Tag: walkLEX

Walking Tour of Woodward Heights Reveals Stunning Architecture and Beautiful Gardens

Examining the walking tour brochure of the
Woodward Heights Historic District – Lexington, Ky.

The best way to explore any urban area is on foot. In Lexington, the BGT has created a series of walking tour brochures for the various historic districts surrounding downtown.

A brochure for Woodward Heights is the most recent addition to the offerings, having been released at the June deTour.

It is the largest walking tour brochure to wit covering 45 properties in an area roughly bounded in a triangle between High, Maxwell, and Merino Streets – an area centered around #40: Botherum House.

This neighborhood was subdivided and developed in the late 1800s and stands as a largely intact reflection of the period’s architecture. Woodward Heights was added to the National Register in 1980 and was made a local historic district in 1987.

The neighborhood can be recognized not only for its architectural diversity, but also for the resident’s efforts to beautify the neighborhood with gardens in back yards, front yards, and shared use spaces.

722 West High Street – Lexington, Ky.

Two homeowners opened their doors for our deTour. The first was the Ella C. Williamson House at 722 West High. The brochure describes the property as follows:

An eclectic Victorian mansion, this house was owned by Ella Williamson, widow of a building contractor who had emigrated from Scotland with his brother in the 1860s. The house’s many ornate wood decorations reflect his connection with the East End [Planing] Mill on the Town Branch (1867). Rough-cut limestone lintels, dentil work, and Roman columns are also evident. A large bay with a turret and bracketed eaves are featured.

Walking into 722 West High, one is immediately overcome by the intricate walnut and cherry woodwork. Exceedingly high ceilings make the space so open and the pocket doors between foyer and living room that much more impressive. (The doors are easily seen in this Herald-Leader article.) Owned by Fran Taylor and Tom Cheek, the home is a pantheon of color that adds to the home’s grandeur.

Helene Steene welcoming us into her home at
312 Madison Place, Lexington.

Around the corner and a few doors up Madison Place is the home of artist Helene Steene. The native-born Swede’s studio is in Loudon House, but undoubtedly she can find inspiration (or reprieve) at her lovely home and stunning garden at 312 Madison Place. The home was described in Bricks+Mortar as being in the “romatntic revival [style], but the details are Colonial inspired.”

This property is the Frank W. Fletcher House as it was first occupied by he, a lumber dealer. The house appeared on the 1907 Sanborn map and is described in the Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory as being in the “Richardsonian/Neo-Classical” style.

That rose, pictured at right, is of the trellising variety in a particular plant that climbs to the second story! Steene’s art is impressive, but I will always remember her for a different accomplishment: I played LYSA soccer with her son in the 1990s and she was our Coach!

Yes, we all wear different stripes at different times. And so, too, does Madison Place. The neighborhood which had fallen apart through the 1970s has seen a slow continuous trickle of improvements that have made it one of the most impressive of Lexington’s near neighborhoods.

All photos from the Woodward Heights deTour 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.

Main & Limestone (Lexington, KY) #TBT

Main & Limestone, looking northeast – Lexington, Ky. (ca. 1983) (Photo: NRHP)

Picking up on a twitter trend, we’ll now add #ThrowBackThursday to our regular posts. Though most Kaintuckeean posts are throwbacks to bygone eras, these weekly posts will be short on text.

The photos will be more recent, like the above photo of Main & Limestone ca. 1983 looking northeast toward what is now the courthouse plaza. My hope is that you’ll comment below with the history and your memories of the scene from 30 years ago.

A Thief is in Our Midst: Historic Iron Door Stolen from Hunt-Morgan House

CSI: Lexington. The Hunt Morgan House.

During the Civil War, General John Hunt Morgan and his cavalry engaged in guerrilla style warfare springing attacks and raids on Union troops, supply chains, and communities. He was once caught and imprisoned at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus (demolished, 1998, for the Nationwide Arena), though the General escaped.

The subject iron door

Apparently, however, a raid against his history as occurred at the Lexington property bearing his name. From the property owner, the Blue Grass Trust:

A circa 1800s iron prison door, weighing more than 400 pounds and approximately 6 to 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide, (pictured above, on its side) was stolen from the grounds of The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation’s Hunt-Morgan House. The iron door is from the Ohio State Penitentiary that housed General John Hunt Morgan during the Civil War. It was donated to the BGT by Burl McCoy of Morgan’s Men and has significant historical significance. The Blue Grass Trust is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the safe return of the iron door. Please call the BGT at (859)253-0362, or the LFUCG Division of Police at (859)258-3600 with any information, re: Case #2013-072783.

