Kentucky Historical Marker #2179
Grotto & Garden of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Grotto (D.X. Murphy & Bros., Architects) was dedicated in 1927 as a place for contemplation on St. Joseph Infirmary grounds. Two-story, half-domed, concrete apse is faced on inside with stones and rubble. Modeled on natural grotto at Lourdes, SW France, where Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. (Reverse) Their statues adorned Louisville Grotto. Masonry walls enclose Grotto’s Garden. Fourteen arched niches, since filled in, held mosaics of Stations of the Cross, events from end of Jesus’ life. Dwane Beckhart painted modern replacements. Named state landmark by Ky. Heritage Council, 2001.
2301 Bradley Street, Louisville, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2181
Nancy Catherine Gilbert Potter (1839-1926). Nancy C. Gilbert married Robert Potter in 1865. Following his bankruptcy, she was appointed feme sole by the Clay Co. Circuit Court in 1879 in order to preserve assets. A shrewd entrepreneur, she dealt in real estate, retaining mineral rights and running a boardinghouse opposite county courthouse that catered to lawyers & businessmen. (Reverse) N.C. "Kate" Potter was the granddaughter of Clay pioneer Felix Gilbert, half brother to Rev. John Gilbert. In 1878, she helped organize the Manchester Baptist Church and was deemed one of their best teachers. In 1898, the Courier-Journal ran the obituary of her parrot, Poll.
311 Main St., Manchester, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2183
Site of Dotson School. In 1910, Princeton High School was the only high school in the vicinity for blacks. In 1920s name was changed to Dotson High School in honor of John Dotson, a prominent black businessman in Princeton. In 1938, Federal WPA officials approved construction of a new building to house grades 1-12. It was completed in 1941. Over. Known for basketball, Dotson’s 1962-63 team won the regional tournament. Dotson served the black community until 1966, when students were integrated into county schools. The building was destroyed by fire in 1968. In 1984, the property was leased to the city of Princeton for a park. Presented by the Dotson Park Board.
Calvert and Donnavan Sts, Princeton, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2184
Booker T. Washington School. School’s first two-year high school class graduated in 1925 and first four-year class in 1932. J. J. Rogers was principal of Booker T. Washington from 1903 to 1922; Charles B. Nuckolls followed and served from 1922 to 1962, when the school closed due to desegregation. *Given by the City of Ashland. School’s first two-year high school class graduated in 1925 and first four-year class in 1932. J. J. Rogers was principal of Booker T. Washington from 1903 to 1922; Charles B. Nuckolls followed and served from 1922 to 1962, when the school closed due to desegregation. *Given by the City of Ashland
Central Avenue, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2185
White Hall. In 1799, Gen. Green Clay completed Georgian-style home, Clermont, which was converted in the 1860s into an Italianate-style structure and renamed White Hall by his son Cassius M. Clay. While he served as U.S. minister to Russia, Cassius’s wife, Mary Jane Warfield Clay, oversaw the renovation. White Hall fell into neglect after Clay’s death in 1903 but was restored by Kentucky First Lady Beula C. Nunn with assistance of the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, master carpenter Floyd Nuckles, and hundreds of donors. Dedicated on September 16, 1971, by Governor Louie B. Nunn. Over.
500 White Hall Shrine Road, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2186
John William Bates (1855-1945). Original site of Bate High School, built 1912 and named in honor of its founder, John William Bate. Born a slave in Louisville, Bate received an AB from Berea College in 1881 and an AM in 1891. He moved to Danville to teach in 1881 and served community there as distinguished educational leader for 59 years. Over. Retiring at age 85, Bate noted: “I found a one-room school and I left a building of twenty rooms. I was the one teacher and now there are 15. I found 6 students and left a school with 600.” His foresight and dedication provided opportunities for African American children to achieve. Over. Given by Danville Bd. of Ed./Bate Alumni Assoc.
School grouunds, Danville, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2187
First Presbyterian Church. Mayfield’s oldest church, First Presbyterian, was founded ca. 1832 as Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Joined Presbyterian Church USA in 1906. Members have included Mayfield founder John Anderson and Congressmen Lucian Anderson (1863-65), William V. Gregory (1927-36), and Noble J. Gregory (1937-59). Presented by First Presbyterian Church.
