February 25, 2025
First Lexington baby of the new year, 1979
Amy Leean Johnson, who arrived at 5:15 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1979, becoming the first Lexington baby of the new year, held on to the work-worn hand of her farmer-daddy, Orville Johnson, 21, of Winchester. Amy Leean weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces when she was born at the University of Kentucky Hospital. She and her mother, Annette, 17, were reported in good condition. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
Outback Bowl, 1999
Kentucky coach Hal Mumme talked with quarterback Tim Couch and wide receivers Lance Mickelsen, left, and Craig Yeast during the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 1999, in Tampa, Fla. The Wildcats lost to Penn State, 26-14. Kentucky takes plays Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Taxslayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. Click here to see a video of UK’s five biggest bowl moments. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Lexington Catholic wins Holiday Classic, 1996
Shawn Fields of Lexington Catholic, right, battled Bryan Station’s Victor Crump on Dec. 29, 1996, in the finals of the Fifth Third Bank Kentucky Holiday Classic at Memorial Coliseum. The Knights beat the Defenders 73-54 to win the tournament and extend their record to 11-0. Fields, who led the team with 28 points, was named the tournament MVP. Thursday night is the finals of what is now called The Traditional Bank Holiday Classic, which will be played at Lexington Catholic. Photo by Michelle Patterson-Thomas | Staff
New Year’s Eve countdown clock, 1989
Dave Stevens, left, an electrician for the city of Lexington, and Robert Defino of Smither Sign Co. peered up at a large clock to be used for the New Year’s Eve countdown in Triangle Park on Dec. 31, 1989. Photo by J.D. VanHoose | Staff
Carrie Fisher attends Kentucky Derby party, 1999
Actress Carrie Fisher, with novelist Bruce Wagner, attended a Kentucky Derby party April 30, 1999, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. At the party, as a reporter began to ask her about the impending release of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” Fisher interjected: “No, I have not seen it. I can always tell the face they make before they ask about it.” Despite being forever linked to the “Star Wars” trilogy and the accompanying hype of the new film, Fisher said: “I can’t get sick of it. That would be a bad choice to make.” Fisher, who died Dec. 27, 2016, attended her first Derby the next day in Louisville. Photo by Jahi Chikwendui | Staff
Fayette County Courthouse chimney repair, 1947
Scaffolding surrounded the Fayette County Courthouse in May 1947 as the chimney was repaired. The courthouse, which was built in 1898, is currently undergoing a $30 million renovation that is expected to take more than a year to complete. Recently, the copper horse on the weathervane returned to the top of the bell tower at the courthouse. Published in the Lexington Leader on May 22, 1947. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Original Tolly-Ho restaurant, 1985
Ellen Johnson, center, took orders at the counter of Lexington’s Tolly-Ho restaurant, on the last day at its original spot, March 11, 1985. The popular campus hangout near the University of Kentucky has been a Lexington institution since 1971, when it opened at what was then 108 West Euclid Avenue, today known as Winslow Street. In March 1985, the 24-hour greasy spoon couldn’t make a deal for a new lease and moved in August 1987 around the corner at 395 South Limestone. The owners rented there until May 2011, when they opened at their current spot, buying the empty Hart’s Dry Cleaning building at 606 South Broadway. At the original restaurant shown here, they sold two eggs, toast and jelly for 99 cents. But a quarter-pound hamburger, known as a Tolly, outsold everything else on the menu by a ratio of 10 to 1. Photo by J.D. VanHoose | Staff
Preparing Greek holiday sweets, 1981
Helen Digenis, with her daughters Melina, 13, left, and Emily, 15, prepared chocolate truffles and other holiday sweets in their kitchen on Dec. 14, 1981. In the foreground are vassilopita, left, a Greek New Year’s cake, and kourambiethes, a Greek butter cookie. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Tony Delk, NCAA championship game, 1996
Tony Delk, on the floor, was mobbed by teammates after he was fouled while hitting a 3-pointer during Kentucky’s 76-67 win over Syracuse in the NCAA championship game, April 1, 1996, in East Rutherford, N.J. Leading the Cats to their sixth national title, Delk tied a championship-game record with seven 3-pointers in the game. At the behest of ex-Kentucky guard Cameron Mills, filmmaker Jason Epperson and WKYT-TV’s Dick Gabriel have combined to produce a documentary on that 1996 NCAA championship team. The film will debut on Lexington’s WKYT-TV at 5 p.m. Christmas Day. “They really believe they were the best team in the modern era of college basketball,” Gabriel said. Photo by David Perry | staff
Downtown Christmas shoppers, 1945
Christmas shoppers along West Main Street in December 1945, with the largest crowd on the sidewalk outside JC Penney and Purcell Co. department stores, top left. World War II had ended three months earlier, and rationing had recently been lifted on a variety of items, including bicycles, shoes, meat and cheese. The Lexington Leader reported that “despite continuing scarcity of many articles, including toys, Lexington stores have been jammed with shoppers the last several weeks.” The photo was taken from a second-story window of the B.B. Smith and Co. clothing store, just east of Mill Street, looking west along Main Street. Published in the Lexington Leader on Dec. 18, 1945. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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
- University of Kentucky student reports sexual assault in dorm room, campus police say
- Elevated Kentucky River results in mudslide at Buffalo Trace Distillery
- Remaining Kentucky locations of fabrics, craft giant will also close, company announces
- Former Central KY sheriff’s deputy charged after recording strip search of female inmate
- Lexington Humane Society caring for assaulted dog named Rudy. ‘He did NOT deserve this.’
- Kentucky’s bill requiring ‘moment of silence’ in schools advances in General Assembly
- Lexington’s lawsuit against proposed solar farm is hypocrisy at its most disappointing | Opinion
- KY has fourth-most people unable to vote because of felony convictions, report says
- Lexington’s best chocolate chip cookies: Soft, chewy comfort food that ‘feels like a hug’
- Plans for upscale Lexington Greek restaurant change. Here’s what’s coming instead