| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1 — "Ashland" |
| | Historic home of Henry Clay Orator - Statesman - Patriot Kentucky's favorite son Born - 1777 Died - 1852. — Map (db m35838) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — A. B. Hancock Sr. 1875 - 1957 |
| | Arthur Boyd Hancock Sr. was the son of Capt. Richard Hancock, who established Ellerslie as the leading horse farm in Virginia late in the 19th Century. Arthur Sr. returned from the University of Chicago in 1895 to assist his father, and later, as head of Ellerslie, held onto the farm and broodmares despite the near demise of racing during a wave of antagonistic legislation. In 1915, Hancock started a second farm, in Paris, Ky., on land inherited by his wife, Nancy Clay. After running both farms . . . — Map (db m58285) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt 1912 - 1999 |
| | Son of a sporting coachman, who went down on the Lusitania, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt took over his family's Sagamore Farm in Maryland after his 21st birthday in 1933. He soon purchased Discovery, which campaigned across the country for several years as one of America's most rugged Thoroughbred champions. Vanderbilt also was drawn into race track management. Pimlico Race Course, and its Preakness Stakes, prospered under his presidency, and Vanderbilt had two stints as president of New York . . . — Map (db m58313) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Allen Paulson 1922 - 2000 |
| | Long before he owned the international champion Cigar, Allen Paulson had established an American success story honored by the Horatio Alger Association and the Wright Brothers Trophy. Born in Clinton, Iowa, into a family that was to be bankrupted by the Depression, Paulson ventured to California, where he worked on a cattle ranch. He would wash planes for local pilots in exchange for rides. At nineteen, he joined TWA and later developed and patented an improved lubrication valve for aircraft. . . . — Map (db m58319) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Andrew Jackson 1767 - 1845 |
| | George Washington's diary included references to attending horse racing and Thomas Jefferson was also an avid horseman. Their interest, however, could hardly match that of Andrew Jackson, who stabled some of his race horses on the White House Grounds during his presidency. While Jackson's fame in America rightly comes from service as President, general, and jurist, he was also a sportsman throughout life. When he moved westward from North Carolina, he at one time conceived of building a race . . . — Map (db m58344) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. 1910 - 1972 |
| | Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. was given the nickname of "Bull" while in school. He was known as such thereafter, the name fitting his large physical frame and deep, commanding voice. Hancock inherited responsibility for Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, which had been established by his father and mother. The family connection to Thoroughbred racing went back one earlier generation to Capt. Richard Hancock, who settled on a farm in Virginia after being wounded there while in service to Gen. Stonewall . . . — Map (db m57720) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2235 — Ashland / Clay & Abraham Lincoln |
| | Ashland Home of Henry Clay, born April 12, 1777, died June 29, 1852. Served as a state legislator, US rep. & senator, house speaker, secretary of state. He ran for president in 1824, 1832, & 1844. Also an attorney, he practiced law for more than 50 years. He imported and bred fine livestock here, including champion thoroughbreds. Clay & Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln called Clay "my beau ideal of a statesman, for whom I fought all my humble life." Lincoln voted for Clay in 1832 & 1844. . . . — Map (db m35845) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2305 — Ashland Park / Olmsted Brothers In KY |
| | (obverse)
Ashland Park
In 1904, descendants of Henry Clay hired famed landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and John Charles Olmsted, to design Ashland Park neighborhood on the 600-acre estate. Constructed over a 15-year period, development was completed around 1930. The brothers designed U.S. Capitol & White House grounds, and the Chicago World's Fair 1893.
(reverse)
Olmstead Brothers in Ky.
This landscape design firm from Brookline, Mass. . . . — Map (db m57505) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — August Belmont II 1853 - 1924 |
| | Man O War, the legendary race horse from the Golden Age of Sport, was bred in Kentucky by August Belmont II. For more than a quarter-century, Belmont was perhaps the most important figure in Thoroughbred racing, as chairman of the Jockey Club, a member of the New York Racing Commission and president of the Grand Race Track named Belmont Park for his father. He also was influential outside racing, particularly in his key role of financing the New York Subway System and the Cape Cod Canal. . . . — Map (db m57640) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 14 — Beck House |
| | Residence of James Burnie Beck. Born Dumfriesshire, Scot., 1822, died Washington, D.C., 1890. Law partner John C. Breckinridge. Congressman from Ky., 1867-75. U.S. Senator from Ky. 1876-90. — Map (db m35840) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Bing Crosby 1904 - 1977 |
