March 19, 2025
Sam Bowie rehabbing, 1981
University of Kentucky basketball player Sam Bowie worked with UK strength coach Pat Etcheberry on rehabbing his left leg in 1981 in the weight room. Bowie, who was listed at 7-foot-1, sat out two seasons, 1981-82 and 1982-83, because of a stress fracture. Bowie returned for the 1983-84 season, and he averaged 10.5 points while being named to the second-team All-American squad. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
First National Bank and Trust, 1940
First National Bank and Trust Co., founded April 1, 1865, celebrated its 75th anniversary on March 31, 1940 with a special ceremony. To promote the anniversary, the Leader published this photograph showing an informal “behind the scenes” view at the bank, showing the tellers’ cages at left and a battery of desks, files and computing machines manned by busy clerks and auditors at right. Published on March 31, 1940.
Judy Garland in Lexington, 1953
Actress Judy Garland, second from right, arrived at Lexington’s Union Station on April 28, 1953. The actress and singer, known for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, was in Lexington to perform at Memorial Coliseum as part of Blue Grass Festivals pre-Derby attractions. While in Lexington, Garland, described by Fred Astaire as “the greatest entertainer who ever lived”, visited children at Shriners Hospital. With her are Lexington Mayor Pro Tem Fred E. Fugazzi, Ann Powell and Hugh Meriwether, right, president of Blue Grass Festivals.
Casey County, 1991
A Mennonite family rode a horse-drawn buggy down a country road in Casey County in late summer 1991. The photo ran in the paper Sept. 4, 1991, as part of a ‘Day Trip’ feature about various communities in the state. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Acrobat Buddy Philpott, 1949
Acrobat Robert (Buddy) Philpott, a native of Irvine, Ky., who was appearing at the Ben Ali Theater in downtown Lexington, did a handstand on the hood of a car on East Short Street to promote his show in February 1949. This photo was published in the Lexington Leader on Feb. 3, 1949.
Roy Walton, 1980
Tates Creek High School football coach Roy Walton talked with quarterback Ronnie Long during a game on Sept. 5, 1980. Walton accumulated most of his 219 victories in 26 years of coaching at Tates Creek. He led the Commodores to an undefeated season and a state championship in 1972 and an at-large state title in 1978. He retired after the 1992 season. Walton died in 2010 at age 80. A scholarship fund is being established in his honor. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Nelson Bunker Hunt, 1985
Nelson Bunker Hunt, left, and Bloodstock agent Eugenio Colombo at the Fasig-Tipton Summer Yearling Sales in 1985. Hunt, the former Texas billionaire, owned horses and farmland in seven Kentucky counties, including the 257-acre Bluegrass Farm at Versailles Road and Man o’ War Boulevard. Hunt, 88, died Tuesday in Dallas. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Gov. Wilkinson buys first lottery ticket, 1989
Kentucky Gov. Wallace Wilkinson bought the state’s first lottery ticket at a Thorntons gas station and food mart in Louisville on April 4, 1989. Wilkinson, who made a state lottery the cornerstone of his 1987 gubernatorial race, bought $3 worth of tickets and came up empty. Wilkinson turned and jokingly told lottery president Frank Keener that he “could have organized this a little better.” The governor later bought $100 worth of tickets — 50 “Beginner’s Luck” and 25 “DreamStakes” — for his wife, Martha. Kentucky voters overwhelmingly supported the lottery in the previous fall’s general election. The Kentucky Lottery Corp. says it has earned nearly $4 billion for Kentucky’s state treasury since 1989. Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
Rupp visits Shriners Hospital, 1949
From left, Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp; Charles Galloway Calhoun, Shriners imperial potentate; and Fred Bryant posed for a picture at Shriners Hospital in Lexington with Barbara Scully and Gary Meadows in June 1949. Published in the Lexington Leader on June 23, 1949.
Centre College Homecoming rite, 1960
Freshman Bill Sykes was given an involuntary haircut as part of Centre College’s Homecoming in autumn 1960. Centre celebrates Homecoming 2014 this weekend. Published in the Herald-Leader on Oct. 23, 1960.
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
- Lexington restaurant inspections: Roasted chicken place closed by health department
- KY prisons’ health care provider declares bankruptcy. Some lawsuits accuse it of fraud
- Lexington has $8 million to improve parks. Here’s where your tax money may go
- 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