March 19, 2025
Crit Luallen, 1984
Crit Luallen, 32, was interviewed on May 14, 1984, after Gov. Martha Layne Collins appointed her as state arts Commissioner. Ealier this month, Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Luallen as lieutenant governor, the state’s No. 2 public official. She replaced Jerry Abramson, who departed to take a job with the White House to help local officials throughout the country. Luallen, who has served with six other Kentucky governors in high positions, was elected state auditor twice, serving from 2003 to 2012. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Record cold, 1951
Cars were stranded along Main Street in Lexington during a record cold snap on Feb. 2, 1951. The low that morning was minus-15 degrees, which remains the record for that date in Lexington. The brutal cold was part of the Great Storm of 1951, when rain and sleet on Jan. 31 was followed by deep cold and snow. The winter storm stretched from Louisiana to Ohio, but Kentucky and Tennessee received the brunt of it. Twenty-five deaths were blamed on the storm, which caused an estimated $100 million in damage — a record at the time. Published in the Lexington Leader on Feb. 2, 1951.
Florence Crittenton Home, 1947
A 1947 view of the Thomas Grant house at 519 West Fourth Street in Lexington. The house was built in 1823. In 1894, it became a home for unwed girls about to become mothers. Originally known as the Lexington House of Mercy, in 1921 it became affiliated with a national organization called the Florence Crittenton Home. Published in the Lexington Leader on Oct. 25, 1947. Photo by Ralph Looney | Staff
Maxey Flats, 1976
A worker operating a bulldozer filled one of the trenches at Maxey Flats, a nuclear burial site, on Feb. 4, 1976. The 235-acre site in Fleming County was operated by the Nuclear Engineering Co. of Louisville. Work is to begin next year on a final ‘cap’ of Maxey Flats nuclear-waste site. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
UK brings home the Beer Barrel, 1962
The Kentucky football team arrived at Blue Grass Field on Nov. 24, 1962, with the trophies of their 12-10 victory at Tennessee: the game ball and the Beer Barrel. The Beer Barrel would go to the winner of the annual game between the SEC schools. The blue-and-orange barrel stayed at the home of the winning team from 1925 until 1998, when an alcohol-related crash killed a Kentucky player and an Eastern Kentucky University student, and injured the driver, also a Kentucky player. The crash occurred a week before the Kentucky-Tennessee game. At the time it was retired, the barrel had been in Tennessee’s possession since 1985. The players in the picture are, left side, bottom to top, Clarkie Mayfield, whose two field goals decided the game; Darrell Cox, who scored Kentucky’s lone touchdown; Ray Heffington; and Frank Sakal. Right side, bottom to top: Herschel Turner, holding the beer barrel; Jim Hill; Jim Komara; and quarterback Jerry Woolum.
UK celebrates win No. 1,000, 1969
After defeating Tennesse on the road, the Kentucky basketball players came home to Memoral Colesium in January 1969 to blow out 1,000 candles on a large cake celebrating the program’s 1,000th win. The Cats will go for win No. 2,141 on Friday against Grand Canyon University. In 112 seasons, UK has lost only 672 games. Photo by E. Martin Jessee | Staff
Harrodsburg Road and Man o’ War Boulevard, 1987
An aerial view of the intersection of Harrodsburg Road and Man o’ War Boulevard on Aug. 1, 1987. In this view, Harrodsburg Road runs south and north to Lexington. Part of Man o’ War was under construction and what is now Palomar Center is farmland. Click on the image for a closer look and click here to see another image from our archives of Man o’ War construction, this time at the intersection of Richmond Road in 1982. Photo by Tim Sharp | Staff
Cooperstown, 1946
This aerial view shows approximately 250 of the housing units in Cooperstown, a temporary housing project set up on the Experiment Station farm to house student veterans at the University of Kentucky. Houses at the top left are along Woodland Avenue, and the row at far right is on the east side of an extension of Oldham Avenue. The University observatory, which served as headquarters for the project manager, is at left. On Wednesday, UK will dedicate a Kentucky historical marker paying tribute to Cooperstown, which was recently torn down to make way for new undergraduate housing. Among the guests will be NBC sportscaster and UK alumnus Tom Hammond, whose grandfather Thomas Poe Cooper was dean of UK’s school of agriculture and for whom Cooperstown was named. Published in the Herald-Leader on April 14, 1946.
World War II veteran “Jack” Wilson, 1984
In November 1984, Maurice “Jack” Wilson, a former prisoner of war in World War II, stood in front of a U.S. Army tank in Harrodsburg. The tank was similar to the ones in his battalion in the Philippines. The tank was donated by the Army as a war memorial to the Mercer County men who served in the 38th Tank Company, Kentucky National Guard. His Guard unit was combined with other units to form the 192nd Tank Battalion stationed at Fort Knox. Wilson and others in his company were captured in 1941 by the Japanese and spent the entire war in a prison camp in Japan. Wilson died in May 1985. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Willie Nelson at Rupp Arena, 1979
Country music singer Willie Nelson performed at Rupp Arena on May 13, 1979. The concert that night included Waylon Jennings, Emmy Lou Harris and Leon Russell. Nelson has played Rupp Arena seven times, including four years in a row from 1977 to 1980. His last appearence at Rupp was in 2000 with the Dixie Chicks, Patty Griffin, Ricky Skaggs and Vida & Joe Ely. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
Photo reprints
See a photo that you would like to have a reprint of? All photos that appear in this blog can be purchased from
MyCapture .
TITLE
 | Follow us on Twitter @KYPhotoArchive |
TITLE
Kentucky.com news feed
- Dismantling US Department of Education would be ‘devastating’ to KY, teachers’ union says
- KY bill would have allowed compensation for wrongfully convicted. It failed a third time.
- One charge dismissed against third suspect in Lexington homicide investigation
- KY man charged with murder after 87-year-old stabbed to death during robbery
- Visiting Lexington for basketball? Fancy, fast and unique restaurants near Rupp Arena
- Yes, you should definitely ignore texts asking you to pay a KY highway toll. Here’s why
- ‘Wrock’ & roll: Celebrating Lexington’s 250th birthday with a new lager
- Federal court upholds sentence for longest-serving death row inmate in Kentucky
- UK releasing a first: Wildcask Bourbon blended by university distilling students
- We looked through 12 years of public records appeals. Universities continue to violate records law