The exuberant “Free Classic” Queen Anne house at 335 E. Third Street was built around 1900 by Thomas Jones, a bartender. Richly ornamented, it features brick corbelling, rough-hewn stone lintels, and carved wooden spandrels and panels. From…

City surveyor and engineer William A. Gunn built this Italianate residence in 1866 for his uncle, Winn Gunn, a wealthy farmer and ardent Union supporter who moved to Lexington after the Civil War. Winn proceeded to subdivide the 14 acres behind his…

In 1866, builder and brickyard owner G. D. Wilgus purchased 11 acres of land in the East End from William McCracken, who had inherited the parcel from his brother, John, three years prior. At this time, Wilgus was in business with T. C. Luxon, with…

The Blue Grass Trust plaque property at 234 Eastern Ave (formerly 140 Vertner Ave) has a rich history associated with the horse-racing industry.This parcel once formed the eastern boundary of Gunntown, a settlement composed largely of formerly…

In 1880, Clara Perry purchased two adjoining lots on what was then Vertner Ave from Winn Gunn and Samuel A. Cairns for $320 apiece. The late Italianate, brick house on the property was built shortly thereafter. Here, Clara resided with her husband,…

Deweese Street, often called the “do as you please street”, was, by the late 1800s, the center of culture for the East End and the site of numerous prosperous African-American businesses. The Lyric Theater and Sterling Barbershop are two such…

Born in 1935, Les McCann grew up watching his father draw on their front porch after work in the evenings and listening to opera with his mother while she cleaned and sang along. The family resided in a small, one-story, wood frame house at 580…

The Lyric Theater opened in 1948, originally built as a movie-house in the Art Deco style. It quickly became a cultural icon and fostered the height of entertainment for Lexington’s African American community. It hosted movies, fashion shows,…

Purchased in 1832 by Christ Church, the Old Episcopal Burying Grounds (OEBG) is Lexington’s oldest surviving cemetery. The old graveyard has been called “Lexington’s Westminster Abbey” due to the many famous citizens buried here. No one has been…

Dudley Allen (1845-1911) lived at 416 Kinkead Street in Kinkeadtown (now roughly Hummons Avenue). Born into slavery in Lexington, Kentucky, Allen eventually served in the Army with Company M of the 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry, 1864-1866, as a…