walkLEX: Outdoor ice skating returns to Lexington creating a WinterWonderland

Ice Skating Rink at Triangle Park - Lexington, Ky.

In the cold winter of 1913, the ponds on Clifton Heights hardened enough to become a destination for ice skating enthusiasts in Lexington. Clifton Heights was platted around the turn-of-the-century between the city of Lexington and the A&M College of Kentucky (now UK). This old Lexington subdivision, was razed in the 1990s for the construction of UK's W.T. Young Library.

Ice skating at Clifton Heights Pond -
Lexington, Ky. (Source: KDL)

Another great location for ice skating, according to newspaper reports from the 1880s, was Lexington's water reservoir. The water company was so accommodating that the "public [was] invited to use the engine room to get warm." In today's world, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

But for many years, the only option for public ice skating has been the ice center on Eureka Springs Drive. But no more.

With the remodeled Triangle Park comes a new winter attraction: an ice rink (formally and with recognition of corporate sponsorship, the Unified Trust Company Ice Rink). At its grand opening last Friday, held in conjunction with the city's Christmas tree lighting, the rink was packed with skaters enjoying skating under an open sky.

walkLEX: Lexington Christmas Season is Underway

Christmas Tree at Triangle Park - Lexington, Ky.

A few minutes past 6 p.m. on Friday evening, the Christmas season officially began in Lexington, Kentucky. With the help of Mayor Jim Gray, Santa Claus himself turned a large key to flip on the lights on the holiday decorations throughout downtown which include several Christmas trees - the most significant being the 30 foot blue spruce located at Main and Broadway (temporarily, Santa Clause Way and Santa Clause Lane) in Triangle Park.

NoD: Jessamine's Olde Hall Church

Hall Church - Hall (Jessamine Co.), Ky.

After the Civil War, many of the African American refugees who had been housed at Camp Nelson set roots in a small community nearby. Known originally as Ariel, this small community has remained through the years. Soon after the war, it was renamed Hall after Captain Theron Hall who had served as Chief Quartermaster for Camp Nelson and as superintendent of the refugee camp.

John Fee, who after the war purchased many acres of the Camp Nelson site, came to Camp Nelson in 1864. A minister and founder of Berea College, Fee worked with Captain Hall to establish this community for the refugees. While Hall favored the construction of barracks, Rev. Fee believed that cottages for the families would provide a more comfortable living. An agreement was devised that incorporated both structures types as well as a larger "home". The community was built and many of its residents remained after the War -- Fee sold his land at a dramatically reduced price to the former slaves in acre and half-acre lots.

kernel: Happy Thanksgiving from aboard the U.S.S. Kentucky (c. 1907)

source

As Americans and, in particular, as Kentuckians, we have so much to be thankful for as we are each "blessed with diversity, natural wealth, beauty, and grace from on High." K.R.S. 2.035. I'm taking today off to celebrate with family and hope you have the same opportunity.

kernel: Eight New Kentucky National Register of Historic Places Sites

Livingston County Courthouse and Clerk's Office
(Photo: Dr. Dianne O'Bryan, 2010)

In minutes released last week, the National Register of Historic Places has accepted eight Kentucky sites from the thirteen recommended by the Kentucky Heritage Council. Those approved include historic district, rural groceries, and civic buildings. Remarkably, three of the accepted sites were motels in the Bardstown area:

walkLEX: Lexington's council chambers violate state law.

LFUCG Council Chambers - Lexington, Ky.

I've always been a stickler for the rules for displaying flags. While visiting Minneapolis, Minnesota for Midsommar Dag 1995, I advised the director of the American Swedish Insitute that the flags on the front of their Turnblad Mansion - a beautiful thirty-three room French chateauesque mansion built in 1908 - were incorrectly displayed. Federal law requires that the American flag appear, from the perspective of the audience, to the left of other flags. 4 U.S.C. 1 § 7. You see, the Swedish flag was on the left. The director was quite happy that someone, albeit a twelve year old, pointed out the error. Particularly as Norway's  King Harald and Queen Sonja were soon expected to visit.