| | After Meadow Court wom the Irish Sweeps Derby of 1965, fans were treated to Bing Crosby's impromptu crooning of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." The famous singer and actor was part owner of the winning colt. Years before, Crosby had greeted the opening-day crowd at Del Mar Race Track in California with a rendition of "Where the Surf Meets the Turf." He and actor Pat O'Brien were original owners of Del Mar, where Crosby's knowledge of technical developments led to introduction of the photo . . . — Map (db m57709) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1742 — Breckinridge's Last Home |
| | Built circa 1866, this house was occupied by John C. Breckinridge in 1874-1875. The former U.S. senator and youngest U.S. vice-president was also a Confederate general and secretary of war. After exile, he returned to Lexington in 1869 and resumed the practice of law. He rented this house the last year of his life and died here May 17, 1875. — Map (db m57476) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 21 — Bryan's Station |
| | Camping place in 1775-76 of the brothers Morgan, James, William and Joseph Bryan. In 1779 was fortified as a station which in Aug. 1782 repelled a siege of Indians and Canadians under Capt. William Caldwell and Simon Girty. — Map (db m35894) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — C. V. Whitney 1899 - 1992 |
| | Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney represented the third generation of the Whitney family's prominence in business, society, and racing. His mother was a granddaughter of shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt. C. V. Whitney and a cousin, John Hay Whitney, financed early color motion pictures, including Gone With the Wind, and Whitney's own company later produced the John Wayne film The searchers. Whitney was among the founders of Pan American Airways and served as Assistant Secretary of . . . — Map (db m58299) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Capt. Harry Guggenheim 1890 - 1971 |
| | Charles Lindbergh regarded Capt. Harry F. Guggenheim and Dr. Robert Goddard as the two most forward looking men in the early history of aerospace. Guggenheim financed much of Goddard's research and was himself a combat flyer in both world wars. Guggenheim also served as United States Ambassador to Cuba, and his 1950 address on hemisphere relations was a virtual outline of the Organization of American States. Guggenheim spent much of his professional life overseeing the philanthropies of the . . . — Map (db m58321) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1783 — Cedar Hall - Helm Place |
| | This antebellum Greek Revival Home was part of Bowman estate. Col. Abraham Bowman commanded 8th Va. Regt. in Revolution. Behind house was Todd's Station, built 1779 by Levi Todd, grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln and Emilie Todd Helm. Mrs. Helm, wife of CSA Gen. Ben H. Helm, bought house in 1912. Later owned by Wm. H. Townsend, Lincoln authority. Listed on National Register, 1978 — Map (db m14009) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Civil War Action At "Ashland" October 18, 1862 |
| | (Obverse)
While Confederate Armies were retreating from Kentucky after the Battle of Perryville, Colonel John Hunt Morgan operated behind the pursuing Union Army, with Colonel Basil W. Duke's Second Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Richard M. Gano's Cavalry Battalion and Colonel William Campbell Preston Breckinridge's Cavalry Battalion, along with a two-gun section of artillery under Sergeant C. C. Corbett. Morgan rode from Bryantsville through Lancaster to Gum Springs and . . . — Map (db m60962) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Col. E. R. Bradley 1859 - 1946 |
| | The activities of Col. E. R. Bradley ranged from operating Palm Beach's Beach Club casino to staging charity race days for orphans. A product of a burgeoning nation in the 19th century, Bradley worked in steel mills in Pittsburgh as a youngster, then roamed the nation as a cowboy, prospector and miner. By the time he testified before Huey long in a Senate hearing in 1934, Bradley proclaimed, "I an a speculator, race horse breeder and gambler." Asked what he gambled in, he replied "Almost . . . — Map (db m58351) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Col. Phil T. Chinn 1874 - 1962 |
| | Col. Phil T. Chinn's place in the history of Thoroughbred racing and breeding would be secure on the facts alone, for he bred, trained, raced, bought, and sold a number of important horses. It was as a character and raconteur, however, that Col. Chinn was best remembered by those who knew him.
Son of Black Jack Chinn, a rough-hewn Kentucky politician, horseman, and brawler, Phil Thompson Chinn was about twelve when he won the Somerset Derby on a family mare. He later headed for the . . . — Map (db m58320) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1613 — Col. Robert Patterson (1753-1827) / Patterson Cabin |
| | (obverse)
Col. Robert Patterson (1753-1827)
A large landholder, Patterson took part in founding Lexington, Cincinnati and Dayton. Chose site of Lexington, helped erect fort, April 1779, and laid off town; on Board of Trustees for many years. He helped charter Transylvania Univ. Urged separation from Va., 1784; elected representative from Fayette County, 1792, and served eight years. Moved to Dayton, 1803.
