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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 “Kentucky Progress Magazine” was used by the board to promote Kentucky, and features local interest stories, photographs of people, places, and activities. It also features ads placed by various cities around the state.

Some issues contain material that is under copyright, but qualifies for display by libraries under Section 108(h) of US Copyright Law. It is the user's responsibility to determine the copyright status of the material they want to use. If a section is hidden, please contact us to view it.

The Kentucky Pioneer Genealogy and Records Magazine published various articles about early Kentucky history as a quarterly publication from 1979-1985, then annually 1986-1988. It later became the official publication of the Society of Kentucky Pioneers.

All issues have been digitized. Most of the submissions focus on tax records, early military and militia records, family cemeteries, newspapers, and transcriptions of early vital records. They are word searchable. 

The Kentucky Rally Songs pamphlet contains 42 songs compiled and printed by the state chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, to be used at the many gatherings and rallies that they organized in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The songs, sung to popular tunes of the day, dealt with prohibition and women’s suffrage.

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was an organization founded in 1873 to promote social reform along with Christian moral principles, and the Kentucky chapter was extremely active. In addition to politically supporting sympathetic political candidates, the WCTU also held many social events to advocate for alcohol and tobacco abstinence, with a focus on overall moral reform.

Information from the Kentucky Historical Society.

Old Kentucky Architecture is a comprehensive book by Rexford Newcomb that was published in 1940. It contains photographs and floor plans from significant architectural buildings all around Kentucky, but primarily focused on the central Kentucky region, that were built between 1767-1860. It also mentions several buildings designed by architect Gideon Shryock, as well as a few by John McMurtry.

The buildings included are Old Fort Harrod, Old Creel Cabin, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, William Crow House, Old Du Puy Farm House, Bardstown's Old Stone Jail, Colonel William Whitley House, Federal Hill, Liberty Hall, Wickland, Clay Hill, Benjamin Gratz House, Dr. John C. Lewis House, Rose Hill, The Grange, Ridgeway, Xalapa Farm, House on Edgehill Road, Castlewood, Woodlawn, Colonel Andrew Muldrow House, Dr. Ephriam McDowell House, Marshall House, Hopemont, Shropshire House, Eothan, Buford House, General McConnell Farm, Padgett House, Crittenden House, Layson House, Waveland, Bridge House, A. E. Hudnely Farm, Smokehouse, Ashland, Saint Joseph’s Church, Harrodsburg Old Physician’s Office, Old House, Orland Brown House, Diamond Point Passmore House, Chestnut House, Adams House, Moberly House, Mansfield, Showalter Residence, Professor McClure House, Brooker Residence, Rev. Dr. Robert Alexander Johnstone House, Scotland, Helm Place, Carrick House Whitehall, Old Capitol Building, Morrison College Transylvania University, Daughter’s College Harrodsburg, Centre College Old Main Hall, Giddings Hall Georgetown College, Jefferson County Court House, Bank of Louisville, Louisville Board of Education, Kentucky School for the Blind, Kentucky School for the Deaf, Cross Keys Tavern, Tomb of Matthew Shryock, Ingelside, Loudoun House, Mound Cottage, Botherum, Walnut Hill Church, Pigsah Church, Sexton’s Cottage Lexington Episcopal Cemetery, and the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Several of these buildings have been demolished. 

While the focus of content in the digital archive is Fayette County, many other counties are represented. This list is in alphabetical order by county name for non-Fayette County content.

Anderson County

• History of the Lawrenceburg Fair by Lydia Kennedy Bond, 1956

Bath County

• Bath County Memorial Library Albert Young WWII letter Collection, 1944-45
• Bath County Memorial Library Diary Collection of Etta Evans Gilmore, 1944-1955

Boone County

• Florence Baptist Church Dedication Service, October 9, 1967

Bourbon County

• Millersburg Female College Announcement, 1895-96
• Hopewell (Paris) Historical Scrapbook, 150th Anniversary, Sept 1939
• History of the Church of the Annunciation of Paris, Kentucky by Mary T. Kelly, 1958
• Millersburg Military Institute playbill for Inherit the Wind, 6 May 1960
• Paris Historical Scrapbook, 175th Anniversary, 13 May 1961

Boyd County

• The Hi-Life Gazette, Ashland High School, 5 March 1954

Boyle County

• Catalogue, Danville Classical and Military Academy, 1877-78
• The Danville Literary and Social Club (The Anaconda), 1839-1889 by Ormond Beatty
• Fourth Reunion, Kentucky Association of the Deaf, 3-5 September 1907
• A Centennial History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf, Danville, Kentucky, 1823-1923 by Charles Fosdick