Which turns me to the subject of my post: Lexington's City Hall.

walkLEX: A subtle change to Lexington's skyline

Helicopter Hovering O'er Lexington, Ky.

The Lexington Financial Center. 250 West Main St. The Fifth Third Bank Building. The Big Blue Building.

Regardless of the name you use to describe Lexington's tallest building, you may have noticed a little activity over the weekend at the top of this 410 foot tower. A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted an inquiry about what had happened to the top of our most recognized skyscraper. Quick to my aid, the Lexington Streetsweeper advised me that Fifth Third Bank had changed its logo and that the building's signage was being replaced.

walkLEX: From Athletics to Arts, 161 North Mill Always a Community Center

Arts Place, 161 N. Mill St., - Lexington, Ky.

The beaux arts building at the northwest corner of Mill and Church streets in downtown Lexington as always served the role as community center since its cornerstone was laid on May 24, 1904. Built by the Young Men's Christian Association to serve the Lexington community, the building opened to the public on April 18, 1905. Days earlier, a separate organization was organized and operated from a room inside the North Mill Y: a "Colored YMCA" - a separate organization with separate membership and leadership based solely on color. Today, this remains only a footnote in the history of a terrific Christian organization, but a tidbit that reminds us that segregation used to divide all parts of life. (In 1907, the Colored YMCA organization moved from the White Y and into the old Lexington Press building on Cheapside).

The YMCA has always been concerned with both the physical and spiritual health of its members. And athletics and exercise are the keystone of the membership's physical health.

In the earliest days of the University of Kentucky's storied men's basketball program, the Kentucky Wildcats took the court three times in the Y's gymnasium. In the first matchup on January 11, 1906, Kentucky was pitted against Kentucky University (now Transylvania) and Kentucky won the matchup, though the score was never recorded. Kentucky would lose games in 1907 and 1908 against the Lexington YMCA, 22-41 and 19-29.

walkLEX: Proposed subdivision in Western Suburb would have long-term detrimental effect

615/617 West Short Street - Lexington, Ky.
Photo cropped from Microsoft Bing

In the 1960s, downtown Lexington suffered several mighty blows when looked at from the architectural, historic or preservationist perspectives. Many architecturally significant buildings were demolished to make way for surface parking lots, the charm of the old courthouse's interior was masked over, and the beautiful city hall on what is now Martin Luther King Blvd experienced an addition which destroyed its character leaving no saving grace when the structure was ultimately destroyed in the early 2000s.

If you go and you should: Board of Adjustment Hearing Council Chambers, 2d floor 200 East Main St. Lexington Fri., Nov. 18 - 1 PM If you cannot attend, please email: jamese@lexingtonky.gov

Another development blunder was the construction of the Bluegrass Upholstery building at 615 West Short Street in the heart of the Historic Western Suburb. This one story, warehouse style structure wraps around the entire property which consists of a consolidated plat including both 615 and 617 West Short Street. While the occupants of the building may have been good neighbors and their work exquisite, the building serves as a 'non-conforming use' under current zoning laws because it operates in an otherwise residential area.

NoD: Vanceburg Visitor's Center located in historic home, hotel

George Morgan Thomas Home / Vanceburg Visitors Center - Vanceburg, Ky.

This home built in 1883 has had many lives, but its ornate rail, turreted corner and peaked roof speak to its Victorian-era origin. Built originally as the home of George Morgan Thomas, the house would later be utilized as a hotel before its present service as the Vanceburg Visitor's Center.

NoD: Orlando Brown House built to make inheritance equal

Orlando Brown House - Frankfort, Ky.

John Brown wanted his two eldest sons to inherit equally, which was anything but a standard bequest in his day. Brown, who served as Kentucky's first United States Senator and was instrumental in bringing Kentucky into the Union, had constructed Liberty Hall on Wilkinson Street in old Frankfort. Though Senator Brown purchased eight acres in 1796, Liberty Hall would not be completed 1804.

