Tag: ThrowBackThursday

Passengers Boarding “Old Blue” at the University of Kentucky, ca. 1976. Photo: UKY

In the UK – the United Kingdom that is – the red double decker bus is ubiquitous. In a city the size of London’s it has long been twice as efficient to carry two sets of passengers stacked on top of one another as part of transit planning.

On our side of the pond, we’ve long eschewed the monarchy (though you’d have been hard pressed to know it yesterday with the birth of the new prince) as well as the double-decker bus and the cabby.

The 1953 model double-decker, however, found popularity in a different UK years ago. The University of Kentucky, that is.

And “Old Blue” is the answer to last week’s #ThrowbackThursday.

Owned by the Alumni Association, the double-decker with signage guiding passengers to the Picadilly Circus actually transported campus visitors around campus and alumni to home football games.

Of course, when the bus was acquired in 1974 it was stripped of its traditional red hue and replaced with a blue befitting the University of Kentucky. Her maiden voyage through campus was on September 16, 1974.

Whatever happened to Old Blue? Well, an article by Don White reveals the tale but suffice it to say she has been mothballed for the time being in Lawrenceburg.

The winner from last week’s #TBT was none other than the University of Kentucky herself:

Do you recognize this double decker?

Share your memories in the comments!

This home was intimately linked with two important individuals. During the occupancy of the latter, a plaque was mounted on the side of the house (nearly centered on the above photo) honoring the former.

After the dust had settled from the wrecking ball’s demolition of the landmark, private and public efforts began to protect Lexington’s historical resources. You are looking at the birthplace of Lexington’s historic preservation efforts.

But what are you looking at? And who were the two individuals alluded to above?

UPDATE: Read the history of this house and the answers to the questions asked by clicking here.

Last night, flash flooding throughout Lexington created havoc for motorists and, undoubtedly, we’ll hear more details throughout the day.

But eighty-five years ago this week, another deluge hit Lexington as captured by the photo above. According to the Lexington Herald (6-30-1928, p. 1, col. 5.), it was “the most disastrous flood in the history of … Lexington … leaving in its wake a loss estimated at more than $1,000,000.” In 2010 dollars, the total economic cost of that damage would have been $149,000,000. Wowsers!

Anyone recognize the building above that was inundated by the flood?

Ballard’s Market – 170 Jefferson St., Lexington, Ky. (Photo: NRHP)

Growing up downtown, I attended the Harrison Elementary School for two years (second and third grades). In those days, the playground was not nearly as posh and the fence between it and Jefferson Street was not so, er, durable.

Occasionally, the older elementary kids might sneak next door to what was then Ballard’s Market. The market was even more popular as parents walked children past its doors after afternoon dismissal.

My memories of this mid-19th century neighborhood grocery were during some of its last years and the photo at right is from 1978.

Did you ever pick up a few items at the Ballard’s Market? Remember Joe? Get nostalgic in the comments. After all, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!

And, in keeping with the #TBT theme, what now occupies the site?

163 W. Short St., Lexington, Ky. (Photo: NRHP)

163 W. Short St., Lexington, Ky. Photo: NRHP

Though its vault now contains beer and ice cream sandwiches, 163 West Short once housed a series of banks (the downtown branch of Traditional Bank still occupies part of the ground floor).

It is worth noting that the National Register application shows two photos of this building, both dated 1983. One can easily see that one of these photos is incorrectly dated as the signs indicate two different banks on the first floor.

The photo at right of Central Bank & Trust is likely incorrect as the Kincaid Towers opened in 1979.

Do you remember banking here or working here or doing other business in this building? Who else occupied it over the years?

And what are the true dates of these photos?

Talk in the comments…