Every historic building has a story to tell
My husband likes to regale me with stories of how he went on his first “date” at age 10 to the Kentucky Theatre. The parents conspired to make this happen and delivered the young couple to the doors of the movie house. I have no idea what the movie was, as I am usually busy (read more)
Categories: Fayette County, Theaters
Tags: #kentuckyarchitecture, #kentuckytheatre, #lexingtonky, #moviepalace, movies
In the spring of 1909, a US Post Office opened in the community of Drift, on the Left Fork of Beaver Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky. The creation of a post office was one step toward cementing a community in rural America. Although free home delivery in cities had been in place since 1863, rural (read more)
Categories: Floyd County, Theaters
Tags: #coalcamp, #driftky, #historicmovietheater, #kentuckycoalmining
Although apple pie and baseball are frequently touted American symbols, I think that movies – and the historic buildings associated with the “moving pictures” – should be added to that list. A new middle class emerged in America in the first few decades of the 20th century, and increased leisure time (and disposable income) meant (read more)
Categories: Theaters, Whitley County
Tags: #historicmovietheater, #moviemagic, #thelanetheater, #WilliamsburgKY
It’s been a exhaustively hot summer in Kentucky this year. Although graced by the technology of central air conditioning, I’ve thought with longing about children’s books I read decades ago that described the decampment from urban cores to shady mountain retreats (I believe the Bobbsey Twins series even had a “fresh air camp for children” (read more)
A healthy imagination is a vital part of my profession – that, and a good dose of optimism. Otherwise, I would be inundated by depression from watching countless buildings fall and communities wither. Whenever I visit a new place, I always find a building I would like to adopt – and if I ever won the (read more)
Tourism – especially heritage tourism – can be a tough business for some communities. Small towns find their tourism dollars cut, if not eliminated, and spending money to highlight a town’s history might seem like a poor allocation of funds. I would argue the exact opposite, and there are many people who can quote the (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Historic Preservation, National Register of Historic Places, Other Places, Railroads, Theaters, Tourism, Virginia history
Tags: C&O Railway Heritage Center, Chesapeake and Ohio, Clifton Forge Virginia, CSX Railroad, Frye and Chesterman, Heritage Tourism, Historic Masonic Theatre
My parents inflicted a succession of ugly, misshapen station wagons upon us hapless children during my formative years. The one I remember most vividly was a putrid shade of pale yellow, appeared longer than a school bus, and was known as “the Tank.” It was in the Tank (the way back- station wagons in those (read more)
I am more of a reader than a movie watcher. Circumstances conspired to move me in that direction: farm child, only four channels on our TV (and viewing time was restricted), and the influence of older siblings and parents, who, when not working, were reading. That said, I love the movies, and I especially adore (read more)
Categories: Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture, McCracken County, Theaters
Tags: Columbia Theatre, Paducah
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players… Architecture has long served as a platform for status and self-expression – even seemingly humble dwellings (vernacular architecture) reveal layers of information about where the builders and inhabitants came from, how they used the rooms in their house, and even how trendy (read more)
Categories: Historic Preservation, Ohio architecture, Other Places, Theaters
Tags: Cincinnati, Cinema, Historic architecture, Historic theaters, Over the Rhine
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