(reverse)
Patterson Cabin
Built by Robert . . . — Map (db m61080) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 125 — Colonel George Nicholas |
| | Grave of George Nicholas
1754-1799
Revolutionary soldier
Virginia House of Delegates
Father of Kentucky Constitution
First Kentucky Attorney General
Professor of Law at Transylvania University — Map (db m61134) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Daniel Swigert 1833 - 1912 |
| | Elmendorf Farms, one of the enduring symbols of the Bluegrass, on Paris Pike, was named by Daniel Swigert. He purchased the 544-acre core of the farm in 1881 for $150,000 from John Sanford, who had called the property Preakness Stud. Earlier, Swigert had been the horse manager of the great Woodburn Stud and also had owned a smaller property, Stockwood Farm. A succession of owners for more than a century have retained the name of Elmendorf. The stallions Virgil and Glenelg were standing at . . . — Map (db m58282) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Dr. Elisha Warfield 1781 - 1859 |
| | His name having wafted down through history as The Father of the Kentucky Turf, Dr. Elisha Warfield had the overriding distinction of having been the breeder of the stallion Lexington. Depicted elsewhere in this park, Lexington was a bellwether individual among 18th Century American Thoroughbreds. A champion on the race track, first racing for Dr. Warfield and afterward for new owner Richard Ten Broeck, Lexington proceeded to lead the national list of sires a record 16 times. Dr. Warfield's . . . — Map (db m57742) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — E. P. Taylor 1901 - 1989 |
| | A Canadian whose breeding farms were in Ontario and Maryland, E. P. Taylor nevertheless had a profound influence on Kentucky. His patronage of the Keeneland select yearling sale was significant in its emergence as the elite among international auctions, and his Windfields Farm was the sale's leading consignor three times. As the breeder of Northern Dancer and his son Nijinsky II, Taylor created a lasting influence on international breeding. Northern Dancer, winner of the 1964 Kentucky Derby, . . . — Map (db m57708) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1033 — Eastern State Hospital |
| | The second State Mental Hospital built in the U.S. Established by legislative act of Dec. 4, 1822, which named commissioners to buy and operate it in Fayette County. They acquired The Fayette Hospital organized in 1816. "The Lunatic Asylum" opened May 1, 1824. It has been continuously operated by the Commonwealth since. By 1913, it was named Eastern State Hospital. — Map (db m35844) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Elizabeth Arden Graham 1884 - 1966 |
| | The proprietress of the famed cosmetics house, Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham near Toronto, Canada. At age twenty-four she moved to New York, later borrowed $6000 from her brother, and began her own firm. By 1945, the Elizabeth Arden company was worth $26 million, and she was cited by Fortune Magazine as one of the distinguished figures in American business. After several marriages, she reverted to her maiden name. Mrs. Graham had begun racing horses in 1931, and by 1944 . . . — Map (db m58291) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1440 — Fayette County |
| | One of the three original counties formed when Kentucky Co., Virginia, was divided by Va. Act in 1780. Included area north and east of Ky. River, 37 persent-day counties and parts of 7 others. Reduced to its present boundaries by 1799.
Named for Marquis de Lafayette, French champion of liberty, who came to America in 1777 to assist with our war for independence. — Map (db m14016) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Fayette County World War I Memorial 1917 1919 |
| | The Men of Fayette County who gave their lives in Service During the World War.
[First column]
Fred M. Blakeman
Don Mullis Burris
Marshall Corum
Harry W. Cunningham
Johnson Clay Eales
Clarence R. Gaugh
Sydney Gordon
Herman Gray Moores
Alex F. Mattingly
Lewis Martin
Geo. A. Pennington
Capt. George C. Rogers
Sterling Rocket
John E. Slattery
Enoch Stone
Benjamin Wierman
1st Lieut. J. C. Hobbs
Wm. Preston Clark . . . — Map (db m14090) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2277 — First Presbyterian Church |
| | (obverse)
Founded 1784. Oldest congregation in continuous existence in city. Founders were hunting party members who selected citys site and named it Lexington in honor of first battle of the American Revolution. First pastor Adam Rankins home, oldest house in Lexington at 317 South Mill St., built in 1784. Over
(reverse)
Abraham Lincoln attended several services during the pastorate of Robert J. Breckinridge, 1847-53, initiating a lifelong friendship. This building, . . . — Map (db m59162) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 6 — First Race Course |
| | Near this spot pioneers in 1780 established the starting point of the first race path in Kentucky, extending southward one quarter mile. — Map (db m35841) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 9 — Fort Clay |
| | Extensive earthworks with ditch, drawbridges and magazine were constructed here by Federal forces after the Battle of "Ashland," May 1862. — Map (db m35842) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George D. Widener 1889 - 1971 |
| | George D. Widened was a prototype sportsman from a distinguished Philadelphia family. Several years after his father was lost on the Titanic, Widener purchased Erdenheim, the Pennsylvania property which had been birthplace of Iroquois, first American-bred to win the English Derby. Widener's own horses were bred in Lexington, however. He and an uncle, Joseph E. Widener, purchased Elmendorf Farm here in 1923. The uncle retained that historic name, while George D. Widener took the portion known as . . . — Map (db m58288) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George M. Humphrey 1890 - 1970 |
| | Among modern political figures involved in Thoroughbred racing have been national Treasury Secretaries George M. Humphrey, william Simon, and Nicholas Brady. Humphrey joined President Eisenhower's Cabinet in 1953, after a vigorous business career which included the restructuring of M. A. Hanna Co., formulation of National Steel Company, and working of a remote iron ore source along the Labrador-Quebec border. Humphrey had been a breeder and owner of saddle and harness horses, and later . . . — Map (db m58287) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — George Washington 1732 - 1799 |