Breathitt County

• Stories of Kentucky Feuds: the Terror of Suspense by Harold Wilson Coates, 1924

Bullitt County

• United Stares Army Armor School, Fort Knox, 1959-72

Caldwell County

• Welcome to Dawson Springs, Kentucky, “The City of Health,” Centennial Celebration, 1874-1974

Calloway County

• History of Calloway County, Kentucky by E. A. Johnson, 1931

Christian County

• The Scroll: Bethel Woman's College Yearbook, 1929

Clark County

• Kentucky Wesleyan College graduates, 1906
• The Beacon: Kentucky Bible College (later Southeastern Christian College), 1955
• The Beacon: Kentucky Bible College, Winchester, Kentucky, 1960
• Southern Bell Telephone Directory for Richmond, Ky., Ford, Kirksville, Waco, Including Listings of Berea, Paint Lick, May 1966
• Kentucky Telephone Company Directory for Lancaster, Berea, Bryantsville, Paint Lick, Including Listings of Ford, Kirksville, Richmond, and Waco, Kentucky, June 1966

Clay County

• Stories of Kentucky Feuds: the Great Truce of Clay by Harold Wilson Coates, 1923
• Telephone Directory; Barbourville, Brodhead, East Bernstadt, Eubank, Faubush, Flat Lick, Livingston, London, Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Oneida, Science Hill, Shopville, White Lily, Kentucky, 1974

Floyd County

• The Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists for the Counties of Fayette - 1788; Mason (later Floyd) - 1790; Mercer - 1789; Washington - 1792, compiled by Levi Todd, 1790

Garrard County

• Lancaster High School Graduation Program, 1952
• Southern Bell Telephone Directory for Richmond, Ky., Ford, Kirksville, Waco, Including Listings of Berea, Paint Lick, May 1966
• Kentucky Telephone Company Directory for Lancaster, Berea, Bryantsville, Paint Lick, Including Listings of Ford, Kirksville, Richmond, and Waco, Kentucky, June 1966

Graves County

• The Mayfield Bar, by R. G. Robbins, 1911

Grayson County

• Dock Brown: the Outlaw of Grayson County by Colonel William R. Haynes, 1876

Hardin County

• United Stares Army Armor School, Fort Knox, 1959-72

Harlan County

• Harlan County, Kentucky by Elmon Middleton, 1934
• The Pine Mountain Story, 1913-1980 by Mary Rogers and the Pine Mountain Settlement School, 1980

Hopkins County

• Welcome to Dawson Springs, Kentucky, “The City of Health,” Centennial Celebration, 1874-1974

Jackson County

• Telephone Directory; McKee, Annville, Booneville, Sand Gap Ky, 1960
• Directory; McKee, Annville, Sand Gap, Booneville, 1964
• Telephone Directory; McKee, Annville, Sand Gap, Booneville, 1976

Jefferson County

• The Cadet Adjustant magazine of the Kentucky Military Institute, 1909-1918
• Photograph of Rev. James Cronin, Diocese of Louisville, circa 1920
• Charter, By-Laws and Amendments of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Widows' and Orphans' Home in the State of Kentucky, 1938
• My Memoirs of Army Nurse Corps World War II, 1943-1945 by Martha Ueltschi Penn, 1946
• Poems of Consolation: Book II by Geneva Maxey Cooper Tilford, 1947
• The Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star in Kentucky Golden Key Session 1948
• Zion Baptist Church, 1878-1953, 75th Anniversary, August 1953
• duPont Manual High School 1967 10-year reunion, class of 1957
• A New Look for Kentucky Breathitt for Governor newspaper, February 1963
• Sallie Phillips Durrett High School 1967–1968 composite class photograph
• The Louisville Community presents a Memorial Service Honoring the Late Whitney M. Young, Jr., 10 March 1974
• Handbills for Mr. Gay Kentucky, January 1983 and March 1983

Jessamine County

• Assortment of Elmer L. Foote lantern slides, including Court Day and the construction of High Bridge, circa 1900s
• Bluegrass Houses and Their Traditions by Elizabeth M. Simpson, 1932
• Union Lodge No. 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Nicholasville, Kentucky, by Robert M. Suell, 1970

Johnson County

• Kentucky Mountain Club (Membership includes the following counties: Adair, Bath, Bell, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Floyd, Greenup, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, McCreary, Magoffin, Martin, Menifee, Monroe, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Wayne, Whitley, and Wolfe)