Mason, the elder Brown son, would inherit Liberty Hall. But what of the younger boy, Orlando? For him, the statesman contacted famed architect Gideon Shryock to design an adjacent residence in 1835. Construction of this beautiful Greek Revival two-story cost only $5,000. Both the Orlando Brown House and Liberty Hall operate as museum today.

NoD:: Honest Abe stands under Capitol dome for 100 years

Lincoln Statue in the Rotunda -
Kentucky State Capitol, Frankfort

The likeness of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, stands at attention under the rotunda of Kentucky's state capitol. Last week, the statue celebrated its a centennial only one year after the building itself turned 100 years old.

Almost as soon as the new capitol opened, Gov. Augustus E. Wilson urged his wealthy friend James Breckenridge Speed to fund the erection of the statue commemorating the only President born in Kentucky. With the gift from Speed of $40,000 (equal to approximately $900,000 today), a statue of Lincoln's likeness was installed directly under the dome of our new state capitol. Speed's uncle, Joshua Speed, was a confidant of Lincoln. President William Howard Taft was present at the statue's unveiling.

NoD: Celebrate Veterans Day by Thanking a Doughboy

Doughboy - Grayson, Ky.

Doughboy - Jamestown, Ky.

I'm sure that around the country, hospitals will see an uptick in deliveries and scheduled caesareans. And many couples will share their nuptials on this memorable date: 11-11-11. Grooms won't have to worry about forgetting that anniversary!

Morehead, Ky.

But November 11 also has a symbolic meaning in our country and around the globe for on "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" in the year 1918, hostilities with Germany ended thus concluding "The Great War" (n/k/a World War I). In America, this date was celebrated for years as Armistice Day until after the conclusion of another great war - World War II - that the date became known simply as Veteran's Day. In other countries, November 11 is referred to as Remembrance Day.

I am particularly fond of the original term Armistice Day because of its historic context. The young Americans in the early part of the twentieth century crossed the ocean to fight the Germans in an era when crossing the ocean wasn't something you did for reasons other than immigration. Earlier this year, Frank Buckles of Missouri passed away - he was the last of the American doughboys from World War I.

Pikeville, Ky.

Statues of  World War I doughboys stand in memorium around America in front of courthouses, in cemeteries and in town squares. In fact, the doughboy statue is the most reproduced life-size statue in America with 140 known copies. First designed and sculpted by E.M. Viquesney in 1920, "The Spirit of the American Doughboy" went through a few design changes over the years. Though most don't realize it, Viquesney's doughboy is likely the most witnessed sculpture in the United States other than the Statue of Liberty herself.

In Kentucky, eight Viquesney statues are known to exist in the following towns: Grayson, Harlan, Jamestown, Liberty, Monticello, Morehead, Pikeville and Winchester. The first of these to be installed was the Monticello doughboy in January 1923; the last was in Jamestown 75 years ago today on Armistice Day, 1936.

Whatever its name, it is a day to thank the men and women in uniform who have served our country. And though many people only recognize today as being a day when schools, banks and government offices are closed, it is because our soldiers fought that we can enjoy our freedoms today.

Source: Viquesney Database

NoD: Where will Newtown Pike take you? Newtown, of course!

Newtown Christian Church - Georgetown, Ky.

When visitors (or my wife) get lost in Lexington, I am also befuddled. Lexington is designed as a wheel with spokes. Each of these spokes points to the downtown core passing New Circle Road along its way.

To make matters simpler, each of these roads is named after the next city along the way. Nicholasville Road. Harrodsburg Road. Paris Pike. Winchester Road. Richmond Road. Though some of the towns for which they spoke roads are named are not so obvious unless you are a local cartographer or history buff.

kernel: Town Branch Bourbon a Dandy Nightcap

Town Branch Bourbon (neat)

It is undisputed that Kentucky's signature is bourbon. But Kentucky's signature city, Lexington, hasn't produced any bourbon since 1958 when the James E. Pepper distillery closed.