| | The first President of the United States was an avid horseman and outdoorsman, as befit his era, and he at times was a participant in horse racing. The cherished tale of his Magnolia running against a horse owned by Thomas Jefferson was refuted by historians, but Magnolia was, in fact, a race horse owned by Gen. Washington. Alas, he was not a very successful one, although, being a politician as well as a horse trader, Washington wrote to Light Horse Harry Lee that the horse "is in high health, . . . — Map (db m58334) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Hal Price Headley 1888 - 1962 |
| | Hal Price Headley embodied the image of the Bluegrass horseman. He was sophisticated in business, but always a man of agriculture, raising tobacco as well as Thoroughbreds. His lasting legacy to Lexington was his instrumental role in formation of Keeneland Race course, which since the 1930s has typified the best traditions of the sport of Thoroughbred racing. He was president of Keeneland for some 15 years, after which son-in-law Louis Lee Haggin II took the reins. Succeeding generations . . . — Map (db m58352) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Harry Payne Whitney 1872 - 1930 |
| | The stamp affixed on Thoroughbred racing by William Collins Whitney and his son Harry Payne Whitney remains indelible. It was W. C. Whitney who poured funding into revitalization of Saratoga, the charming old Victorian race track still operating in upstate New York. Secretary of the Navy under Grover Cleveland and founder of the New York utilities giant now known as Con Ed, W. C. Whitney was racing's leading owner three times before his death in 1904. Son Harry Payne Whitney, already a race . . . — Map (db m58325) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Henry Clay 1777 - 1852 |
| | Visitors familiar with Lexington's Ashland, the home of Henry Clay, know it as a graceful old house, with lovely gardens and grounds. In an earlier time, when Henry Clay built it to some 2,000 acres, Ashland was also the home of Thoroughbreds. Henry Clay, known in history for his political acumen in such matters as the Treaty of Ghent and for his four attempts at becoming president, was also an avid agriculturalist. He was a member of the Lexington Jockey Club and its successor, the Kentucky . . . — Map (db m58346) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Henry Clay Pioneer Purebred Livestock Breeder |
| | Brought to "Ashland" and its pastures Hereford Cattle from England, in 1817, and added them to his herd of shorthorns. Here he pioneered thoroughbred horse breeding in the Blue Grass. To this farm he brought jack stock from Spain. Here he bred Merino sheep, Red and Belted hogs, and by his example constantly inspired other farmers to improve their livestock. This memorial is presented by "Country Home Magazine" and dedicated by the Kentucky Live Stock Improvement Association October 21, 1937 — Map (db m60864) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 139 — Henry Clay's Law Office |
| | Erected 1803-04, this is the only office standing used by Clay; he occupied it from 1804 until ca. 1810. During these significant years in his career, Clay was elected to successive terms in legislature and to unexpired terms in the United States Senate. Builders Stephens and Winslow used their characteristic brick basement. Original floorboards remain. — Map (db m59165) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — HRM Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - |
| | The English Royal family has been instrumental in Thoroughbred racing through many successions, and no monarch has been more knowledgeable about the sport that Queen Elizabeth II. There was a Royal Stud farm in the time of Henry VIII, and with Charles II, the term Sport of Kings took on new meaning, for the king was so fond of racing that he personally rode in match races. Queen Victoria's son, the Prince of Wales (afterward Edward VII), lent additional prestige to racing in the latter 19th and . . . — Map (db m58316) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2365 — Hunt-Morgan House |
| | (Obverse):
1814 Federal-style home, named Hopemont, retains original architectural features, including a cantilevered staircase & fanlight window. Saved from demolition by the Blue Grass Trust in 1955. Built by John Wesley Hunt (1773-1849), a philanthropist and the first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. (Over)
(Reverse):
Inherited by daughter, Henrietta Hunt Morgan, mother of Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), known as the "Thunderbolt of . . . — Map (db m59107) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Isabel Dodge Sloane 1897 - 1962 |
| | Thoroughbred racing for many years has been graced by the participation of distinguished ladies. The first lady to top the list of money-winning owners in a given year was Mrs. Isabel Dodge Sloane, whose Brookmeade Stable earned $251,138 in 1934. Mrs. Sloane was a daughter of the founder of Dodge Motor Company, which in 1926 was purchased by a bank syndicate for $146 million. Mrs. Sloane's half-sister, Mrs. Fred Van Lennep, owned the great show horse champion Wing Commander. Beginning with her . . . — Map (db m58281) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — James Ben Ali Haggin 1821 - 1914 |
| | A Kentucky-born grandson of a Turkish Army officer, James Ben Ali Haggin was lured west by the Gold Rush. He and his partners eventually owned South Dakora's Homestake Mine---the richest gold vein in North America. Haggin's group also mined other ores, owning the Anaconda Copper Mine in Montana and the Ontario Silver Mine in Utah. When shipping ore from his Cerro de Pasco Copper Mine in Peru necessitated a new railroad, Haggin built it himself, for $2 million. The Haggin group was said to . . . — Map (db m58348) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1875 — James Lane Allen (1849-1925) |
| | This Transylvania honor graduate, who later taught there, won an international audience with his nostalgic stories and novels of Bluegrass region. Allen was born near Lexington. By 1893, after his work became popular, he moved to New York City. He died there, and was buried in Lexington Cem. His will provided funds for fountain nearby, for children of the city. — Map (db m59083) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — James R. Keene 1838 - 1913 |
| | Castleton Farm, a stately, stone-walled property on Lexington's Iron Works Pike, was purchased by Sen. John Brechinridge in 1790. A century later, it was bought by James R. Keene, a mercurial figure in American business and sport.
