February 24, 2025
Lansdowne neighborhood, 1973
An aerial view of the Lansdowne residential area in late August 1973. The road running along the bottom of the photo is Hildeen Drive. Zandale Drive is just above Hildeen, running diagonally. The divided Lansdowne Drive can be seen near the middle of the photo running toward the top right. This was the cover photo for the Home Fashion section in the Sept 9 Herald-Leader. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
Lexington Central Library, 1988
Window installation was underway when this photo of the new Central Library at 140 East Main Street was under construction on July 19, 1988. Doors opened to the public on April 6, 1989, with grand-opening festivities April 17 through 22 and dedication on April 23. The post-modern five-story glass-and-granite structure cost $9.4 million. The city of Lexington is considering buying the Central Library as a new City Hall, city and library officials said Tuesday. Photo by David Perry | Staff
Lexington rat exterminators, 1947
A week before the start of a countywide effort to begin exterminating rats in March 1947, W. J. Morris, left, and John J. Stillinger of the Arnold Exterminator Co. showed off 100 rats they killed in downtown Lexington businesses in 48 hours. The two men said they killed the rats with 1080, the most effective rat poison then on the market. Lexington officials acknowledged that there was a rat problem and that rats caused $500,000 worth of damage a year. The Fayette County Farm Bureau rat-extermination campaign was to take place March 14-15. Published in the Herald-Leader on March 2, 1947. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Asbury College, 1940
An aerial view of Asbury College in Wilmore, 1940. At that time, enrollment was slightly more than 500. Today, the four-year, multi-denominational institution in Jessamine County has about 1,800 students. It was renamed Asbury University in 2010. The building in the middle with the white dome is the Hager Administration Building. Running across the bottom of the photo is North Lexington Avenue. A sister school, Asbury Theological Seminary, separated from the college because of accreditation requirements about the time of this photo. Some of its buildings can bee seen along the bottom of the picture. Click on the image for a closer look. Click here to see another view of the campus in 1951. Herald-Leader file photo
Dunbar Coach S.T. Roach, 1963
Dunbar coach S.T. Roach emphasized a point which could lead his Bearcats into the semi-finals of the Kentucky High School State Tournament in Louisville in March 1963. Dunbar was to meet Clem Haskins and the Taylor County Cardinals on March 15, 1963. The Bearcats beat Taylor County 65-64 then Owensboro 60-47 to reach the finals of the tournament but were defeated by Seneca 72-66 in the championship game March 16. There is currently a movement to name Fayette County’s new high school after the pioneering basketball coach who built the old Dunbar High School into a powerhouse and was at the forefront of integrating the high school game. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
World Equestrian Games, 2010
Robin Krause rode Watriano R as the French team competed in the FEI World Vaulting Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 6, 2010. It was announced Friday that Kentucky won’t pursue the 2018 World Equestrian Games, which were pulled from Canada last week, because the state determined that it would “put the Commonwealth and the taxpayers at enormous financial risk.” Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Don Pratt in Woodland Grocery, 1980
Don Pratt inside his Woodland Grocery store at Woodland Avenue and East High Street on May 15, 1980. Pratt operated Woodland Grocery on East High Street from 1975 to February 1982. He reopened Woodland Grocery on Walton Avenue in April 1982 and stayed in business until deciding to close on May 1, 1998. Pratt, a well-known local political activist, is recovering at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital after being hit by a car last week while riding his scooter. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
House demolition, 1985
Willis Bastin emerged from the floor of a house he was tearing down on Central Avenue in Lexington on June 26, 1985. Bastin, 23, quit his noon-to-8 p.m. job driving a forklift and established his own demolition company, W.N. Bastin Contracting Co. He was razing three houses at 614, 618 and 622 Central Avenue. The Lexington-Fayette County Historic Commission called them “turn-of-the-century T-plan cottages” built between 1895 and 1900. Bastin has made a career of demolition. His company is now called Diversified Demolition. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Leader columnist Don Edwards in Haiti, 1982
Lexington Leader columnist Don Edwards posed with a group of kids in Ranquitte, Haiti, in April 1982. Edwards and Herald-Leader photographer Ron Garrison accompanied a Christian Flights International missionary group from Kentucky that operated a medical and dental clinic in the village. Edwards, who retired in 2001, chronicled life in the Bluegrass with passion, wit and humor for 22 years. He died early Tuesday, July 26. He was 75. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
White Christmas, 1993
Alex Heim, top left, got a lift from his brother Kevin, and John Heim got a lift from Tony Smith while Alesia Smith supervised construction of a snowman on Dec. 25, 1993. The five built the 9-foot snowman on Park Avenue in Lexington to celebrate a white Christmas, but the snow turned to ice overnight, making travel difficult. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Kentucky.com news feed
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