The Blue Grass Trust and Debra Hensley are offering a $500$1,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of this historic artifact.

Kentucky’s Oldest Florist, Michler’s

Michler Florist on Maxwell Street – Lexington, Ky.

Drive slowly down Maxwell Street and you may find one of the gems of Lexington. For generations, the Michler family has grown beautiful flowers and other flora in the greenhouses which now occupy land sandwiched better the University of Kentucky and downtown Lexington.

Michler Florist, or Michler’s, is the Commonwealth’s oldest continually operated greenhouse and florist.  Carl Michler, an immigrant from Württemberg, Germany, began to establish his greenhouses on the site in 1902. It was a family business and remains so to this day.

It was written in the Herald Leader on the occasion of Michler’s 100th anniversary that Michler’s “is a fundamental piece of traditional downtown Lexington. It’s a grass-roots family business as old as the neighborhood around it, with a strong old-fashioned flavor.”

Carl’s two sons, Louis and Charlie shared the operation until Charlie broke out to begin the defunct Michler Nurseries on Richmond Road. Louis kept the family greenhouse operating on Maxwell Street before turning the helm over to his son, Karl, who returned from military service in World War II.

Karl’s son, John, would later operate the family business after having studied horticulture at UK. His expertise has expanded Michler’s offerings to include native species and educational offerings in perennials and garden design. And now, through John’s son Robin, a fifth generation has joined the fray!

Michler’s is unique for in those greenhouses – now a century-plus old – the plants sold here are still cultivated in-house. The alternative seen in most floral shops is to only assemble arrangements from the cuttings from far distant lands.

Ordinarily, I’d include a flickr link here – but, alas, I accidentally deleted my photos from this deTour. A pity, as the beautiful flora is a spectacle to behold. Since I can’t share them, you should stop by Michler’s at 417 E. Maxwell Street.


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.

Lina Tharsing is “Making a New Forest”

Lina Tharsing “Making a New Forest Exhibit” at UK Hospital – Lexington, Ky.

The work of Kentucky artist Lina Tharsing is “driven by a profound sense of curiosity and a fascination with science, technology, and the natural world.” Her recent works, as found in the exhibit at the Chandler Medical Center, contain filmstrip-colored imagery inspired from the archives of New York’s Museum of Natural History.

The museum itself contains an amazing collection of dioramas portraying themselves wildlife in natural habitats. Many of these old dioramas can seem dated to museum-goers today, whose appreciation is for fast action. Though Tharsing does nothing to ‘speed up’ the dioramas, her unique interpretation of their creation itself resonates.

The paintings are described as seeking “a precise moment in both time and space when the lines of fiction and reality intersect.” The fiction is the creation: there is no bison under the dioramist’s arm as he carefully places his herd.

But to those who have constructed a school display or a volcano for a science fair, there is a connection to the real world. And yet, there is a connection to the divine as God found his creation “good” in Genesis. So, too, these dioramists and artists found their creation good. For decades, they have withstood time at the iconic New York institution.

By bridging the gap of reality and fiction, Tharsing is able to succeed where many artists fail. She creates a body of work where the call on the exhibit showcard can be achieved: “to study not the individual painted figures, animals, or props but to look through a window onto other worlds and landscapes, across place and time, and to find their own truths.”

Find your own truth in Tharsing’s “Making a New Forest.” It is presented by UK Arts in Healthcare and the art can be seen in the East Gallery of the UK Albert B. Chandler Medical Center. An opening reception will be held Friday, April 27 from 6-8 p.m. with details being available and reservations made on Facebook.

All of my photos are available on flickr.

Freemasonry in Kentucky and Lexington Lodge #1

The location of Central Christian Church – Short and MLK (nee Walnut) streets – was the site of the first Masonic activities in Kentucky. On April 3, at 5:30 p.m., the historic late 19th century Central Christian Church will be opened for the Blue Grass Trust deTour. More information is available on Facebook. Learn about the location’s history before it was a church below.

Old Masonic Hall – Lexington, Ky.
Source: KDL

After the fear of Indian attacks was diminished, Lexington began to grow as a community. Soon, the city contained more than pioneering woodsmen but craftsmen and tradesmen. Too came Virginians and others with land grants for their service during the Revolution. With them, came freemasonry. The Masons are a fraternal order which originated in Europe in the late 16th century and the earliest lodges were already operating in Pennsylvania by 1730. And the earliest names associated with Lexington were freemasons: Levi Todd. Robert Patterson. John Maxwell.

