Stewart Kentucky Herald

Stewart Kentucky Herald was Lexington's second Newspapers. It was published from 1795 to 1801 and consisted of 213 volumes.

THE LEXINGTON ORPHAN ASYLUM

The Lexington Orphan Asylum was established in 1833 to care for children bereft of parents by the epidemic of cholera which carried off five hundred citizens that year.

A public meeting was held at the court-house on Wednesday, July 17, 1883, to raise funds to establish an asylum for these children. It was largely attended, and $4,400 were collected for the purpose. A house and lot, formerlyalester, Mrs. Ross, Mrs. Geohegan, Mrs. Edmiston, Miss Barry, Miss M. Merrill, and Mrs. Short. The managers furnished the house, procured a matron and an assistant, and gathered and sheltered all the dest the property of Dr. James Fishback, and located on Third Street, between Broadway and Jefferson was purchased.

On Wednesday, August 14^th, the institution was organized with the following managers, viz: Mrs. Wickliffe, Mrs. Sayre, Mrs. Tilford, Mrs. Gratz, Mrs. Erwin, Mrs. Bruen, Mrs. W. Richardson, Mrs. Putnam, Mrs. Chipley, Mrs. J. Norton, Mrs. Graves, Mrs. Dewees, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. L. Stephens, Mrs. J.W. Hunt, Mrs. Peers, Mrs. Leavy, Mrs. Macitute orphans in the city who had been deprived of both parents.

Smiley Pete

He was named Smiley because he had a way of baring his teeth that looked like a grin. He had a daily routine: hamburger and waffles at Brandy’s Kitchen, a bowl of draft beer at the Turf Bar, a Hershey bar at Short and Lime Liquor, a dog biscuit and water at Carter’s Supply and, in the evening, popcorn at the old Opera House, when it was a movie theater.

Pete, who was part spitz, part shepherd, part bird dog and a few other unidentifiable bloodlines, belonged to everybody and belonged to nobody. Somebody at Welch’s Cigar Store made sure he got regular baths. And once, during a rabies scare, downtown merchants took up a collection and housed Pete in a kennel until the danger was past.

After his death on June 18, 1957, a plaque with Smiley Pete’s likeness was placed in the sidewalk at Main and Limestone. That plaque was removed in 1990 and put in the hands of Robert A. Welch, who owned Welch’s Cigar Store. He restored the plaque and gave it to the city archives, where it remains awaiting replacement downtown.

Pete’s friends buried him under a big sycamore tree at 904 North Broadway. His gravestone says: “Smiley Pete — A Friend to All and a Friend of All.”

A Smiley Pete Award is given annually by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.
Its purpose is to recognize an individual “who makes others enjoy being downtown.”
Cross it before you toss it

by Linda Niemi & Lu-Ann Farrar

Eastern State Hospital Graveyard

The Eastern State Hospital graveyard is unknown to alot of people in Lexington. Their are over 10,000 bodies buried on the property, the majority of them without grave markers, and if that was not bad enough, there is no documentation of where the bodies are buried.

The First National Building

The 15-story First National Building at Main and Upper streets was the tallest building between Cincinnati, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia when it was built in 1914.

Patterson Cabin

At Transylvania University, on Broadway at Third Street, you can see the Patterson Cabin. It was built around 1783, by one of Lexington’s founders.

The First School House in Kentucky

The plaque is located next to the historic Fayette County Courthouse in Lexington, KY. It says, "In 1783, Here Stood The First School House In Kentucky." A nearby historic marker mentions that the first teacher was attacked by a wildcat.

Standardbred Stable of Memories

In 1882 john McMurty built the Floral Hall on the grounds of the fair ground. The hall was originally used as an exhibition hall for floral displays.

The white brick building is approximately four stories tall surmounted by a large windowed cupola. The interior of the building is a large open space that is used for special occasions.

The 1963 the Floral Hall was renovated, and the name was changed to the Standard Stable of Memories.

Today, although not open to the public, the Standardbred Stable of Memories is the most visible building on the property of the Red Mile.

The Historic Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital

Eastern State Psychiatric Hospital is located in Lexington, Kentucky. The hospital was established by a legislative act of December 4, 1822 and is the 2nd oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. On May 1, 1824 the hospital, known then as the Lunatic Asylum, welcomed it's first patient. Over the years, the name has changed several times, until 1912 when the General Assembly officially renamed it Eastern State Hospital.

African Cemetary No.2

Burials occurred in African Cemetery No. 2 as early as the 1820's, initially the land was purchased and chartered as a burial ground by The Colored Peoples Union Benevolent Society No. 2 in 1869.

