September 20, 2024
Lexington Mall, 1999
Shoppers rested on benches at Lexington Mall on May 12, 1999. When the shopping center at New Circle and Richmond roads opened in September 1975, it was after years of on-and-off construction, complicated by bankruptcy by the mall’s original owners, John W. Waites Associates. Saul Subsidiary I, the chief lender on the project, bought the mall in bankruptcy proceedings, finished the construction and opened the mall. At least two stores — Shoppers Choice Supermarket and McAlpin’s — had already been open for four years. When the mall opened, its 48 stores drew crowds of shoppers. A fountain occupied the center court. Despite its rocky beginning, the mall prospered for years, but the expansion of Fayette Mall in 1993 hurt the shopping center. Over the next several years, many stores either closed or moved as attendance declined. Among them: Schwab’s Pipes & Such; Phillip Gall’s Outdoor & Ski; Bookland; Knott Shoes; For Friends and gift shop For Friends Too; women’s clothing store Marshae’s; Dawahare’s; Home Accents; The County Market; two screens at Sony Theaters; and Consolidated Sales Co. At the time of this photo, Dillard’s was the mall’s biggest tenant and the only anchor store. In 2005, Dillard’s was the last tenant to leave. Southland Christian Church bought the property in 2010, and it opened a satellite church in 2013. Photo by David Stephenson | Staff
Pops Foster laying bricks, 1985
Pops Foster, a mason working for McCoy’s Masonry, laid brick on July 26, 1985, at a single-family home under construction on Warrenton Circle in Lexington. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Tates Creek High School, 1976
Tates Creek High School, near Lexington’s Gainesway neighborhood, May 10, 1976. The school opened in September 1965 with a capacity of 1,300 students. The building was purposely planned without physical adornment. This was to add to its versatility. Walls were simply concrete block that could be torn out in one night if the need for a larger room arose. In 1976, the senior class was 483 students. The 2017 class was 456. In 1993, the school underwent renovations to significantly increase its size. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Sayre School, 1976
The Sayre School’s campus in downtown Lexington, May 10, 1976. The private school was founded in 1854 and serves students from preschool through 12th grade. It was a girls-only institution until 1876. The campus shown here is bordered by North Martin Luther King Boulevard to the right, Constitution Street across the top and Pleasant Stone Street along the bottom. In 1976, the school had a senior class of 46. Over the years the campus has expanded its footprint north between North Limestone and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, building a new high school on what used to be the bus garage in the upper left corner of this image. Today, the building in the center with the columns is the gym, and the L-shaped building below it and the building across the street have been torn down to make way for new buildings. Click on the image for a closer look. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Lexington Catholic High School, 1976
Lexington Catholic High School on Clays Mill Road, May 10, 1976. The parochial school affiliated with the Catholic Church was formed in 1951 through the merger of two secondary schools, St. Catherine Academy (founded in 1823) and Lexington Latin High (founded in 1924). In 1957, the school moved to this spot from Limestone. In 1976, the school had a senior class of 111. Today, the field to the right of the school is now occupied by the gymnasium, and behind the school is athletic fields, including football and baseball. Photo by Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Lafayette High School, 1976
Lafayette High School, on Lexington’s Reed Lane, May 10, 1976. The school, which opened in 1939 two miles south of the city limits, was built on the grounds of an orphanage at a cost of $270,000. It had a student capacity of 1,000. Nazi Germany invaded Poland three days before the school registered its first students. In July 1940, a national defense trade school was set up at the school. Over the next several years, the campus was expanded to meet the war needs as students of the vocational programs went on to work in shipyards, munitions plants, aircraft factories and other war-related industries. Lafayette was the first Lexington school to be integrated, in 1955. In the upper right corner is the Fayette County school bus garage. Today it is on Liberty Road. The football field to its right has now been turned 90 degrees. In 1976 the school graduated 448 students. In 2017 it was 569. Click on the image for a closer look. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
New Henry Clay High School, 1970
Henry Clay High School on Fontaine Road, Oct. 6, 1970. A month earlier, the school opened to students after moving from its Main Street address, where it had been since 1928. On opening day for the $5.2 million school, Aug. 31, 1970, the floor and ceiling of the cafeteria and the interior of the gym, the two buildings shown at right, were not completed because of a carpenters and concrete finishers strike. Also, the baseball, football and track fields were under construction. In 2006, a connector building was completed, joining the cafeteria to the main classroom building, shown at left. The school, named after statesman and Lexingtonian Henry Clay, is the oldest public high school in Lexington. Click on the image for a closer look. Published in the Oct. 8, 1970, Lexington Leader. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School construction, 1989
Construction of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, built on 45 acres off Man o’ War Boulevard in southwest Lexington, Nov. 1, 1989. When it opened Aug. 23, 1990, it was the first public high school built in Fayette County in 20 years (Henry Clay opened in October 1970). At more than $17 million, it was the most expensive school building in Kentucky. This view is from the back side of the school, with Man o’ War Boulevard visible across the top. The two-story building is arranged into five concourses, each area containing a different department. Three atrium staircases join the concourses. To the right is the beginning construction of the school’s gymnasium and fine-arts complex. It was not finished until several months after the school opened. Paul Laurence Dunbar High School inherited its name from Lexington’s old Dunbar High School at 545 North Upper Street, an all-black school that opened in 1923 and closed 44 years later after city schools were integrated. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Bryan Station High School, 1976
Bryan Station High School in Lexington on May 10, 1976. Founded in 1958, it was at 1866 Edgeworth Drive until January 2007, when a new school was dedicated at a site next door. The new $43.9 million school had a 1,800-student capacity on Eastin Road. On Jan. 3, 2007, students started their day at the old building on Edgeworth Drive, then walked to the new building in shifts. By 11:30, all the students were in the new school. The 40,000-square-foot gymnasium was renovated and restored. The football stadium shown in this image was razed and rebuilt. The school buildings shown here just under the baseball field were demolished. That area is now a parking lot. In 1976 the school graduated 450 students. In 2017 it was 472. Click on the image for a closer look. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Solar eclipse, Jackson County, 1986
Breathitt County high school students used handmade “sunscopes” to observe a partial solar eclipse on Oct. 3, 1986, at the high school in Jackson. A group of students from Margaret Gross’s and Hubert Harold’s science classes used a variety of devices to observe the phenomenon. Kentucky is in the direct path of a total solar eclipse on Monday. Lexington will reach 95 percent totality about 2:30 p.m. Photo by Jim Wakeham | Staff
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