March 14, 2025
Patriotic concert, 1997
George Zack led the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra on July 4, 1997, during the annual patriotic music concert from the stage in front of Old Morrison at Transylvania University. The orchestra had played in the concert since at least 1986, until 2014, when the 202nd Army Band of the Kentucky National Guard played. The Philharmonic will again play for the concert this year, Friday July 3. Zack, who became the musical director and conductor of the orchestra in 1972, retired after 37 years in 2009. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Walnut and Main Street, 1960
A view from the Fred Bryant Motor Co. on High Street of the Walnut Street viaduct and the empty lot where the former Union Station stood. On May 9, 1957, the last passenger train departed from Lexington’s Union Station. The station was closed because of high operating costs and low passenger travel. In March 1960, the building was demolished. Published in the Lexington Leader on April 15, 1960. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Downtown Richmond, 1989
Vietnam War protesters get hit with eggs, 1966
University of Kentucky students threw eggs at fellow students who were protesting the Vietnam War on Feb. 23, 1966, in front of Memorial Coliseum. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Diane Sawyer films ‘PrimeTime Live’ segment, 1992
Television journalist Diane Sawyer, center, talked to farmers in Pam and Erma’s Restaurant in Bath County on Sept. 2, 1992. An ABC news crew and Sawyer, a Kentucky native, filmed footage for a program on welfare reform. The segment, on ABC’s PrimeTime Live, examined the welfare economy and the chronic shortage of labor on Kentucky tobacco farms. After the piece aired, several Kentucky farmers featured were stunned by the portrayal of rampant abuse. Sawyer and an ABC news crew took hidden cameras to 30 welfare offices and other sites nationwide showing several people cheating the system. John Botts, a Bath County tobacco farmer who was interviewed at Erma and Pam’s Restaurant in Bethel, said the program showed “why our country is in the shape it is in.” Welfare, he said, is a good program, but too many people abuse it. Photo by Tim Sharp | Staff
Mitchell Baker Smith department store, 1965
The Mitchell Baker Smith Co., 230 West Main Street in downtown Lexington, October 1965. At the time of this picture, the department store, which billed itself as “Lexington’s leading department store,” was celebrating its 100th anniversary with a ribbon cutting and employees dressed in old clothing styles. Less than five years later, the store closed. The building was torn down, and the site is now a parking garage for the Lexington Financial Center, locally known as Fifth Third or the “Big Blue Building.” Click here to see other images of downtown Lexington department stores. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Kyle Macy hits a game-winning shot, 1980
University of Kentucky’s Kyle Macy, right, watched as his game-winning, last-second shot went in against Auburn on Jan 2, 1980, in Rupp Arena. The Cats won 67-65 behind Macy’s game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Photo by E. Martin Jessee | Staff
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, 1973
Aerial view of Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill near Harrodsburg on Jan. 23, 1973. It’s America’s largest restored Shaker village. In the upper right is High Bridge, spanning over the Kentucky River. U.S. 68 (Lexington Road) runs up the right side of the picture and curves around the Shaker property. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Van Halen concert at Rupp Arena, 1988
Sammy Hagar, lead singer for Van Halen, during a Sept. 30, 1988 concert at Rupp Arena. Hagar took over lead vocal chores for Van Halen after David Lee Roth left the band in late 1985. At the time of the concert, the group’s single, When It’s Love, was among the top 10 songs on the Billboard magazine charts. The Rupp concert was the opening show of Van Halen’s fall concert tour, and tickets were $16.50. During the show, Hagar wasn’t above dissing the band’s road crew, including at the end of Where Eagles Fly, a track from Hagar’s 1987 self-titled solo album. What do you do when you’ve just performed an entire song with an out-of-tune guitar? Simple: You get the entire audience of 13,000 to boo the roadie who tuned it, which is what Hagar did. Photo by Michael Malone | Staff
Madison Central High School, 1977
Madison Central High School on Red House Road in Richmond, March 1977. About the time of this photo, the school opened its new gym, just below the baseball field. The building on the right is the school’s vocational center. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
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Kentucky.com news feed
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