, restored to its original 1930s beauty, evokes thoughts of simpler times. The bridge slightly sways, but the strong stone towers comfort those who cross. Beneath my feet, I spy flora growing and water flowing in the gaps on the bridge’s bed.

Spanning the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River just to the north of Pikeville is the Pauley Bridge. Named for the local community that was annexed by Pikeville in 1990, this suspension bridge has stood since 1936. When it was listed on the National Register in 1992, the Pauley Bridge was still open to vehicular traffic and was one of only four swinging suspension bridges open to vehicular traffic in eastern Kentucky (many others were open to pedestrians only, as Pauley Bridge is today).

Strong cables connect the towers to the banks on either side of the river, while vertical tension hangers connect the main cables to the bridge deck. This swinging suspension bridge design is one of the simplest, and most inexpensive, bridge designs which is why they have been such a popular design. In larger suspension bridges like the Roebling Bridge in Newport, a stiffening truss under the bridge deck strengthens and stabilizes the structure.

The design of this bridge is unique, however, because although the bridge itself is simple – the towers are not. The beautiful rough-cut sandstone towers are impressive. Of the 37 wire suspension bridges proposed by the WPA for construction in southeast Kentucky in the late 1930s, only the design of the Pauley Bridge included these sandstone towers.

A WPA project begun in 1936, the bridge was completed and opened to traffic in 1940. In 2000, it was closed to vehicular traffic (2001, all traffic) and it quickly acquired the appearance of an abandoned site. But in 2004, the City of Pikeville set aside funds to restore the historic bridge. In 2006, it was reopened as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge.

Above the keystones on either tower are engravings bearing the mark of the 1930s construction project: “WPA” and the year construction began “1936.” Thanks to the City of Pikeville, the Pauley Bridge has a new lease on life. More pictures of the Pauley Bridge can be viewed on flickr.

Pike County Courthouse – Pikeville, Ky.

Seasons Greetings to everyone. I apologize for the relative lack of posts on the Kentucky 120 project. It turns out that the practice of law is pretty hectic. Who knew?
I’ve spent my New Year’s Eve with my wife’s family in Eastern Kentucky, and decided that I would swing by the Pike County Courthouse while in the area. The old courthouse is pictured above, with the new courthouse behind me. The shot above is actually the back of the old courthouse, but I thought it was much more interesting than the front. You can see the clock tower lit up on the right. This picture was taken with my Iphone, and obviously at night, so I apologize for the quality.
The Pike County Courthouse pictured above was built in 1888-89 and renovated in 1932-33. The courthouse is most famous for being the cite of the murder trials in the Hatfield-McCoy feud.