US 80, Mayfield, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2188
Piney Fork Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Considered first Cumberland Presbyterian church in Kentucky. Organized 1812 by a founder of the C.P. denomination, Rev. Finis Ewing. First structure made of logs; used as a place of worship and public school. Second building 1843; third structure built in 1867 of bricks made on the grounds. Present building constructed 1957. On this site great church camp meetings, held 1812-1955. Famous for two open-air tabernacles near one of the oldest roads in western Ky., Saline Trail, historically Flynns Ferry Road. Two historical markers on grounds show continuous C.P. “Whosoever Will Gospel” ministry since 1812. Given by Piney Fork Cumberland Pres. Church.
Highway 506, Marion, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2189
Second Christian Church, Midway. Early African American Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation established before the Civil War. While still a slave, Alexander Campbell served as first pastor. A log building on property of the Kentucky Female Orphan School was replaced by a frame church, c.1872. Present brick church completed in 1906. Presented by Second Christian Church, Midway.
Smith Street, Midway, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2190
Lewis & Clark in Kentucky. WILLIAM CLARK William Clark, coleader of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, and his family stopped at Allsbury’s Tavern in Hopkinsville on Oct. 2, 1809. In 1807 Clark was appointed militia brigadier general and chief Indian agent for the Louisiana Territory. Over. THOMAS ALLSBURY Thomas Allsbury was an early tavern keeper in Hopkinsville. In the War of 1812 he organized a company and served as a captain in the First Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Militia. Over. *Sponsored by Ohio River Chapter-Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Fdn.; Christian Co. Fiscal Court; Col. John Green Chapter, D.A.R.; John Manire Chapter, S.A.R.; Pennyroyal Area Museum; Hopkinsville/Christian Co. Hist. Soc.; Christian Co. Gen. Soc.; Natl. Park Service, Ky. Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Com.
Main & Court Streets, Hopkinsville, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2191
Desegregation of Murray State College. Shortly after the historic U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education, et. al. decision, Murray State College "with all deliberate speed," welcomed Mary Ford Holland of Kuttawa, Ky., as a student in the summer of 1955. Holland's enrollment earned her the distinction of being Murray's first African American student. (Reverse) Holland's enrollment at Murray State occurred without incident. In the fall of 1955, four more African American students enrolled. They were Geneva Arnold, Bobby Brandon, Arlene Keyes, & Willie Earl Perry-graduates of Murray's segregated Frederick Douglass High School.
Murray State University campus, Murray, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2192
Ruth Hanly Booe (1891-1973). In 1919, friends Ruth Hanly and Rebecca Gooch left teaching to found Rebecca-Ruth Candy. Operating out of the barroom of the Frankfort Hotel, closed due to Prohibition, the two were successful entrepreneurs before women gained the right to vote. In 1929, Gooch sold her half of the business to widow Booe. Over. Booe is credited as the inventor of the “Bourbon Ball,” a world- famous confection, and the “Mint Kentucky Colonel.” Her business savvy saw the company through a factory fire, the Great Depression, and sugar rationing during World War II. Booe remained active in the business until 1964.
112 E. Second Street, Frankfort, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2193
Lewis and Clark in Kentucky, George Shannon. George Shannon, youngest member of the 1803-06 Lewis & Clark Expedition, studied at Transylvania Univ. and practiced law in Lexington. His office was in Jordan’s Row on Upper Street. He married Ruth S. Price on Sept. 19, 1813. (Reverse) Shannon was a member of patriotic organizations and the Masonic Lodge. He served in the Ky. legislature 1820-23 and in 1824 was appointed a state circuit judge. In 1828 Shannon and his family moved to Missouri. *Presented by Ohio River Chapter-Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Fdn; National Park Service, Ky . Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Commission, Lexington History Museum, Transylvania Univ.