Born in London, Keene came to this country as a child and authored a prototype American success story. He was a millworker, school teacher and editor before buying some mules to go into the hauling trade. His customers included the Bonanza mines, and Keene made . . . — Map (db m57784) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 4 — Jefferson Davis |
| | For three years (1821-1824) while a student at Transylvania University Jefferson Davis (afterwards President of Southern Confederacy) lived here with Joseph Ficklin then Postmaster of Lexington. — Map (db m35839) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John D. Hertz 1879-1961 |
| | Yellow was the color and name of his taxicab company, and yellow and black were his stable colors. Mr. and Mrs. John D. Hertz' most famous Thoroughbred was Count Fleet, which won the triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes) in 1943. Count Fleet was a son of Reigh Count, which had won the Knetucky Derby for the Hertz stable in 1928, and he sired a later derby winner in Count Turf (1951). Hertz embodied the American success story. An immigrant from Austria, he left home and first . . . — Map (db m58284) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John E. Madden 1856 - 1929 |
| | John E. Madden named Hamburg Place, outside Lexington, for Hamburg, one of his many champion race horses. He proceeded to breed five Kentucky derby winners on the farm: Old Rosebud, Sir Barton, Paul Jones, Zev and Flying Ebony. Sir Barton also won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1919, becoming American racing's first Triple Crown Winner. A grandson of Madden's Preston Madden, took over operation of the farm and added to its history by breeding the 1987 Derby and Preakness winner, Alysheba. . . . — Map (db m58349) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John Hay Whitney 1904 - 1982 |
| | British Prime Minister Harold McMillan proclaimed John Hay (Jock) Whitney "the best Ambassador the United States ever had here." Whitney was named to the post in 1954 by President Eisenhower, a golfing and hunting crony. Whitney was named for his grandfather, John Hay, who also had been our Ambassador to England as well as Secretary of State and private secretary to Abraham Lincoln.
Whitney and his sister, Joan Whitney Payson, were also born to the Turf, inheriting Greentree Stud outside . . . — Map (db m58350) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1803 — John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864) |
| | (Front): Known as the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy," Morgan was born in Huntsville, Alabama; in 1831 moved to Lexington. After attending Transylvania, he fought in the Mexican war. In Lexington, he prospered as owner of hemp factory and woolen mill. Morgan organized Lexington Rifles Infantry, 1857; later lead them to aid Confederacy. See over. (Reverse): Leading cavalry raids behind the enemy lines, Morgan disrupted Union supplies and communications. For southerners, he was . . . — Map (db m14014) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John S. Knight 1894 - 1981 |
| | Adjacent to this park is the building of the Lexington Herald-Leader, one of the large Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers. Both Messrs. Knight and Ridder were longtime owners and breeders of racehorses. John S. Knight started with the Akron Beacon Journal after World War I and built a chain of papers including such major markets as Miami, Detroit, and Chicago. He personally authored a series that won one of his papers' twenty-six Pulitzer Prizes. He and Marshall Field began a racing partnership . . . — Map (db m58333) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — John W. Galbreath 1897 - 1988 |
| | The far-reaching enterprises of John W. Galbreath were sometimes reflected in the names of his horses. Epsom Derby winner Roberto was named for the great baseball player Roberto Clemente, whose team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, was then owned by Galbreath. Bramalea was named for a Canadian town which Galbreath's development firm had built. Beginning as a pre-teen horseradish salesman in his beloved Ohio, Galbreath applied determination, innovation and honesty to a career that shaped the real estate . . . — Map (db m58327) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2 — Keeneland |
| | Here on May 14, 1825, General LaFayette was entertained by Major John Keene who had served as his aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. — Map (db m30837) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Leslie Combs II 1901 - 1990 |
| | Leslie Combs II put a modern slant on the management and marketing of horses. He specialized in the form of syndication whereby some thirty-six shares would be sold in an individual stallion. Beau Pere, purchased for $100,000 in 1947, was his first syndication and was followed within a decade by Alibhai in the first half-million dollar syndication and then Nashua in the million-dollar plus syndication. Nashua became a prime tourist attraction in Lexington, standing for a quarter-century at . . . — Map (db m58297) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2219 — Lewis And Clark In Kentucky William Clark In Lexington/Meriwether Lewis In Lexington |
| | (obverse)
William Clark in Lexington
Clark, coleader of the 1803-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition, and his family spent October 30, 1809, at Lexington's Traveler's Hall, operated by Cuthbert Banks. Clark also visited expedition member George Shannon, who was attending Transylvania University.
Over.
(reverse)
Meriwether Lewis in Lexington
On Jan. 20, 1808, Lewis, coleader of the 1830-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition, attended a dinner in his honor at . . . — Map (db m58535) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Lexington |
| | The stallion Lexington was the key figure in development of the American Thoroughbred during the second half of the 19th Century. He was statistically the leading stallion in America for 14 consecutive years, 1861 - 1875, and again in two later years. A total of 16 years as the leading sire has never been duplicated in any major racing nation. He sired 84 horses of a quality to be regarded as stakes winners in modern terminology, and 11 of then were recognized as champions. This record was all . . . — Map (db m58337) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 0136 — Lexington |
| | Named in honor of first Battle of the American Revolution. William McConnell was among the party of hunters who came to site from Harrodsburg in 1775. Built cabin to obtain land title but driven off by Indians. Lexington later settled by Robert Patterson and companions, 1779. Major frontier town. Home of Henry Clay, Mary Todd Lincoln and John C. Breckinridge. — Map (db m58498) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1550 — Lexington Cemetery |
| | Incorporated in 1849, Lexington Cemetery was laid out as a natural landscape park. Both Confederate and Union soldiers are buried in this cemetery. Towering over Henry Clay's grave is a 120-foot monument surmounted by his statue. Other noted men, including James Lane Allen, John C. Breckinridge, and John H. Morgan, interred here.
