Every historic building has a story to tell
When I was around eight years old, I fantasized about living in an apartment. Just me and my mother (and maybe a dog or two). Apartment buildings seemed so foreign and exotic to me – and as the youngest child, the idea of having my mother all to myself was appealing. I shared this memory (read more)
Categories: Kentucky architecture, Mason County
Years before a farm on the northern side of Lexington, Kentucky, was billed as the University of Kentucky’s “premier business location in the heart of the world-famous Kentucky Bluegrass Region,” it was a storied horse farm “where thoroughbred Derby winners were raised for many years.” In between these two seemingly disparate roles, Coldstream Farm served the (read more)
I played a little hooky on Monday. My work schedule has been pretty overwhelming lately, and although my mind dances with subjects I want to write about, I can’t seem to find the time for this blog. But on Monday, I took the time – around 20 minutes – and visited an old, old friend. (read more)
Categories: Farming, Kentucky history, Montgomery County
Tags: bur oaks, farming, Venerable trees
The Lexington builder/architect John McMurtry, who popularized the Gothic Revival style in Kentucky, died in 1890. His surviving buildings include the house he designed in 1887 for his daughter, Anne, and her husband, Thomas B. Watkins. The late Italianate brick T-plan is a “fine and handsome example of the work of one of the major (read more)
What makes place so important to some people? And what is it about some places in Kentucky that draw former residents home, again and again? Learning about the connection between people and communities, people and place is one of the perks of my job, and one that I will be exercising soon during an oral (read more)
Categories: Architecture, Harlan County, Historic architecture, Kentucky architecture, Kentucky history, Oral History
Tags: Appalachia, Coal mining, Lynch, oral history
The rusticated concrete blocks arrived at Helena Junction on the train from Carlise, Kentucky. Church members transported the blocks in their own horse-drawn wagons to the site of their new church. The stained glass windows – in various sizes and shapes – were made in Paris, Kentucky. I hope the sun was out the day (read more)
In the mid-19th century, it became popular in rural America for farmers of a certain class to name their farms – usually with evocatively pastoral names – sometimes referencing landscape elements found at the site. The Cedars, Elmwood, Mt. Pleasant: all names of Bluegrass farms that crop up often. Hedgeland, though, is not one I’ve (read more)
Whenever I am asked to talk about historic architecture, I always stress the meaning of the facade of a building. It doesn’t matter whether it is a house or a store, the facade is the face of the structure, and it is there that the most care, attention, and money is typically spent. The facade (read more)
My oldest sister insists I possess hoarder tendencies. I disagree, of course – I recycle my newspapers, you can see the floors in our house, and I regularly donate bags of stuff to Goodwill. But when it comes to photographs, the charge might ring true – I take lots and lots of pictures and squirrel (read more)
Categories: Bracken County, Historic architecture, Historic Preservation, Kentucky architecture, Schools, Vernacular architecture
Tags: Augusta College Echo Hall Association, Augusta Kentucky, Echo Hall, historic preservation, Kentucky Trust for Historic Preservation, National Register of Historic Places
The deprivations of the Great Depression continue to influence those born decades and decades after that very desperate time. I trace my penny pinching habits back to my grandparents, who passed along recipes, traditions, and an ingrained sense of frugality to their offspring. The programs implemented by President Roosevelt, most notably the Works Progress Administration (read more)
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