That all changed last month. On October 20, Lyons' Spirits - a subsidiary of Alltech - launched its Town Branch Bourbon just before the National Horse Show arrived in Lexington.

Town Branch, of course, is a reference to the stream which flows underneath downtown Lexington. As the middle fork of the Elkhorn Creek, it is what attracted settlers to Lexington. In 1779, Colonel Robert Patterson led a group of settlers in the establishment of the blockhouse for what would become Lexington. The blockhouse was in fact quite close to that middle fork of the Elkhorn.

NoD: President Garfield became a General in Pikeville

Pikeville City Park - Pikeville, Ky.

Last week on Jeopardy!, a question in the category 19th century Presidents concerned a man who simultaneously served as a congressman from Ohio, a senator-elect, and as President-elect. But before Ohioan James A. Garfield achieved these three titles, he served in the Civil War and was appointed brigadier general while encamped in Piketon n/k/a Pikeville.

President James A. Garfield

In early January 1862, Colonel James A. Garfield led Union troops to victory at the Battle of Middle Creek in Floyd County which forced Confederates out of southeast Kentucky and secured the Big Sandy Valley for the Union. During the battle, a company of Kentucky Unionists were almost the targets of a volley from their Ohioan compatriots but Col. Garfield - realizing the impending threat - caused the Kentuckians to let out a "Hurrah for the Union" - a cheer that saved their lives.

NoD: National Horse Show, Kentucky edition

Juniors' event at the Nationals - Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Ky.

You want proof that the 2010 World Equestrian Games was a boost for Kentucky's economy, bringing in tourists and their pocketbooks? Look no further than the National Horse Show. The pedigree of the NHS is long and mighty.

The first NHS was held in 1883 at the original Madison Square Gardens in New York City, where it remained (through various versions of MSG) until about eight years ago. It was too cost prohibitive to hold the event in Manhattan, so it was moved to Syracuse. That was a losing proposition.

In January of this year, it was announced that the Kentucky Horse Park's $40 million indoor arena, Alltech Arena, would host the 2011 Alltech National Horse Show. For the past few days, Nov. 2-6, competitors from around the country have gathered in Lexington show their jumping skills aboard their noble steeds.

kernel: The last hurrah for perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith?

Gatewood Signage at Short & Mill - Lexington, Ky.

A discussion of Kentucky's recent political history would be incomplete without discussion of perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith. Having recently announced that this year's gubernatorial race is his last run for public office, I felt it fitting to profile Gatewood during this — his final race.

His candidacies are legendary. Many Kentuckians – especially those in Lexington – remember Gatewood standing at a corner in his ubiquitous hat, sportcoat, and tie waving to the honks, cheers, and sometimes jeers of his fellow citizenry. If you haven't witnessed Gatewood's friendly smile, it most likely will be somewhere near Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday before the UK-Ole Miss game.

walkLEX: Bakery repurposed as local art gallery Institute 193

Institute 193 - Lexington, Ky.

Over time, the various owners of the building at 193 North Limestone St. in Lexington rehabilitated the structure from its former self as as a bakery-turned-warehouse to become an art gallery. Today, Institute 193, www.institute193.org,  is a trampoline for local artists into larger markets. But the building has a long, yeasty history.

The building is of the Georgian Revival style, circa 1915, and is attributed to the Lexington architect Martin Geertz. It was originally home to "one of the best bakeries in the state" - operated by Mr. Muth (originally of Cincinnati). Before having this structure erected, Mr. Muth owned the Star Stream Bakery at 338 West Short Street.  It would seem that by 1925, Mr. Muth had retired as he then bought a 56 acre farm near Muir Station.

No Post Update

Yes. It has been a week since my last post.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've had better things to do:

My lil' Miss Kaintuckee - born Sept. 24