Presented by Lexington-Fayette Co. Historic Commission. — Map (db m61033) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1553 — Lexington Courthouses / Cheapside |
| | Lexington Courthouses
East of Cheapside is the public square, where courthouses of Lexington ahve stood since 1788. The present edifice is fifth fourthouse, the fourth on this site. It was built during 1898-1900, after fire destroyed fourth courthouse and the famous statue "Woman Triumphant" by Kentucky sculptor Joel T. Hart. Over
Cheapside
A log schoolhouse on east side of public square was one of first buildings outside fort walls, 1782. Here, the first teacher, John McKinney, . . . — Map (db m14018) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2313 — Lexington Historic Distillery District |
| | Side A Started in 1869 by the Headley and Farra Company. Continued by James E. Pepper & Company in 1879. In the late 1800s, the James E. Pepper Distillery sold whiskey to over 90 brokerage houses across the U.S. It sold under a number of different names & labels. In 1933, purchased by Schenley Products Corp. of NY. Presented by Lexington Directions Inc. Side B
Water from Town Branch provided steam power and McConnell Springs provided water for the whiskey. The distillery . . . — Map (db m35843) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2199 — Lexington Public Library 1905 - 1989 / A Carnegie Library |
| | Lexington Public 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.
A Carnegie Library Library trustee C. J. Bronston obtained $60,000 from Andrew Carnegie to build neoclassical Greek Revival structure designed . . . — Map (db m35601) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Lucille Parker Markey 1897 - 1982 |
| | From 1924 until her death, Maysville, Kentucky, native Mrs. Lucille Parker Markey was the lady of Calumet Farm. First as the young bride of Calumet heir Warren Wright Sr. and then as the wife of Hollywood writer Admiral Gene Markey, she lived the glory of the Lexington farm and its racing stable. After Wright's death in 1950, she continued the operation which already had bred and raced Triple Crown winners Whirlaway and Citation. Under her guidance, Calumet was America's leading breeder eight . . . — Map (db m58314) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1876 — Madeline M. Breckinridge / Kentucky Suffrage Leader |
| | Madeline M. Breckinridge This descendant of Henry Clay and Ephraim McDowell was born 1872 in Franklin Co.; grew up at "Ashland," Clay's home; and married Desha Breckinridge, editor of Lexington Herald. Ill with tuberculosis, she promoted its treatment and cure; advanced educational opportunities for poor children in Lexington and entire state; and helped gain voting rights for women. Over.
Kentucky Suffrage Leader Madeline McDowell Breckinridge saw woman suffrage as a way to . . . — Map (db m35846) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 19 — Main Street Christian Church |
| | Built on this site in 1842. The 16-day Campbell-Rice Debate on Christian baptism, etc., was held here Nov. 1843, Hon. Henry Clay Presiding. — Map (db m58593) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1215 — Man o' War |
| | (Obverse):
Fair Play - Mahubah, by Rock Sand
Greatest race horse and leading money winner of his day. Winner of twenty of twenty-one starts with lifetime earnings of $249,465. Foaled March 29, 1917, at August Belmont's Nursery Stud a few miles away. Sold at auction as yearling for $5,000 to Samuel D. Riddle, his owner throughout his racing career and later retirement. "Big Red" sired 62 stakes winners, his get earning over $3.5 million. War Admiral, Triple Crown winner, was most . . . — Map (db m4741) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 12 — Mary Todd Lincoln |
| | On this site Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, was born Dec. 13, 1818, and here spent her childhood. — Map (db m35987) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2261 — Mary Todd Lincoln House |
| | Built in 1806 as an inn. Became home of politician & businessman Robert S. Todd in 1832. Mary Todd, his daughter, born in Lexington on Dec. 13, 1818, moved to IL in 1839. There, she met & married Abraham Lincoln. They visited here in fall of 1847. The Todds moved away after Mr. Todd died in the 1849 cholera epidemic.
