February 24, 2025
Henry Clay, Lafayette football, 1981
Henry Clay’s Robert Wakefield, right, tried to elude the grasp of Lafayette defender Paul Vines in their game Oct. 30, 1981, at Henry Clay. The Blue Devils won 31-6 and went on to finish the year undefeated, claiming the school’s only state football title. This year’s squad takes on No. 7 Lafayette on Friday night. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Lexington’s Union Station, 1944
Lexington’s Union Station on Main Street, 1944. It had opened with great fanfare on Aug. 4, 1907, with the arrival of C&O passenger train No. 24. A crowd estimated at 3,000 people met the train. The terminal fronted Main Street, just west of Walnut Street, which has been renamed Martin Luther King Boulevard. The exterior was built with red and yellow brick, and green and red glass. The lobby was in the center rotunda, which was 50 by 80 feet, with a central dome 50 feet high. The lobby had a Roman arch ceiling and six oak waiting benches. The last passenger train (the George Washington) departed from the station on May 9, 1957. Union Station was closed because of high operating overhead and low passenger travel. In March 1960, the building was demolished. The current building at the site houses the Lexington Police Department, the Fayette County clerk’s office and the downtown’s busiest parking garage, the Annex Garage. Click here to see more images of Union Station from our archives.
Baynham shoe store, 1949
Toddler Kathy Lewis was fitted by S.B. Foley with a pair of shoes at Baynham Shoe Co. on Feb. 4, 1949. The popular shoe store, founded by three brothers at 135 East Main Street, operated for more then 50 years before closing in the 1970s. The store’s motto was “shoes of distinction.” About the time of this photo, men’s white buck shoes were advertised for $4.95 a pair. Phoenix Park is where the store used to be.
Shillito’s advertisement, 1976
Full-page advertisement in the Herald-Leader celebrating the fifth anniversary of Shillito’s department store in Fayette Mall on Oct. 3, 1976. Note: Most of the clothing in the ad was polyester. The store, along with Sears, and Stewart Dry Goods, was one of the original anchor stores for the mall when it opened in 1971. In 1982, the store’s parent company, Federated Department Stores Inc., announced that it had combined the operations of its Rikes and Shillito’s stores, naming the stores Shillito’s Rikes. In 1986, after a merger of other Federated Department Stores divisions, it became Lazarus. Click on the image for a closer look.
Cheapside Park, 1989
Cheapside Park on Main Street in Lexington, Aug. 24, 1989. The Fayette County Courthouse is visible through the trees, just over the fountain. The name Cheapside was taken from the historic marketplace in London, England. During the slavery era, Lexington’s Cheapside became the largest slave market in the South. After the Civil War, it was a public square and a market, hosting Court Days for public trading until 1921. The popular downtown free concert series, Thursday Night Live, started here in 1994, and in 2010, the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion opened, hosting the farmers market on Saturdays year-round. The glass pavilion covers about 5,700 square feet and can accommodate approximately 28 stands on market day. On the far left of the picture, you can see Cheapside, a one-way, one-block street between West Short and West Main streets. In late 2008, the Urban County Council approved the permanent closing of Cheapside to vehicle traffic. Photo by Clay Owen | Staff
3-year-old freed from hole, 1951
3-year-old Calvin Doty Jr. waited to be freed after catching his foot in a post hole on Oct. 16, 1951. Calvin, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Doty on Charlotte Court, was uninjured and extricated from the hole with the assistance of Aleza Jackson, left, and Patrolman Prather Walker. Published in the Lexington Herald on Oct. 17, 1951. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
UK football’s Doug Martin, 1984
A knee injury forced Kentucky quarterback Doug Martin, right, to give up his senior season of eligibility in 1984. Instead, he launched his coaching career by working as a student assistant, here looking on in preseason camp on Aug. 13, 1984, as then-freshman quarterback Bill Allen practiced. Now the head coach at New Mexico State, Martin will lead the Aggies against UK on Saturday. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
UK quarterback Doug Martin on the UK bench after injuring his knee in a 34-10 loss to LSU, Oct. 16, 1982.
Tates Creek football action, 1983
Tates Creek quarterback Ron Mack looked for running room against the Cawood Trojans on Sept. 16, 1983. The Commodores pulled out the victory, driving 77 yards in 14 plays as Mack ran for a touchdown from the seven-yard line with 48 seconds remaining. The Commodores take on Madison Southern Friday night at home. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Phone booth stuffing, 1975
In what was described as an experiment, a group of Tates Creek Junior High School students decided to see how many people they could fit inside a phone booth. The experiment, carried out Feb. 16, 1975, resulted in 13 students inside the phone booth, which was at the Lansdowne Shopping Center on Tates Creek Road. The students included, in no particular order, Kathy Borkowski, Mary Beth deCastro, Brawn Sharp, Kelly Hayworth, Brian Sams, Tim Esenbock, Donna Lawson, Jay Rice, Kathy Frank, Karen Linville, Greg LaRue, Neil Welllinghurst and Mark Curry. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Updating sign at Baltrip’s Fruit & Vegetables, 1991
Dennis Myers, owner of Equus Art & Sign Painting, painted over the word “wholesale” and writing “Open to the Public” on the side of Baltrip’s Fruits and Vegetables, 317 Bolivar Street, on Sept. 12, 1991. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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