February 27, 2025
Downtown Lexington, 1956
Aerial view of downtown Lexington in 1956. The photo’s purpose was to show the C&O Railroad tracks in downtown which the city was trying to have removed. The tracks run horizontally just below the middle of the photo. Vine St. is now located where the tracks are in the photo. The old Union Station, with the semi-circular drive, is near the center of the photo. Published in the Lexington Leader August 1, 1956. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Walter McCarty, Ryan Pitino during warm-ups, 1996
University of Kentucky basketball player Walter McCarty and Ryan Pitino, son of UK coach Rick Pitino, had a chat during warm-ups before UK played Alabama on Feb. 20, 1996, at Rupp Arena in Lexington. UK won, 84-65. Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
Kenny Rogers Roasters, 1996
Kenny Rogers Roasters in Patchen Village on Richmond Road, May 12, 1996. The chicken restaurant chain was founded in 1991 by musician Kenny Rogers and former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. The chain grew to 350 restaurants worldwide and was even featured in a popular episode of the T.V. show Seinfeld. In 1998, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed many of its restaurants. The two in Lexington — the other was in Turfland Mall — closed in early 1999. Today the Richmond Road site in this photo is now a Rite Aid drugstore. Some Kenny Rogers restaurants remain open in Asia. Photo by Drew Fritz
Naval air show at Blue Grass Field, 1945
Lt. John Mason of the United States Naval Reserve climbed into his plane, an SB2C Helldiver, on Oct. 22, 1945, at Blue Grass Field in Lexington, where he and other members of the Navy Victory squadron presented an exhibition. Twenty Navy planes flew in a “Navy Flying Might” air show as part of Fayette County’s Victory War Bond campaign. The insignia on the plane show that Mason destroyed three Japanese planes on the ground, sank two ships (a destroyer and a freighter-transport) and participated in 30 bombing missions. Published in the Lexington Leader on Oct. 23, 1945. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Magee’s Bakery, 1990
Joyce Higgins, who co-owned Magee’s Bakery with her husband, Ralph, displayed Christmas cookies, petits fours and other treats on Dec. 6 1990. The popular bakery on Lexington’s Main Street is celebrating 60 years as a family-owned business. Photo by Jennifer Podis | Staff
Greg Stumbo, 1998
House Democratic Leader Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg climbed the steps in the Old Capitol in Frankfort with Charlotte Ellis, his chief of staff, on Jan. 6, 1998, during the opening day of the General Assembly. As the 20th century drew to a close, lawmakers decided to meet in the same building where legislators gathered at the start of the century. Wearing buckskin britches and coonskin caps, Stumbo and about a dozen fellow Eastern Kentucky Democrats referred to themselves as “the Mountain Caucus.” The group wore the pioneer garb, borrowed from a Central Kentucky theater troupe, to symbolize a feeling that Eastern Kentucky has been left behind by the rest of the state and the lawmakers’ determination to get more money that session for their region’s needs. The 2016 General Assembly opens Tuesday, Jan. 5, with Stumbo beginning his seventh year as speaker of the House. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Eastern Bypass, 1977
Aerial picture of the Eastern Bypass in Richmond in March 1977. The bypass runs up the middle of the photo towards the Eastern Kentucky University campus. Visible in the upper-right portion of the photo on campus is Keene Hall, a 16 story residence hall. What is now called Roy Kidd Stadium, home of the football Colonels, is directly behind it. Toward the left on campus are Alumni Coliseum and Commonwealth Hall, a 20-story dormitory. Running horizontally across the bottom is Interstate 75. Click here to see other images from our archives of Richmond. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Nicholasville Road billboards, signs, 1983
Billboards and signs on Nicholasville Road, just inside New Circle Road near Moore Drive in Lexington, Feb. 25, 1983. Photo by David Cooper | Staff
John Michael Montgomery video shoot, 1993
Lexington country singer John Michael Montgomery made a music video at Austin City Saloon in Woodhill Center in Lexington on June 3, 1993. Montgomery, who played in the bar for more than five years before he got his big break in Nashville, was filming the video for his song Beer and Bones. The honky- tonk-style tune was Montgomery’s third single from his national album debut, Life’s a Dance. “I’m just enjoying what’s happening to me as much as I can,” Montgomery said during a break in filming. “The funniest thing for me is to take it back to the people and bring everything back here to where it started.” Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
Dawn of the millennium, 2000
A horse was silhouetted against the rising sun on Jan. 1, 2000, at Mill Ridge Farm on Parkers Mill Road near Man o’ War Boulevard. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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