February 27, 2025
Capital Plaza Hotel construction, 1983
Construction continued on the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort on May 11, 1983. The 11-story, 189-room hotel, part of the complex that includes the Frankfort Convention Center, opened Dec. 30, 1983, and became one of the first places in Central Kentucky to serve alcohol on Sunday. The $13 million hotel was built by a company headed by Lexington developer Wallace Wilkinson, who was elected Kentucky’s governor in 1987. What is now called Wilkinson Boulevard, named for Gen. James Wilkinson, the founder of Frankfort, is at left. At right is the Capital Plaza Office Tower, the workplace of hundreds of state employees. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
City dump scavengers, 1940
In May 1940, the Sunday Herald-Leader carried a story about the daily scavengers who descended on Lexington’s city dump, on Old Frankfort Pike, hoping to find anything of value that they could sell or use themselves. This photo was an outtake from that story and shows a group going through a freshly unloaded pile of trash. The article noted that the scavengers lived in shanties which dotted Manchester, Driscoll, deRoode, Perry, Jane and adjoining streets. They tended to arrive about mid-afternoon each day and usually left by dark. If an individual earned a dollar a week they considered themselves lucky. The story ran May 19, 1940. Read a copy of the story here. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
UK’s Sam Bowie, 1981
Kentucky center Sam Bowie slammed home two of his game-high 19 points during a 80-48 Wildcat win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 21, 1981, at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The sophmore also pulled down 15 rebounds in the win for the 10th-ranked Wildcats, who were up by only three at the half, 26-23. UK wen on to finish the season 22-6, but they lost their last two games of the year: one in the SEC tournament and the other in their opening NCAA Tournament game. Bowie had to sit out the next two seasons because of a stress fracture in his left tibia. He returned for the 1983-84 season and finished his three-year Wildcat career with 1,285 points, currently 30th on UK’s all-time career points list. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Dunbar’s junior high champs, 1961
Dunbar Junior High wound up its season with a 50-25 win over University Junior to record a perfect 10-0 Blue Grass Conference mark in February 1961. The Bearkittens were beaten just once in 18 games in the 1960-61 season.
Front row, from left: Cecil Craig, Dave Cruse, Robert Washington, Theodore Berry, Coach Harry N. Sykes. Second row: Richard Gentry, Eugene Krank, Russell King, Jerry Gentry. Back row: manager Johnny Edwards, James Berry, George Wilson, Richard Green, James Jackson. Published in the Lexington Leader on Feb. 24, 1961. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Tobacco barn move, 1983
Bob Lail bought this 15-bent tobacco barn from the former Belair Farm and had it moved, a third at a time, to his Delong Farm in the Richmond Road area. The front third of the barn was being moved into place on March 1, 1983, as workers prepared a foundation. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
First National Bank and Trust Co. lobby, 1940
First National Bank and Trust Co. lobby, March 1940. Known as Lexington’s first skyscraper, the 15-story landmark at 167 West Main Street is now a 21c Museum Hotel. The part of the lobby shown in this image is now part of Lockbox, the hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant, to the left of the lobby, will seat about 100 and includes an informal bar area and a private dining room in the former bank vault, complete with a massive still-functioning door. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Use the slider below to see how this picture compares to what the lobby/restaurant looks like today.
UK cheerleaders, 1944
University of Kentucky cheerleaders in November 1944. Published Nov. 19, 1944, in the Herald-Leader. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Resurfacing of Richmond Road/East Main Street, 1948
Resurfacing of Richmond Road, at the intersection of Ashland Avenue, Aug. 26, 1948. That intersection is about where East Main Street becomes Richmond Road. The resurfacing was one of the final parts of a yearlong project to widen Richmond Road from two lanes to four, to an area just past Idle Hour Country Club, almost to the Lexington reservoir. Over the years, more restaurants have been at this intersection, 735 East Main Street, than perhaps any other location in town. At left is the sign for the first restaurant at that address, the Stirrup Cup, which opened in 1938. It closed in the 1960s but reopened in 1980, only to close again in 1982. Today it is Coles 735 Main restaurant. Herald-Leader archive photo.
Use the slider below to see how this picture compares to what the intersection looks like today.
Perry Lumber Co., 1990
Perry Lumber Co., 246 Walton Avenue, announced in September 1990 that it was going out of business the following November after 73 years. Owner J.T. Perry Jr., 71, decided to close the company after trying to sell it for five years. Perry’s father, J.T. Perry, and his grandfather, B.F. Perry, founded the company in 1917. They had moved to Lexington in 1916 from Montgomery County, where the senior Perry had farmed and operated a sawmill. This building is now in use by Willis Klein Showrooms, a family-owned business that deals in decorative plumbing, door hardware, residential and commercial hardware, locksmith/security and safes. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
Rupp’s Runts, 1965
University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp posed with his returning starters in October 1965 before the 1965-66 season. From left, Larry Conley, Louie Dampier, Pat Riley and Tommy Kron. This team, known as Rupp’s Runts because of their small size, would lose the NCAA championship game, 72-65, to Texas Western (now UTEP). Conley is to be honored at the 2016 Southeastern Conference Tournament as UK’s SEC Basketball Legend. 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
- Lexington couple cashes in on a big Powerball win with plans to travel overseas
- KY lawmakers try again to ban students from using cell phones during the school day
- Supt. Liggins: Budget process will be guided by excellence, transparency, fiscal responsibility | Opinion
- Lexington’s historic Lyric Theater offers Jazz Nights to beat the winter doldrums
- Neighbors object, council approves: Affordable homes coming to old Transy baseball field
- Surface mine reclamation in Eastern KY ‘alarmingly slow,’ leaving problems in its wake
- Here’s how much Lexington spends cleaning up homeless camps. Why more money is needed
- Should KY schools buy wearable panic buttons for teachers? Some experts aren’t convinced.
- Lexington Farmers Market vendor says he’s been kicked out after more than 20 years
- Kentucky State Police trooper fatally shoots man while serving warrant for his arrest