Transvylvania Univerisity, Lexington, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2194
Albery Allson Whitman. A noted 19th century African American poet, Whitman was born into slavery in Hart County on May 30, 1851. Self-educated, by age 22 he had published two books of poetry, Essay on the Ten Plagues and Other Miscellaneous Poems and Leelah Misled. He moved to Zanesville, Oh., and wrote a third book, Not a Man and Yet a Man. (Reverse) After attending Wilberforce Univ., he became a minister in the A.M.E. Church. He is remembered for narrative poems celebrating the potential of African Americans emerging from slavery. The street north of this marker is named in his honor.
600 East Union St., Munfordville, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2195
Princeton First Baptist Church. First Baptist Church, organized on March 30, 1850, under the leadership of the Rev. James Mansfield and a presbytery from Donaldson, Harmony, and New Bethel Baptist Churches, began with 11 members. The 1st church, built in 1851, stood on Vine Street. It was used by Union troops as a hospital stable for their horses. (Reverse) A 2nd building was built in 1881 on the SW corner of this site. This church burned in 1893. A 3rd church was built by July 1896. In 1927, Frank Blackburn was hired to supervise the construction of the current sanctuary with the 1st educational annex. In 1959, the church added the present educational wing and chapel.
300 West Main St., Princeton, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2196
Rosa Phillips Stonestreet 1859-1936. Born in Jefferson Co., Stonestreet was the first woman to be elected superintendent of Jefferson Co. schools. An 1877 graduate of Nazareth Academy, she became a teacher in 1889. In 1897 she was elected superintendent by 845 votes, defeating two men. This was 14 years before women could vote in school elections. (Reverse) As superintendent 1898-1910, she streamlined fiscal management and shifted authority from board of trustees. She died on April 7, 1936, and is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in an unmarked grave next to her husband, Charles. In 1994, Stonestreet Elementary School was renamed in her honor.
10007 Stonestreet Rd., Louisville, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2197
Sayre Female Institute/ David Austin Sayre. On Nov. 1, 1854, David A. Sayre founded a school for women at this site named Transylvania Female Institute. School renamed Sayre Female Institute in 1855; boys admitted to the Primary Dept. in 1876. School renamed Sayre School in 1942. Graduates include suffragette Laura Clay, 1865, and Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, 1938. (Reverse) Born in Madison, NJ, in 1793, Sayre moved to Lexington in 1811. A prominent silversmith and banker, he founded Sayre School to promote female education of "the widest range and highest order." A staunch Unionist during the Civil War, he now lies buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
194 North Limestone, Lexington, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2198
Waters Schoolhouse. This one-room school building, named for Joseph Spillman Waters (1822-1898), its first teacher, once sat near New Concord. School operated from mid-1800s to 1936. Moved here, it was preserved as a representative of the type of school building that was once common. Renovation started in 1985, completed in 2002.
Gil Hopson Drive, Murray, ,
Kentucky Historical Marker #2199
Lexington Public Library/ Carnegie Library. First library west of the Alleghenies was est. in Lex. in 1795 as a subscription library. The Women's Club of Central Ky. worked for a free public library, and, in 1902, Andrew Carnegie gave $60,000 to build Lex. Public Library, which served community from 1905 to 1989. Books then given to new public library. (Reverse) Library trustee C.J. Bronston obtained $60,000 from Andrew Carnegie to build neoclassical Greek Revival structure designed by architect Herman Rowe. Transylvania Univ. allowed use of site in Gratz Park. Mary K. Bullitt was first librarian. In 1989 the Lex. Public Library move to Main St.
251 West Second St., Lexington, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #2200
L&N Steam Engine 152. The "Official State Locomotive of Kentucky," Rogers Works of NJ built this 4-6-2 Light Pacific in Oct. 1905. Was donated to KY Railway Museum by the Louisville & Nashville RR in 1954 and was resrored and put back in service in 1985. Engine reportedly pulled trains of presidents Roosevelt, Hoover, & Truman and prison train of gangster Al Capone. (Reverse) On the National Register of Historic Places, Engine 152 ran on the Louisville & Nashville RR (L&N), including the Lebanon Branch through New Haven. Also ran between Mobile and New Orleans & hauled coal during the 1920s coal boom in E.KY. It runs as one of the last surviving L&N steam engines in the world.
Railway Museum (next to track & station), New Haven, ,