The cemetery is approximately 8 acres in size and contains over 5,000 graves of which only 1,200 are identified and fewer than 600 contain identifiable markers. There have been no burials since 1974.

The Cemetery is the final resting place for forty-eight United States Colored Troops, eleven Buffalo Soldiers, seventeen who fought in World War I, and four World War II veterans.

A Poem by Belle Brezing

Kisses

Sitting to night in my chamber, a school girl figure
and lonely, I kiss the end of my finger, that and that only.

Reveries rises from the smokey mouth.

Memories linger surround me.

Boys that are married or single.

Gather around me.

School boys in pantalets roumping,

Boys that now are growing to be young lands,

Boys that kiked to be Kissed; and like to give kisses.

Kisses. I remember them: Those in the corner were fleetest:

Sweet were those won the Sly in the Dark were the sweetest.

Girls are tender and gentle. To woo was allmost to win them.

They lips are good as ripe peaches, and cream for finger.

Girls are sometimes flirts, and coquettish;

Now catch and Kiss if you can sin:

could I catch both - ah, wasent I a happy Girl.

Boys is pretty and blooming sweetly,

yea sweetness over their rest!

Them I loved dearly and truely. Last and the best.

Writing by Belle Brezing, Lexington Ky

Lexington's Most Notable "Madam"

The most notable Madam in Lexington's history is Belle Breezing. She was born June 16, 1860 to Sarah Anne Cox. Belle had a very traumatic childhood due to the drunkenness and violent behavior of her parents.

She started out working for a madam in Mary Todd's childhood home on Main Street. With money from a wealthy client, she built a three story brick, 27 room mansion.

In 1938 Belle was diagnosed with uterine cancer; she died at 4:30 am, Sunday, Aug. 11, 1940. She is buried in the Calvary Cemetery on West Main Street.

The Mary Todd House Tour

The tour you receive at the Mary Todd House in Lexington is Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in Mary Todd, or the history of the house.

The tour guides are are very pleasant to be around and they walk you through each room of the house giving you the history that surrounds the room. They are very, very, very informative tour guides. Before they move to the next room on the list they always ask for any question you might have.

I believe the fee for the tour is seven dollars for an adult. The tour last for around an hour.

The Worst Flood in Lexington's History

The worst flood in Lexington's history occurred on 2 Aug 1932. On that day water from the Town Branch rosed and covered Main Street with over three feet of water. The water flooded basements, and did considerable damage to the stores, hotels, banks, and other businesses that lined Main Street. The damage from the flood was estimated at over 1 million dollars.

The First Millionaire West of the Allegheny Mountains

The first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains was John Wesley Hunt. He moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1795. Hunt was a very successful business man. Hunt was a merchant, horse breeder, hemp manufacturer, and banker-just to give you an ideal of his success.

In 1799 President John Adams named Hunt as postmaster of Lexington Kentucky. As postmaster, Mr. Hunt established a mail route from Lexington to Washington, D.C. And in 1814, Hunt built a two-story brick mansion known as "Hopemont" in Gratz Park.

How Lexington Got it's Name

In 1775 a group of surveyors were camped at a spring a couple of miles from present-day downtown Lexington Kentucky when word reached them of a battle between the British and the colonists at Lexington, Massachusetts. To commemorate that battle, they named their campsite "Lexington."

The first newspaper ever published in Lexington

The first newspaper ever published west of the Alleghany mountains was established in Lexington, in 1787, by John Bradford. It was then called the Kentucke Gazette.

Mentelle Boarding School

One of the more prestigious schools in early Lexington, Kentucky was Mentelle's Boarding School. The school was operated by Madame Mentelle and her husband Augustus Mentelle, who had fled Paris, French in 1792, during the French Revolution.

The Mentelle's were very cultured and well educated. They moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1798, and opened a French school at Transylvania Seminary. Shortly after that, a tract of land was donated to them. The land was located across the road from the estate of U.S. Senator Henry Clay.

The Mentelle's opened an all girl boarding school at that location. One of the most notable students that attended the school was Mary Todd Lincoln. The school closed in 1860 when Madame Mentelle passed away.

Thoroughbred Park

Thoroughbred Park is located at the edge of downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The park takes up 2.5 acres. The park is a tribute to the Thoroughbred racehorse and the jockeys who rode them.

The park contains life-size bronze figures of the seven greatest thoroughbreds along with the seven greatest jockeys: Randy Romero, Pat Day, Bill Shoemaker, Jerry Bailey, Don Brumfield, Chris McCarron and Craig Perret streaking toward the finish line. The park also contains sculptures of brood mares and fouls scattered throughout the park.

For more information call 859-288-2900