Seals of the Lexington Lodge and the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky. Source: Lex. Lodge 1

A short collection of Masons assembled in Lexington sought to have a lodge of their order in a location more convenient than across the mountains in the older portion of Virginia. On November 17, 1788, the Grand Lodge of Virginia issued a new charter “at the town of Lexington, district of Kentucke … to Richard Clough Anderson, John Fowler, Green Clay and others to hold regular lodge Free Masons at the town of Lexington, by the name, title and description of the Lexington Lodge No. 25.” It was the first lodge located west of the mountains.

In 1794, a primitive log masonic temple was erected. It was replaced in 1796 by a greater, two-story brick structure at the same site. Soon, the distance from Richmond, Va. again became an issue of impracticality. Though Kentucky achieved statehood eight years earlier, the Lexington Lodge #25 and other regional lodges continued to meet under their Virginia charters. And so in the autumn of 1800, representatives from the various lodges in Kentucky met at the Lexington temple and organized the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. A plaque marks this occasion on the exterior of Lexington’s Central Christian Church.

The old Lexington Lodge #25 was rechartered under the Grand Lodge of Kentucky as Lexington Lodge #1 in recognition of it being the oldest lodge in Kentucky.

A March 1819 fire destroyed the two-story brick temple, whereafter “a sum of money was raised, sufficient to rebuild the lodge hall; and such has been the zeal and activity of the superintendents, that the rafters for the roof, were raised this day. A spacious suite of rooms fifty six by thirty, is being raised, which when completed, will render it one of the most roomy and elegant structures in the city.” (Ky. Gazette, Sept. 3, 1819).

The next five years seem to be a mystery for in 1824, it was decided to build a “handsome building” with “commodious edifice” “which would stand for all ages and should, in some degree, indicate to posterity the state of the arts at he period of its erection.” Due to events described below, I believe this 1824 structure was on a site different than the lodge temples described above which is at Walnut and Short.

Architect Matthew Kennedy oversaw the construction as the cornerstone was laid on July 1 of that year. During construction, Freemason General Marquis de LaFayette visited the city of Lexington and the new temple.

Lafayette, a member of the Masonic Order, was royally entertained by his brethren and citizens of Lexington, and a Masonic Ball was given in his honor in this partially completed building. Lafayette took his seat at the banquet table in front of a large castellated cake, surmounted by the American and French flags, and covered with Masonic designs. This cake was the splendid workmanship of his fellow-countrymen, the well known restaurant-keeper and culinary artist Mathurin Giron, immortalized by James Lane Allen in his “King Solomon of Kentucky.”

After a bounteous repast was served and suitable speeches and toasts for the occasion delivered, the remainder of the evening was devoted to dancing to the strains of Anton Phillipe Heindrick’s masterpieces. The dancing lasted far into the night, but the old general, still lame from the wound he received in the war, was able to tread out but a few of the measures, and left the hall about eleven o’clock “to indulge in those thoughts and feelings which must occupy the mind of such a benevolent man, and which must consecrate his day to peace and happiness, and the day was over for him.”

Next morning, General Lafayette and his suite attended a Masonic breakfast in the grand hall, where he was addressed by John Ward: “Excellent and venerated Brother! Patron of our Country and of National Freedom wherever man exists – The Fraternity of Masons in Lexington greet and welcome you!” General Lafayette’s visit to Lexington was less than two days, yet in that short space he was elaborately entertained in the Masonic Hall on two occasions.

Dedication of the three-story building occurred on October 26, 1826, massively over-budget. A number of lotteries were held to raise funds to pay off the Order’s debts from construction. Dr. Lewis Marshall of Woodford County had the winning ticket in a significant $20,000 lottery. Demanding payment in gold, and sufficient gold not being available to pay the man from Woodford, Marshall was issued a mortgage on the hall. On the mortgage, he foreclosed.

The headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky was relocated to Louisville in 1833 during Lexington’s cholera epidemic. On August 29, 1835, a fire was found in a carpenter’s shop at the rear of the building. Despite the  valiant efforts of several fire brigades, the temple lodge along with her archives, furniture and jewels were lost. All of these events occurred to the detriment of local lodge activity, and all while a national tide of anti-masonry sentiment swept several lodges and some grand lodges from existence. Membership dwindled.

Lexington Lodge #1. Source: Ranck’s Guide to Lexington.

