Hatfield & McCoy History Still Alive in Pike County

McCoy House - Pikeville, Ky.

The History Channel's Hatfields & McCoys miniseries has brought renewed national attention to the deadly family feud that embroiled the Tug River valley for much of the nineteenth century. The Hatfield clan of West Virginia had a long-standing dispute with Kentucky's McCoy family that included numerous deaths in both genealogies from 1865 to 1890.

During the New Year's Night Massacre in 1888, the Hatfields rode to and torched the McCoy home on Blackberry Creek. Two of the McCoy children were injured, but the McCoy patriarch (Randolph, aka Randall) and his wife Sarah (aka Sally) escaped.

Lexington's Historic Veterans Affairs Hospital

I call on all Americans to come together to honor the men and women who gave their lives so that we may live free, and to strive for a just and lasting peace in our world. — President Barack Obama

Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Leestown Road - Lexington, Ky.
Photo: Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., NRHP Application.

Lexington's Leestown Road VA Medical Center was added earlier in the year to the National Register of Historic Places. As we recognize those who gave their "last full measure of devotion" in service to our country on this Memorial Day weekend, we note this registry inclusion of a facility that has treated countless members of the armed services since it opened in 1931.

Since the Pilgrims' war with the Pequot indians in 1636, Americans have looked to honor and support their veterans and their families. These benefits and their method of delivery has certainly evolved over the past four hundred years. In 1930, President Franklin D. Roosevelt consolidated and coordinated veterans benefits through the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs. That same year, construction was underway at the Leestown Road facility.

New Downtown Mural Looking for Helpers

Planned Community Mural, "Go Native" - Lexington, Ky.
Photo: Christine Kuhn

Lexington's Historic Western Suburb is a destination in and of itself. There, restaurants have sprouted along Jefferson Street while historic homes make for beautiful walks along Short Street. It hasn't always been this glamorous: the city's garbage trucks once parked in an empty field at West Short and Old Georgetown streets.

A few spots in the neighborhood still need a little bit of TLC, particularly along Ballard Street which is an alley parallel to and north of Short Street. Enter muralist and local resident Christine Kuhn.

Louisville Elementary School on National Register

Charles D. Jacobs Elementary School (1932) - Louisville, Ky.
Photo: T. Dade Luckett (NRHP Application File)

Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior approved the application of the Charles D. Jacob Elementary School for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 3670 Wheeler Avenue in Louisville's south end, the two structure elementary school has seen little exterior change since the 1930s.

The first building was constructed one hundred years ago, in 1912. The two-story structure features both craftsman and colonial revival elements and is a fraction of the size of the much larger 1932 addition which is connected to the original school by a breezeway. This larger structure was described upon its opening by the Courier Journal as "a buff brick building of modern architecture" which today exemplifies the traditional  architectural style of educational buildings of the era, i.e., art deco/moderne.

What's In a Name? History.

A number of local watering holes and restaurants around downtown Lexington have opened in recent years or are set to open soon - several with historic sounding names.

Least among them, Shakespeare and Co. opened  in the old Clark Hardware Store last weekend. The "Victorian chic" restaurant reaches to circa 1600 with its name beckoning on of (if not the) greatest authors of the English language.

Local names, too, haven't been ignored.

Five Brews and Endless Possibilities at The Bread Box

West Sixth Brewing Company

Lexington's newest brewery, West Sixth Brewing Company, is the flagship of The Bread Box which is a commercial redevelopment of the old Rainbo Bread Company building at Jefferson and Sixth Streets in the Northside Neighborhood. The oldest part of the building was constructd as the Holsum Bread Company in the 1890s. A series of renovations and hame changes (Honey-Krust, Rainbo) kept the bread factory going until it finally closed in the early 1990s.

The Breadbox, ca. 1919 (l) and 1940s (r). Photos courtesy West Sixth Brewing Company

Our tour occurred after a day of cooking beer - a seven hour process that will be followed by a couple weeks fermenting. Before long, the ancient recipe of water, grain, yeast, and hops will develop into one of the five craft brews produced at West Sixth: wheat, an IPA, an amber, a brown ale, and a stout are all excellent products worthy of more than a tasting. As Lexington's mobile food truck develops, the location will be an excellent locale to get some tasty street food and a cold brew. Of course, there are other developments going on inside the Bread Box that will result in some other in-house food options.

Annville Institute brought "Complete Living for the Mountain people"

Original Lincoln Hall, ca. 1915. Photo: Jackson Taylor. Source: KY Explorer.

Nine miles south of the Jackson County seat of McKee rests the community of Annville where the Reformed Church of America once had its college. Like so many communities across Kentucky, a "Campus Road" or similar name harkens back to an area when small, regional schools or colleges dotted the landscape -- many in lieu of our modern high school which were often too far for students to reach, particularly in poor weather or at the time of the harvest. With dormitories on site, Annville was able to avoid these issues as well.

Two Boone County Homes Added to National Register

Two Boone County homes - one in Belleview and one in Burlington - were recently added  to the National Register of Historic Places. The Register is America's official list of cultural places worthy of preservation and it is administered by the National Park Service. Nominations must be recommended by a state agency; in Kentucky, that is done by the Preservation Review Board and the Kentucky Heritage Council.

Locations are added to the National Register weekly and these two Boone County properties were listed at the end of February 2012.

Thomas Zane Roberts House and Workshop - Burlington, Ky.
Photo: Margo Warminski, Boone County Planning Commission
KY Heritage Council

The Thomas Zane Roberts House and Workshop (#12000042), located at 5074 Middle Creek Road in Burlington, is a picturesque farmhouse near the Ohio River. Its original owner and builder, Thomas Z. Roberts, was a master carpenter whose work shows in this frame two-and-one-half story temple-front dwelling that features an inset corner entry porch. Built in 1900, Roberts' fine craftsmanship is evident in both his home and workshop - part of some 250 acres he once owned in the region.