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The Morton School Number 1, Lexington’s first public city school in 1834, was originally built on the corner of Walnut (later Martin Luther King Dr.) and Short Street.
Fayette County churches contain some of the earliest records and information preserved about central Kentucky history. The digital archive contents include church ledgers, minutes, directories, and informational brochures.
The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found.
Stories of Lexington's history told through the Kentucky Room archives.
The Fayette County Images contains photographs of Lexington and Fayette County Kentucky.
Compiled by Cyrus Parker Jones, a man formerly enslaved by the Parker family, these funeral notices cover 667 funerals of individuals in Lexington, including seven free blacks. The funeral notices cover the years 1806-1886. Jones donated his collection to a trustee of the Lexington Public Library prior to his death in 1887, who then added some notices and donated the collection to the Lexington Public Library in 1900.
New to the U.S. and Lexington community? Check out these programs for English language learners.
The collection contains non-Fayette County school yearbooks and images, dating from 1878-1968.
The Daily Lexington Atlas ran from December 11, 1847 through November 20, 1848 and was Lexington’s first daily paper, and the first to publish information from the telegraph lines.
The True American was an anti-slavery newspaper started by Cassius Marcellus Clay in June 1845.
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Read articles from magazines and journals, learn a new language, or locate a newspaper article. These resources can't be found with a search engine but are available for free with your library card.
Lexington, Kentucky (August 18, 2022) – The Lexington Public Library broke ground on a new, significantly larger facility in the former Village Branch location on Versailles Road to better provide for the needs of the neighborhoods it serves. The new branch will reflect the community’s vision for a state-of-the-art community hub, one that offers robust resources and a myriad of program and service offerings. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Tuesday at a media event featuring Library and City officials.
The Lexington Weekly Press was published every Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky, and contained local, state, and foreign news. The paper focused on Central Kentucky’s “agriculture, manufactures and fine stock”, as well as literary and scientific news, market reports, and serial stories. Local weddings, deaths, community events, and elections for Lexington and the surrounding region. The paper was sent anywhere in the United States at a cost of one dollar per year.
The Daily Argonaut began in 1895 and seems to have ceased publication in 1899. This collection includes scattered issues from 1896, 1897 and 1898.
The Kentucky Room's collections contain Lexington's residential directories going back over 200 years, and are some of the most useful resources for researchers looking for family information, neighborhood histories, and house histories.
The Kentucky Progress Commission was formed in 1928 in order to draw tourism and business to Kentucky. It was formed by the Kentucky Legislature, and was a 12 person board.
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department had its earliest form almost as long as the city itself has existed, when the newly formed city of Lexington would appoint a local physician to investigate reports of certain diseases for qu
Lexington's school system dates back to the city charter of 1831, and it first school opened in 1834.
Fayette County's local businesses and organizations contain a wealth of information about local residents.
The city reports and ordinances for Lexington contain a wide variety of information about the people, infrastructure, and businesses.
The Library's digitized collection includes some non-Fayette County directories for businesses, farms and residences.
The United States Army Armor School began in 1940 as the Armored Force School and Replacement Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.