Knox County

• Telephone Directory; Barbourville, Brodhead, East Bernstadt, Eubank, Faubush, Flat Lick, Livingston, London, Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Oneida, Science Hill, Shopville, White Lily, Kentucky, 1974

Laurel County

• The Birth of a Church: 1st Presbyterian Church, London, Ky., 1959
• Telephone Directory; Barbourville, Brodhead, East Bernstadt, Eubank, Faubush, Flat Lick, Livingston, London, Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Oneida, Science Hill, Shopville, White Lily, Kentucky, 1974

Leslie County

• Thirty Years Onward, Frontier Nursing Service, Incorporated 1925-1955

• Lucy Jefferson Lewis, Sister of President Thomas Jefferson, Virginia 1752 - Kentucky 1811 by Martha Grassham Purcell

Madison County

• Mountain Ballads for Social Singing, by James Watt Rayne, Berea College, 1923
• Life at Eastern: Eastern Kentucky Review, Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College, May 1944
• Program Celebrating the Opening of the New Free Bridge at Clay’s Ferry, Cleveland, 17 August 1946
• Southern Bell Telephone Directory for Richmond, Ky., Ford, Kirksville, Waco, Including Listings of Berea, Paint Lick, May 1966
• Kentucky Telephone Company Directory for Lancaster, Berea, Bryantsville, Paint Lick, Including Listings of Ford, Kirksville, Richmond, and Waco, Kentucky, June 1966
• First Baptist Church Directory, Richmond, 1975

Mason County

• The Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists for the Counties of Fayette - 1788; Mason (later Floyd) - 1790; Mercer - 1789; Washington - 1792, compiled by Levi Todd, 1789
• Centennial of St. Patrick’s Parish, Maysville, 1847-1947

• United Stares Army Armor School, Fort Knox, 1959-72

Mercer County

• The Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists for the Counties of Fayette - 1788; Mason (later Floyd) - 1790; Mercer - 1789; Washington - 1792, compiled by Levi Todd, 1789
• Education in Harrodsburg and Neighborhood Since 1775 by Martha Stephenson, 1910
• Shakertown by Dorothy Embry Cross, 1921
• Old Roads in Kentucky by Cecil Brown, 1929
• Old Shakertown and the Shakers by Daniel Mac-Hir Hutton, 1936
• The History of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Harrodsburg by Neva L. Williams, April 1948
• Old Taverns by Grace Stephenson Linney Hutton, 1957

Muhlenberg County

• Gibraltar Coal Mining Company Scrip, Brownie, Ky., undated
• The Oriole: Central City High School Yearbook, 1927

Nelson County

• A Chapter of Trappist History in Kentucky by Young E. Allison, 1926
• The Barton Museum of Whiskey History Brochure, 1961

Owsley County

• Telephone Directory; McKee, Annville, Booneville, Sand Gap Ky, 1960
• Directory; McKee, Annville, Sand Gap, Booneville, 1964

Pulaski County

• Telephone Directory; Barbourville, Brodhead, East Bernstadt, Eubank, Faubush, Flat Lick, Livingston, London, Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Oneida, Science Hill, Shopville, White Lily, Kentucky, 1974

Robertson County

• Echoes from the Century, Robertson County 1867-1967 by T. Ross Moore

• Telephone Directory; Barbourville, Brodhead, East Bernstadt, Eubank, Faubush, Flat Lick, Livingston, London, Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Oneida, Science Hill, Shopville, White Lily, Kentucky, 1974

• The Co-Ed: Georgetown College, 1901
• Historical Pageant of Scott County, Kentucky 1774-1924, 31 May 1924
• Directory and History: Georgetown Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1932-1933
• Georgetown Grows: Georgetown College, 1960
• Stamping Ground’s 180th Birthday Celebration, 15-17 October 1970

Warren County

• Bowling Green Business University, 43rd Annual Catalogue, circa 1918

• The Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists for the Counties of Fayette - 1788; Mason (later Floyd) - 1790; Mercer - 1789; Washington - 1792, compiled by Levi Todd, 1792

Wolfe County

• Wolfe County Centennial Celebration 1860-1960, 2 Sept 1960

Woodford County

• Kentucky Female Orphan School: A History by Harry Giovannoli, 1930
• St. Leo’s Parish, Versailles 1924-1965
• Woodford County Farm Directory, circa 1971
• A History of Troy Presbyterian Church, 1875-1975 by J. R. Wilson, Jr.
• St. Leo Catholic Church Directory, Versailles, 1979