Despite all odds, the Lexington Lodge #1 overcame and rebuilt on the site of its original log meeting house. The cornerstone was laid on July 3, 1840 and a the building dedicated September 1, 1841. The fate of this building was unfortunate, as well. Seized by Union forces during the Civil War, it was used as a hospital, recruiting station and eventually as a prison. The building fell into disrepair and could not recover.

The old Masonic Hall fell into disrepair and was demolished in December 1891. Title to the land passed to Central Christian Church whose cornerstone was dedicated in August 1893. Within the cornerstone “contains contents of era” and “is the same piece of rock that came out of the old Masonic Temple.”

Sources: Grand Lodge of KY; Lexington Lodge #1

Civic Center Design Proposed for Lexington. In 1923.

Rendering of Proposed Civic Center of Lexington, Ky. (1923)

Before this evening’s Blue Grass Trust deTour of the United States Federal Courthouse and Post Office, 101 Barr Street (see you there at 5:15), I wanted to explore what the area coulda/woulda looked like had Lexington had followed through on her first Comprehensive Plan.

The Plan, published in 1931, was prepared for the City Planning & Zoning Commission by L. Segoe, a consulting engineer and city planner from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 170-pages, the Plan sets forth an incredibly diverse and specific set of recommendations as well as a thorough examination of the housing, transportation, infrastructure  and aesthetics of the community. One of my favorites could be echoed again today: “An attractive street picture is incompatible with the presence of poles and wires. Streets with buildings of architectural merit should be cleared of poles and wires, as these seriously mar and may completely nullify the aesthetic value of such buildings.”  A Progressive 1931.

The Plan included reports from a 1923 study on the erection of the City Hall and the surrounding Civic Center. As pictured in the above rendering, the proposed Civic Center encompassed a number of significant structures. At the top, a proposed Greek Revival Federal Courthouse looked down an esplanade toward a proposed side for the YMCA. At the east end of Barr Street stood the old (then-present) City Hall; the clocktower of St. Peter’s Catholic Church is near the center of the rendering. As the planner wrote, “The erection of monumental buildings for governmental purposes without relation to one another, or without adequate setting, is a waste of opportunity and raises the question of the justifiability of the cost of monumental architecture.”

Layout of the Proposed Civic Center of Lexington, Ky. (1923)

This old Plan called for a beautiful Lexington and it would have been quite grand had this proposed Civic Center been completed. But, as is often the case, the “best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.”

That esplanade was not to be and the Federal Courthouse, ultimately constructed in the neo-Classic style, was erected at Barr Street adjacent to St. Peter’s Catholic Church. The fate of City Hall would be behind a mid-century edifice that destroyed all historic beauty and caused to sorrow when it was demolished to make way for an expansion of Central Christian Church.

Left-to-right: Federal Courthouse (partial), Fayette District
Courthouse, Fayette Circuit Courthouse,
surround Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza

But it is interesting to note that a grand plaza did arise, albeit nearly 75 years later, at the entry to the Federal Courthouse. The two Fayette courthouses were completed in 2001 with a spacious plaza in front. The plaza is divided by Short Street and  creates a clear view from the steps of the Federal Courthouse through Phoenix Park. The plaza is named after Robert F. Stephens, a former Fayette Circuit judge and Kentucky Supreme Court justice.

Remember: tonight at 5:15, the BGT deTour of the Federal Building.

“Very Handsome,” Century Old Fence Removed from Eastern State Hospital Grounds

Remaining Fence at the old Eastern State Hospital – Lexington, Ky.

On Tuesday morning, only about 100 feet of the old iron fence that enclosed the old Eastern State  Lunatic Asylum remained. The great Lexington Land Swap is nearing completion and BCTC will soon be moving into its new campus at Newtown Pike and West Fourth Street.

In early 1905, the fence separating those two streets from the ‘lunatic asylum’ was a “high board fence” … “an eyesore for years” which “obscur[ed] from view the beautiful grounds of the institution.” While one would not ordinarily consider the grounds of an asylum for their beauty, the institution’s 1869 annual report described the “pleasure grounds” as providing “with seats, arbors, flower gardens, swings & ca., are extensive, and are growing more beautiful every day.”

Original Retaining Wall Along Fourth Street

And so it was approved that a six foot high, “very handsome” iron fence would replace it. The contract was awarded to the Stewart Iron Works of Cincinnati at a cost of approximately $3,000.