Presented by the Ky. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission — Map (db m61002) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 3 — Morgan House |
| | Home of John Hunt Morgan
"Thunderbolt of the Confederacy"
Born Huntsville, Ala. 6-1-1825
Killed Greeneville, Tenn. 9-4-1864
Lieutenant - Kentucky Volunteers in Mexican War 1846-1847 Major General - C.S.A., 1861-1864. — Map (db m29410) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps 1883 - 1970 |
| | An early investor with Andrew Carnegie was Henry Phipps, whose son, Henry Carnegie Phipps, married Gladys Livingston Mills. Mills' ancestors had signed the Declaration of Independence and handled the Louisiana Purchase. As Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps, the former Gladys Mills launched a stable with her brother, Secretary of the Treasury Ogden Mills. Her twin sister, Beatrice Lady Granard, raced horses in Europe in partnership with Lord Derby. Mrs. Phipps raced in the name of Wheatley Stable from . . . — Map (db m58324) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church |
| | This church was organized April 21, 1827, at nearby "Cabell's Dale," home of Mary Cabell Breckinridge, widow of John Breckinridge, U.S. Senator and Attorney General in Thomas Jefferson's cabinet. The original brick church, constructed in 1828 on this site, burned in 1925. Present building of similar design was dedicated in 1926. Presented by Kentucky Breckinridge Committee. — Map (db m35853) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Ogden Phipps 1908 - 2002 |
| | When Mrs. Henry Carnegie Phipps launched Wheatley Stable in the 1920's her teenage son, Ogden Phipps, became interested in the sport. In 1932, a year after graduation from Harvard, he registered his own colors of a black jacket and a cherry red cap. Phipps bred his first stakes winner, White Cocade, in 1933 during the time he was working for Smith Barney. Service in the World War II Navy put Commander Phipps' sporting career on hold. After the war, he was one of three breeders who acquired and . . . — Map (db m58317) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Paul Mellon 1907 - 1999 |
| | Thoroughbred racing is but one of many aspects of society to benefit from the philanthropy of Paul Mellon. A book published in the 1990s listed $640 million in major charitable donations. Mellon's interests range from the work of Carl Jung to gazing at mares and foals in the fields of his Virginia Farm, Rokeby. Mellon's love of art has been expressed by such projects as funding the Yale Center for British Art and a wing of the Virginia Art Museum and then filling them with priceless treasures. . . . — Map (db m58295) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1552 — Pioneer Burying Ground |
| | Lexington's first burial ground was on this site, part of “first hill” on route from fort toward Georgetown. In 1781, this square was set aside by town trustees for house of worship and graveyard. The cemetery was used until end of cholera epidemic in 1833. Since 1788, there have been four Baptist churches here.
Presented by Lexington-Fayette Co. Historic Commission. — Map (db m58558) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Robert A. Alexander 1819 - 1867 |
| | Robert A. Alexander established the 2,000-acre Woodburn Stud in Woodford County, in part with the inheritance left by an uncle in Scotland. By creating a commercial breeding operation, Alexander introduced a degree of professionalist to breeding horses that was instrumental in Kentucky's surpassing Tennessee as the center of the American Thoroughbred. Woodburn auctions produced four Kentucky derby winners and 10 Belmont Stakes winners. In 1855, Alexander purchased the young stallion Lexington . . . — Map (db m58340) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. (1896 - 1947) |
| | For four decades Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. headed King Ranch, one of America's unique institutions. Among divisions of King Ranch is the Thoroughbred farm he founded outside Lexington, on property that was once part of Col. E. R. Bradley's Idle Hour Farm.
Kleberg was a grandson of Captain Richard King, who had heeded Robert E. Lee's personal advice to "buy land and never sell." King Ranch grew to more than eleven million acres of Texas land. Kleberg became its president in 1932, and although . . . — Map (db m58301) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Sam Hildreth 1866 - 1929 |
| | Admonished by his father that one could not settle down if he wanted to be a racing man, Sam Hildreth wrote years later of such family sojourns as himself and all nine brothers and sisters being taken by wagon train from Missouri to Texas. His father had about a dozen race horses and had heard of an owner in Texas who wanted some action. The Hildreth star of the time, Red Morocco, was called on to oblige. Sam Hildreth was ever held by the "The Spell of the Turf," as his autobiography was . . . — Map (db m58341) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Samuel D. Riddle 1861 - 1951 |
| | "Lots of men might have a million dollars, but only one man can have Man o' war," said Will Harbut, the faithful groom of the great stallion. The one man who had Man o' War was Samuel D. Riddle, who once handed back the check of a wealthy Texan who had urged him to name his price for the horse. Riddle had purchased Man o' War as a yearling for $5,000 and raced him to legendary status. "Big Red" won 20 of 21 races in 1919 and 1920 and thereafter stood at stud for many years at Faraway farm . . . — Map (db m58343) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1445 — School Of Medicine |
| | (obverse)
Site of the world-renowned Medical Hall of Transylvania University. Erected 1839 and dedicated November 2, 1840. Massive building of Grecian architecture with facilities not surpassed at that time by any school in America or Europe. Constructed on a lot purchased for $5,000, of which citizens of Lexington contributed $3,000.
Marker presented by George G. Greene, M.D.
(reverse)
School of Medicine
The magnificent structure built here was used . . . — Map (db m57475) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Sheikh Mohammed 1949 - |
| | Through the last two decades of the 20th Century and into the next, the dominant purchasers of Thoroughbreds in the world were the Maktoum brothers from the country of Dubai. As the ruling family of that oil producing Emirate, the Maktoums are international statesmen as well as extraordinary sportsmen. Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum bid Rashin al Maktoum is the oldest brother, but Sheikh Mohammed has often been the most visible spokesman for the family's collective and individual racing and breeding . . . — Map (db m57685) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2122 — Slavery in Fayette Co. / Cheapside Slave Auction Block |
| | Slavery in Fayette Co.
On the N.E. corner of the Fayette County Courthouse lawn stood the whipping post established in 1847 to punish slaves for such offenses as being on the streets after 7 p.m. Fayette Co. was one of the largest slave-holding counties in Kentucky. By 1860, one in four residents of the city of Lexington were slaves.
