April 28, 2025
Lexington mural on display at Hymson’s, 1975
W.W. Mathews of Nicholasville viewed a painting of a mural on display in the window of Hymson’s Department Store on Main Street in Lexington on Jan. 12, 1975. Artist William P. Welsh repainted his original mural, Lexington Street Scene, October 1793, that was in The Kentuckian Hotel on High Street. When the hotel was razed, the mural was accidentally destroyed. The Downtown Lexington Association sold prints of the painting: 250 signed and numbered prints sold for $100; and 4,750 unsigned prints sold for $35. Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan. 12, 1975.
Paris High dual performers, 1998
Paris High School student Alex Caldwell played the drum with the school band before the football team took the field to play Williamsburg High School on Aug. 21, 1998. Caldwell was one of two players who played football and performed in the Paris High School marching band before the game. The other student was Jeremy Coffey. They warm up with the football team and then play with the band for the pre-game show, including the national anthem. Then they finish dressing for the game and rejoin the football team. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Fire department toy repairman, 1948
W. T. Kerns, a mechanic with the Lexington Fire Department, repaired toys to give to underprivileged children in December 1948. Kerns spent many off-duty hours repairing and painting toys for the Blue Grass Council of the Boy Scouts of America Toy Drive. Published in the Lexington Leader on Dec. 21, 1948. Lexington’s Fraternal Order of Firefighters kicks off its 84th annual toy drive this Friday. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
South Broadway, 1993
An aerial view of South Broadway, looking south from Maxwell Street, bottom, toward Saint Joseph Hospital, top, on Jan. 6, 1993. The view also includes several tobacco warehouses on the west side of the street, now the site of The Lex Apartments. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Moonshine seized, 1945
Two Kentucky Highway Patrol officers posed with some confiscated moonshine after federal agents raided a still at Fox Gap on March 14, 1945. The still was on the side of a creek near the old Fox Gap school on the Frankfort-Lawrenceburg pike, three miles from Frankfort. Officials stopped this truck, loaded with 176 gallons of whiskey, as it was on its way to Lawrenceburg. Four people were arrested. Published in the Lexington Herald on March 15, 1945. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Brooking’s restaurant, 1982
Brooking’s Restaurant at 504 East Euclid Avenue, near the intersection of Woodland Avenue on November 7, 1982. G.E. “Ed” Brooking opened the restaurant, near UK’s campus, in 1938. It became famous for chili, which Brooking began serving in 1945. Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp called it the best chili in Lexington and was a frequent customer. Brooking died in 1982, and his son Harold ran the restaurant until it served its last bowl of chili on June 1, 1991. It is now a hookah lounge called Off Tha Hookah. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Union Station parking circle, 1950
A controversial proposal to turn the Union Station Park into a parking lot was front-page news in April 1950. Union Station sat at East Main Street just west of the Walnut Street (now Martin Luther King Blvd) viaduct. It opened in 1907, and the last train left the station in 1957. The building was torn down in 1960. The current building at the site houses the Lexington Police Department and the Fayette County clerk’s office. At top left is the original Wolf Wile department store, which moved to a more modern building on Main Street in 1950, next to Quality Street, where Gray Construction Co. now has its offices. Across Main Street is the Strand Theatre, which opened in 1915 and closed in 1974. Published in the Lexington Herald on April 8, 1950. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Ice skating, 1980
Al Winer and his wife, Billy, skated on the reservoir off Richmond Road on Dec. 28, 1980. Lexington’s Unified Trust Co. ice rink opens for the season Saturday in Triangle Park. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Madison High School’s Recreation Bowl win, 1961
Madison High School’s Freddie Ballou returned a punt for a 75-yard touchdown against the Elizabethtown Panthers in the Recreation Bowl in Mount Sterling on Oct. 30, 1961. Madison claimed the Class AA Region 2 championship with a convincing 39-0 blasting of Elizabethtown. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Castlewood Park, 1951
An aerial view of Castlewood Park and the surrounding area in February 1951. Castlewood covers 32.4-acres and is one of the city’s oldest parks. The city of Lexington purchased the Loudoun House, and the grounds in the 1920’s and converted it into Castlewood Park and Community Center. The Loudoun House, which still stands in the park, lower right, was constructed as a residence for Francis Key Hunt and Julia Warfield Hunt in 1852. The Loudoun House is now owned by the city of Lexington and has been the Lexington Art League’s administrative and curatorial home since 1984. Published in the Lexington Leader on Feb. 24, 1951. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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