The beautiful fence on the asylum’s most prominent corner also bordered what would have been the original acreage of the institution. The asylum’s original ten acres were located where Fourth Street joined Newtown Pike (nee Henry’s Mill Road) (Fayette DB W, P158).

A widening, however, of Henry’s Mill Newtown Pike required the fence’s removal. In snapping pictures, I observed that careful attention to detail was being taken in cataloguing the old fence. Neat pallets of iron fencing were stacked along the grass and a forklift was placing them onto a flatbed. The markings on the cab of the flatbed: Stewart Iron Works.

Numbered Post 308
   
Loading onto a Stewart Iron Works flatbed

Stewart Iron Works, “a tradition of excellence since 1862,” confirmed that the fence which the company originally fabricated was being taken to its shop in Erlanger “for sandblasting, repair, E-coating (primer) and powder coat (top coat).” After its restoration, the original fence will be re-installed “in its original condition along a new retaining wall that is to be built.”

It is anticipated that the historic fence will return to the property, along Fourth Street only, sometime in late 2013.

More photos on flickr.

Sources: Asylum Projects.org; KY Archeological Survey; Lexington Leader; Stewart Iron Works

An Immigrant’s Success: David Ades and the Ades-Lexington Dry Goods Building

Ades Dry Goods Building – Lexington, Ky.

At age 13, David Ades left his native Russian homeland ca. 1895. Born in Kovno in what is modern-day Lithuania, Ades arrived penniless at the port of Baltimore, Maryland but was destined to join his brother in Lexington, Kentucky. Brother Simon owned a wholesale dry goods business and employed his younger brother for $2/day and board.

Signature of David Ades

David thrived. In addition to a full work day, the young Ades attended night school taking instruction from names like Breckinridge, Hunt, Clay, and Gov. Morrow. By the spring of 1908, Simon had announced that he as leaving Lexington for Louisville; within months, it was known that David would succeed his brother in Lexington’s wholesale dry goods market.

Within a year, David Ades had relocated the family business from Short Street to the 400 block of West Main and had broken ground on a four story building at 237-239 East Main Street. Occupation began in August 1910. According to Kentucky History (1922), business growth surpassed all “sanguine expectations.”

Despite his business successes, personal tragedy struck in 1911. Sarah Fox, his wife originally of Baltimore, birthed their first child. Premature and stillborn.  This must have caused much grief and dispair, but it did not appear to shake Ades’ resolve. He and Sarah went on to have other children and he continued to grow his dry goods empire. David Ades also was quite involved in the community, with Masonry, the Odd Fellows, and the Elks. Absent from the laundry list of community accolades in Kentucky History is any mention of Ades having been a founding member of the Ohavay Zion Synagogue or his important role as a leader in Lexington’s Jewish community in the early twentieth century. He also served on the planning commission and later, as a city commissioner of Lexington.

In 1925, Ades acquired a controlling interest in the Lexington Dry Goods Building – and with it, put his name on 249 West Main Street, our subject building. By year end, Ades had consolidated his wholesale dry goods businesses under the name Ades-Lexington Dry Goods Company.

Lexington Dry Goods Building
from the Asa Chinn Collection (KDL)

The original 249 West Main Street – the Ades Dry Goods Building or the Lexington Dry Goods Building – is a 5 story, 5 bay brick commercial building in the Chicago School style. A 3 bay addition was constructed in in 1920. After David Ades died in 1965, the Ades family ultimately closed the dry goods business (1977) as it was out of fashion and converted the building to storage. In 1987, the structure was sold to be redeveloped as a mixed-use residential/ commercial structure.

Ultimately, the residential units were removed and today it is the home of Portofino’s, the Thomas & King Company, and Cornett Integrated Marketing. The redevelopment was completed under the direction of Omni Architects, and representatives of Omni, Thomas & King, and Cornett were all available for questions and to discuss the building during our January 2013 Blue Grass Trust deTour of the building. Each of the occupants, was passionate about being downtown and found terrific benefit in being in a historic structure that had been transformed for today’s use.

Thomas & King Mail Room

In the Thomas & King mail room, as well as other first floor areas, the original tin-stamped ceilings remain visible while the high ceilings make what is normally a tight fitting area seem spacious.

The building rests upon a raised basement with a stone facing above the sidewalk. Above the total eight bays of the first floor are glass transoms which rest below a “masonry band in a simplified running dog motif across the entire façade at the base of the second story windows.” Architects of the original structure were Herman L. Rowe and Arthur Giannini, the former being the “dean of Lexington’s late 19th century architects” and the latter being his partner in later years.

