April 3, 2025
Clark County square dancers, 1948
Clark County square dancers vied for the right to represent their county at a statewide competition in August 1948. The event, at Joyland Amusement Park in Lexington, was sponsored by the Kentucky Press Association for the benefit of crippled children.
UK move-in, 1949
University of Kentucky students moved into their dorm room in Patterson Hall during orientation week activities in September 1949. While Pat Moore, foreground, unpacked, Marian Ferguson, rear, made up her bunk and Mary Jo Cundiff applied polish to her nails. Published in the Herald-Leader Sept. 18, 1949.
Henry Clay football, 1946
Gibson Downing, right end for the Henry Clay football team, scored a touchdown in a game with Shelbyville in October 1946. Also shown in the picture are Henry Clay’s Ray Current, on the ground looking up, and Shelbyville players Bill Green (44) and Charles Long (45). The game was played at Cassidy Field. Published in the Lexington Herald on Oct. 5, 1946.
Joyland Park, 1948
Lexington’s Joyland amusement park was in northeast Fayette County off North Broadway. This photo was taken in August 1948 during a picnic and square dance contest sponsored by the Kentucky Press Association. It was considered the “best-known park in the Bluegrass,” with two roller coasters: the Wildcat and the Kiddie Coaster. The park closed in August 1964 and was torn down in 1965, eventually replaced by the Joyland neighborhood.
Bracktown, 1985
Michael Wilson shot baskets at a basketball goal nailed to a tree on Bracktown Road in 1985. That year, the Herald-Leader published a series of feature stories about various Fayette County communities, including Bracktown. Michael was born in Bracktown, which is in on Leestown Road in western Fayette County. Bracktown was established about 1887, when land owned by Robert Stone, the Martin family and the Reverend Frederick Braxton was subdivided and sold to freed slaves. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Picadome Elementary time capsule, 1968
Dorothy Hellard’s sixth-grade class at Picadome Elementary School prepared to bury a time capsule containing about 200 items on May 31, 1968. The container was buried in a concrete vault. Among the items it contained were bubble gum, a calendar, a tape recording of students’ voices, a city map signed by Mayor Fred Fugazzi, a card from the White House signed by President Lyndon Johnson, and a Kentucky flag signed by Gov. Louie Nunn. The time capsule was unearthed in 2004 when a backhoe was working near the school. Students contributed additional items from 2004, and the capsule was reburied. Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
Blue Licks State Park, 1946
A crowd gathered in September 1946 to watch scientists search for bones from prehistoric animals at Blue Licks State Park in Nicholas County. Published in the Lexington Herald Sept. 16, 1946.
University of Kentucky campus, 1946
Aerial view of the University of Kentucky campus, 1945-1946. Avenue of Champions runs left to right near the bottom of the photograph, with Stoll Field and McLean Stadium, center left. It was the home of the University of Kentucky’s football team. The field had been in use since 1880, and the concrete stands were opened in October 1916. After the 1972 season, the stands were replaced by Commonwealth Stadium. This was taken before Memorial Coliseum, which was built in 1950. Click on the image for a closer look.
Schwarzenegger visits Bryan Station, 1990
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, then chairman of President George H. W. Bush’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, flexed his muscles during a visit to Lexington’s Bryan Station High School on Sept. 24, 1990. The actor was on a nine-state tour to promote exercise and good health. Schwarzenegger, who was chairman of the fitness council from 1990-93, arrived at Bryan Station about 9 a.m. and watched 56 members of the school’s two advanced physical education classes train under coaches John Nochta and Gloria Compton. At the push-up station, Schwarzenegger got on the floor and into the face of Byron Gabbard, 16. “He told me to put my chest to the ground,” Gabbard said. Schwarzenegger told the kids “It doesn’t matter how smart we are. We have to house this great mind in a great body.” He cited statistics: Most kids can’t do a chin-up or 10 push-ups. He bemoaned the exclusion of physical education as a requirement in school. No excuse for phasing out physical education is a good excuse, he said. And there’s no good excuse for remaining out of condition. “Budget is no excuse,” he said. “Time is no excuse. What we need is will. Will conquers all.” At left, looking up at Schwarzenegger, was Kentucky Gov. Wallace Wilkinson. Photo by Jennfer Podis | Herald-Leader Staff
Fire damages Eagles Club, 1950
A fire damaged the Eagles Club at 139 North Broadway in March 1950. Lexington firefighters fought to extinguish the flames. The building was saved and now houses the law offices of Garmer & Prather PLLC. To the right is the Lexington Opera House. Published in the Lexington Herald on March 30, 1950.
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