Cheapside Slave Auction Block
African Americans were sold as slaves at Cheapside Auction Block on the public square in the 19th century. Lexington . . . — Map (db m16411) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1714 — Thomas Hunt Morgan / Genetic Research |
| | (obverse)
Thomas Hunt Morgan
Winner of 1933 Nobel Prize was born in Hunt-Morgan house, 1866; grew up here. A nephew of John Hunt Morgan, he attended State College of Ky. (Univ. of Ky.). Taught at Columbia Univ. and there, influenced by Mendel's work, left embryology, his main field, for genetics. Headed up research team studying inbreeding of fruit flies. Observing offspring led to discovery of genes. Over.
(reverse)
Genetic Research
Morgan's research . . . — Map (db m57474) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 11 — Todd House |
| | Home of Mary Todd Lincoln from 1832 to 1839. To this house in after years she brought Abraham Lincoln and their children. — Map (db m35983) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1556 — Town Branch |
| | Under Vine Street flows the Town Branch of Elkhorn, the stream upon whose banks Lexington was established in 1779. Used in the early days to bring merchandise to Lexington from Ohio River. On Town Branch was launched Edward West's steamboat in 1793. Heavy floods troubled Lexington until a large underground channel was built in 1930s.
Presented by Lexington-Fayette Co. Historic Commission. — Map (db m58557) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 1549 — Transylvania Pavilion |
| | This building was one of two dependencies for Transylvania University's elaborate, three-storied 1816 structure designed by Lexington architect Matthew Kennedy. Main building burned in 1829. Nine-bayed, it had center pavilion of 5 bays surmounted by a broad pediment. The hip roof had octagonal, baroque-manner cupola.
Presented by Lexington-Fayette Co. Historic Commission — Map (db m59101) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 65 — Transylvania University |
| | Pioneer in higher education in Kentucky and west. Founded by The Commonwealth of Virginia, 1780. Located in Lexington since 1789 — Map (db m59049) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 741 — U.S. Vice President |
| | (Front): John Cabell Breckinridge, 1821-75, one of four Kentuckians - more than any state, except New York - who were U.S. Vice Presidents. Others were Adlai E. Stevenson, Richard M. Johnson, and Alben W. Barkley. In U.S. Congress, 1851-55. Elected Vice-President in 1856. Candidate of Southern Democrats for President in 1860, carrying nine Southern States. See over. (Back): Breckinridge served as a major of Kentucky Volunteers, Mexican war. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1860. Becaem . . . — Map (db m14019) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — 2296 — Vertner Woodson Tandy 1885 - 1949 |
| | Born in Lexington, son of Henry A. Tandy, respected African American contractor. Attended the Chandler School, Tuskegee Institute, Cornell Univ. 1st registered black architect in New York State, where he built landmark homes & buildings. A founder of Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest African American Fraternity.
Sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Alpha Beta Lambda Chapter, Lexington, Ky. — Map (db m61032) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Warner L. Jones Jr. 1916 - 1994 |
| | For more than 50 years, Warner L. Jones Jr. was on the board of Churchill Downs, which a great-great-great uncle, Col. M. Lewis Clark, founded in 1875. For 12 years, Jones was chairman. Thus, much of his career was involved in protecting and promoting the track's revered Kentucky Derby. Jones established Hermitage Farm outside Louisville in 1935 and operated it for the rest of his life. He bred 131 stakes winners, including winners of the two most distinguished races at his home track: Dark . . . — Map (db m57736) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — Warren Wright, Sr. 1875 - 1950 |
| | The name of the family company of the Wrights was Calumet Baking Powder and Warren Wright, Sr. would also make that name synonymous with Thoroughbred breeding and racing. In 1913 Wright took over operation of the Chicago company from his father and guided it so successfully that Calumet Baking Powder was sold for $40 million in 1928. After his father, William Monroe Wright, died in 1931, Warren converted his Lexington farm from Standardbreds to Thoroughbreds. In the final two decades of his . . . — Map (db m58286) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William S. Farish 1939 - |
| | To the general public, the identity of William S. Farish is likely created by his term as the United States Ambassador to England, his business association and friendships with both Presidents Bush, and his friendship with Queen Elizabeth II, who has been his house guest. To those involved in the Thoroughbred industry, Farish has been one of the most visible and successful of Kentucky breeders and owners, as well as an organizational leader in the industry. Grandson of a former chairman of . . . — Map (db m58336) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William T. Young 1918 - 2004 |
| | One of Lexington's most distinguished native citizens also emerged as one of America's top Thoroughbred breeders and owners. W. T. Young developed the stately Overbrook Farm, stocked it with high quality bloodstock and began breeding, racing, selling and buying a succession of major winners. His Storm Cat became one of the leading stallions in the world. Between 1994 and 1996, Young was owner or co-owner of winners of five Triple Crown races. In 1996, Grindstone won the Kentucky Derby and . . . — Map (db m58329) HM |
| Kentucky (Fayette County), Lexington — William Woodward, Sr. 1876 - 1953 |
| | Aristocratic by birth and bearing, William Woodward, Sr. inherited the presidency of Hanover National Bank of New York and ownership of Belair Stud, a Maryland property predating the revolution. Woodward also has a lasting connection to Kentucky, boarding his mares for many years at Clairborne Farm. He also helped Claiborne import the great stallion Sir Gallahad III, sire of Woodward's first Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox. In turn, Gallant Fox sired Triple Crown winner Omaha.
Woodward . . . — Map (db m58283) HM |
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