Every historic building has a story to tell
Last Thursday, October 13, 2022, the former Olympia Christian Church in Olympia, Kentucky, collapsed. It’s been decades since hymns rang out in its sanctuary, or celebrations spilled forth from its double entry doors. Now it belongs to memory. I wrote about the church in a blog post in June 2019, when vines snaked up the (read more)
Categories: Bath County, Churches
Tags: #historicchurch, #kentuckyarchitecture, #olympiaKY, #ruralchurchesofkentucky, abandoned
The recent spate of rain drenching the Bluegrass has not only made my backyard soggy, but reminded me how frustrating rain can be when you are out in a downpour, trying to photograph historic resources. (Not that I will ever complain about the rain – as a farmer’s daughter, I know better.) Spring rains a (read more)
There’s few things more dangerous to an old house (or any structure) than water. As the heavens opened again a few minutes ago, and water plunged merrily from my overflowing gutters, I thought of how I used to watch the rain anxiously in my old house, as it tended to come through the porch roof. (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Historic Preservation, Kentucky, Kentucky architecture, Vernacular
Tags: abandoned, old houses, poetry
There are some abandoned buildings I’ve sadly grown used to seeing: houses, barns, stores, and old garages. Our crossroads communities across Kentucky boast these types by the hundreds (if not the thousands). For some reason, though, I encounter abandoned bank buildings less frequently. And I’m always surprised when I do. Banks exude an air of (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Crossroad communities, Kentucky architecture, Nicholas County, Vernacular
Tags: abandoned, banks, Moorefield, Nicholas County
Spring oozes poetry. Jonquils and crocus burst from the previously frozen ground, the spring sky (when not gray and rainy) transcends the color blue, and picture-perfect lambs and calves cavort – all these stock metaphors of the season inspired someone, somewhere, to verse. And although I feel winter’s gloom has stretched on for immeasurably too (read more)
Categories: Bluegrass, Farming, Kentucky architecture
Tags: abandoned, Edwin Arlington Robinson, poetry, Spring
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