Every historic building has a story to tell
Historic real estate advertising is one of those rabbit holes I tumble happily into while researching (usually researching other topics entirely). In 1923, a handsome brochure was published in Lexington, Kentucky, announcing the development of new subdivision known as Castlewood. The lots were part of what had been the Loudoun estate, a farm anchored by (read more)
Category: Fayette County
Tags: A.J. Davis, Annie Clay Goodloe Leonard, Castlewood, John McMurtry, Judge J. F. Bailey, Loudoun House
In the years following the Civil War, churches served as the focal point of many African American communities. The church was not only a place for worship and prayer, but a foundation for forging a stronger community that included education and the preservation of cultural identity. Sometimes the church and the school occupied the same (read more)
It’s always best to be prepared if you want to take a walk with me through a historic neighborhood. My energy and enthusiasm are seldom checked, and I keep up a running commentary to my companions as I dash back and forth across streets, madly taking photos and sighing with delight. Some less charitable members (read more)
One of the thrills of my profession and avocation is when someone decides to save a historic building. Last week, I received an email from the new owners of the wonderful historic filling station on US 68 in Mercer County, Kentucky – and they want to restore it! I may have squealed a bit and (read more)
Categories: Filling stations, Mercer County
Tags: filling stations, historic gas stations, roadside architecture
When I was young – maybe 8 or 9 years old – we had a series of droughts. A dryer than normal June turned into a parched July and August. Farm families not only make their living from the soil, but are wary yet devoted minders of the weather and Mother Nature. We still only (read more)
Categories: Gardens, Kentucky Gardens
Tags: drought, Gardening, Kentucky garden, rain dances
There came a point, during my junior year abroad in college, that I was heartily sick of cathedrals – and the accompanying crowds that went with touring these architectural wonders. While that ennui vanished, I’m still more partial to small, vernacular examples of church architecture. On the way home from Louisville recently, I stopped to (read more)
Categories: Kentucky churches, Shelby County
On Saturday, May 8, 2021, the Waller Sharp House in Sharpsburg, Kentucky, will go on the auction block. The once-elegant 2.5 story brick house, built 1903-1905 for the Honorable Waller Sharp Sr., has suffered the indignities of neglect over the past few decades. Pigeons, water, and decay may have waged an insidious campaign against the (read more)
On Saturday, May 8, 2021, the Waller Sharp House in Sharpsburg, Kentucky, will go on the auction block. The once-elegant 2.5 story brick house, built 1903-1905 for the Honorable Waller Sharp Sr., has suffered the indignities of neglect over the past few decades. Pigeons, water, and decay may have waged an insidious campaign against the (read more)
Despite my rural background, I did not grow up frequenting small country stores. While I slam the brakes now to photograph any and all that I pass in Kentucky, the grocery store of my childhood was…Kroger. Once or twice, I vaguely remember accompanying my grandmother to Toy’s Grocery in downtown Mt. Sterling, but I am (read more)
Categories: Country Store, Elliott County
The last home designed by Lexington architect John McMurtry – a man who shaped much of the high-style architecture of 19th century Kentucky – has received its death notice. A demolition application has been filed for the Thomas B. Watkins House, located at 1008 South Broadway, at the southwest corner of S. Broadway and Virginia (read more)
Categories: Demolition, Fayette County
Tags: Clay Lancaster, demolition, John McMurtry, Lexington Kentucky demolition
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