Additional pictures can be found on flickr.

Sources: ancestry.com, Bricks+Mortar, Downtown Building Inventory, Fayette PVA, KDL, Kentucky History, NRHP.


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. Our March 2013 gathering will be at the Federal Building on Barr Street. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.

The old Centenary Methodist Church is another fine example of Lexington’s ecclesiastical architecture

The old Centenary Methodist Church, ca. 1979
Photo: National Register file

former Centenary Methodist Church – Lexington, Ky.

Local historic preservationists recognize the year 1955. It was in that year that the John Wesley Hunt residence was razed and the Blue Grass Trust was formed. Nearby, a local church congregation made another decision which ultimately led toward historic preservation. Today, a step toward preservation is once again needed at 154 North Broadway. It is an important step, as the old church – along with others in the immediate area – comprise what is described in the National Register as “an outstanding group of downtown ecclesiastical structures.”

Organized in 1866, the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church dedicated its sanctuary at 154 North Broadway on July 24, 1870. Designed by Cincinnatus Shryock, the Venetian Gothic church cost to $32,000 to erect. Other descriptions of the style include High Victorian Gothic and Northern Gothic. Labels aside, the sanctuary’s exterior is bounded with sloped buttresses. The belfry actually shrinks as it reaches toward the heavens on account of the acute gables that impose great character for the octagonal bell tower.

Sanctuary

As is often the case with churches, the historic newspaper archives at the public library prove quite informative. A March 1889 Sunday evening service was dismissed early “because of furnace smoking out audience.” The phraseology indicates that churchgoers to the church were accustomed to some smokiness, but that this Sunday it was too much to bare. Today, any smoke beyond incense would be cause to bring in the fire department!

Of course, this smoke could have caused damage which required repairs for, in either event, the church underwent “elegent improvements on the interior” later in the month with “lovely frescoe work.”

Another renovation in 1908 saw the installation of thirteen large windows – “five on each side and three in front [each] of beautiful art design add[ing] both to the interior and exterior beauty of the building.” These windows were installed at a cost of $1,000.

Charred timbers above the sanctuary.
Photo: Laryn Karsnitz

In 1923, a fire caused $15,000 damage to the structure evidence of which is visible from the belfry. Of course, the visible damage could also have been caused by other more recent fires. The author recalls firefighters responding to a fire above the chapel in recent years.

Oh, yes. 1955. In February 1955, “the fate of Lexington’s 90-year-old Centenary Methodist Church … will be decided within the next two months. … The church expects to either relocate, remodel its present building, or consolidate.” We know not what a remodel plan would have looked like, but it would be likely to have caused serious disruption to the Venetian Gothic structure standing at the northeast corner of Broadway and Church streets.

The congregation decided to consolidate with another church, Trinity Methodist Church with the consolidated church assuming the Centenary name but using the Trinity facilities on South Limestone (since demolished, Centenary relocated again in 1992 to Tates Creek Road). The merger was completed in May 1955 and the old Centenary Church was sold in October 1957 for $29,025.

The following year, another church – Everybody’s Church – purchased the old Centenary Methodist for $30,000. Everybody’s Church had previously worshipped at the downtown Ben Ali Theater since being founded in 1927 by the former minister of Maxwell Street Presbyterian, Rev. J. Archer Gray in an attempt to “reach ‘the man of the street.'” By 1998, Everybody’s Church had fallen on hard times and shuttered with the historic structure being purchased by Broadway Christian Church in 2003 for $25,000.

Today, the historic Centenary Methodist Church is again for sale. The listing and our recent deTour with the Blue Grass Trust revealed “incredibly preserved geometric style stained glass, flat level hardwood floors, [and] very high ceilings.” It is listed for $680,000 and the listing includes certain preservation-minded easements.

During the deTour (December 2012), the pipes of the organ were exercised once again filling this once-holy space. The space above the sanctuary reveals some charred timber evidencing the fires described above. But the space also reveals the building’s strength with some beams being appx. 18″ thick. And it A spacious, open chapel on the second floor behind the main church is ripe with potential.

Explore additional pictures of this beautiful Shryock-designed church by clicking here.

Sources: Downtown Building Inventory; Fayette PVA, Jim McKeighen, local.lexpublib.org, NRHP (Northside N.A.)


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. Our February gathering will be at the Oldham House on South Limestone Street with an afterHour at Joe Bologna’s. Join us there at 6:30 p.m.; learn more details on Facebook! You can see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours by clicking here.