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These tours are guided audio walking tours with a variety of topics focused on Downtown Lexington, KY. Music will play in between each stop, and the listener can pause the track while walking between stops.
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Join us for a walking tour of Downtown Lexington’s historic sites. The full tour is available as a single MP3, or you can download individual tracks. For the single MP3, music will play between the stops. You can pause the track while you walk between stops.
This tour covers a walking distance of 1.1 miles.
The music clips used in this tour are from “Walking Barefoot on Grass” by Kai Engel, and are used with a CCBY license. It is available here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/
Lexington, Kentucky (March 9, 2022) – Lexington Public Library and Lexington Public Library Foundation are honored to announce that the Marksbury Family Foundation has committed the lead gift for the capital campaign to rebuild the library branch at the corner of Versailles Road and Village Drive. In recognition of their generosity, the new facility will be named the Marksbury Family Branch when it opens in 2024.
Not an artist? Not a problem! We'll provide the art supplies; you provide the creativity during this open art program. Recommend for 5-12 years old, dress for mess please. Materials provided while supplies last.
As part of the Central Kentucky Concert Band's celebration of its first fifty years, a saxophone trio, composed of CKCB members, will present an hour-long program at the Marksbury Family Branch Library at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 11, 2026. The ensemble has a large repertoire of classical and traditional tunes, most of which were custom-arranged or composed specifically for this trio.
As part of the Central Kentucky Concert Band's celebration of its first fifty years, a saxophone trio, composed of CKCB members, will present an hour-long program at the Tates Creek Branch Library at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 25, 2026. The ensemble has a large repertoire of classical and traditional tunes, most of which were custom-arranged or composed specifically for this trio.
The Undesign the Redline project unearths the deep and systemic history of structural racism and inequality in the United States. This interactive exhibit explores policies like Redlining, their implications for today, and what we can do to undesign them.
The exhibit was created by social impact design studio designing the WE and has been invited to dozens of cities across the country. A local advisory group has helped to produce local history and stories about Redlining in Lexington.
Find out what's happening at our locations. Browse upcoming events and discover our dedicated learning spaces. Reserve a meeting room. Explore our galleries and special collections.
We are committed to supporting our democracy by providing nonpartisan voting information, whether you choose to cast an early ballot or go to the polls on Election Day.
Join us for a special musical journey led by our community's brightest young pianists!
Try It Yourself!
First, we'll have keyboards available so that school-age kids, teens, and adults can?try out the program for themselves! This is a great opportunity to get hands-on experience with music.
Student Performances
St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church was formally created in the Covington Diocese in 1868, by Father John Bekkers.
Mountain Ballads for Social Singing contains 15 songs selected for the Vesper Hour gatherings at Berea College.
Elmer L. Foote served as official photographer of the Cincinnati Public Library for many years, and produced photographs that appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune during the early years of the twentieth century.
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 Knowles Postcard Collection contains images of notable Kentucky locations, such as Ashland, Keeneland, and Mammoth Cave, as well as county courthouses, farms, schools, and many others.
The Council of Defense books contain records for Fayette County’s Army soldiers, Navy sailors, Marines, and Army nurses in World War I, and include information regarding the person’s residence, birth place and date, specific units and en
Major Henry Clay McDowell purchased the Ashland Estate from Kentucky University in 1882 with his wife, Anne Smith Clay McDowell, who was a granddaughter of Henry Clay. The McDowells took great care to revive the grounds to their fo
Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill has existed outside of Harrodsburg for over 200 years, and is a popular site to visit today.
Tina Belle Green Winters Simpler Young (1880-1930), was born in Elmville, Kentucky. Known as Tiny, she was believed to be a sex worker in the 1920s and 30s, and sent $5.00 a week home to support her sister.
Lena Hart Tobey (1869-1939) was born in Mississippi to Thomas and Susan Watson Hart. In the 1890s, she attended school in Lexington, Kentucky. She married Ellis Tobey in 1896 and died in 1939 in Arkansas.
The United States Army Armor School began in 1940 as the Armored Force School and Replacement Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
A born-and-raised Lexingtonian, Hunter attended Lexington Catholic High School and graduated with a B.S. in Economics from the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics in 2015. He is currently a Senior Associate at BC Wood Properties, a commercial real estate investment company, where he manages 1.8 million square feet of commercial space throughout six states. Hunter has a passion for community involvement, serving on various boards for the Explorium of Lexington, United Way of the Bluegrass, University of Kentucky DanceBlue Marathon, and Make-A-Wish Kentucky.