KITCHEN

Gratz Park, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
 

The hallowed ground now Gratz Park, once trod by national and international notables, in embryo as students of Transylvania University or in maturity as teachers or visitors, has but one original structure to memorialize its past glory.

It is the drab-looking brick building standing on the Market Street side of the city park, and looking gloomy enough in its isolation.

Although James Lane Allen, Kentucky's famous author, taught here, it never has had a name more dignified than "The Kitchen"—a name which harks back 140 years to its origin.

The following ad, which appeared in the Kentucky Gazette April 22, 1797, discloses its hoary age and explains its name:

"To be let—At the Court House in Lexington, on Saturday the 22nd inst. at two o'clock, in the afternoon, the building of a BRICK KITCHEN on the Seminary lot, to be fourteen feet square with a cellar under, and two stories above ground, further particulars will be made known at the time of letting. JAMES TROTTER, JOHN BRADFORD, JAMES MOORE, Com.

The "cellar" still has the old cooking fire-place, pot-hooks, etc.—an interesting study today.

Obviously, from the advertised measurements of the 1797 "Brick Kitchen," it was augmented—about 1827, according to the following from Dr. Holley's report on the condition of the college buildings at the time he submitted his resignation:

"In the whole establishment there is not a pane of glass out...the grounds are smooth and have been recently well raked; the gates and fences are as perfect as their age will permit; the pavements are in excellent preservation, and the refectory, with its appurtenances, is fit for immediate occupation, and is one of the most convenient and agreeable residences in town. The north and west corners are indeed sometimes penetrated by the rain and require a little attention from the housewright to remedy the evil."

It was here, in "the refectory," the President of the University was cited as living when the 1838-39 directory was published.

Source: Old Houses of Lexington, C. Frank Dunn, typescript, n.d., copy located in the Kentucky Room, Lexington (Kentucky) Public Library.

Transcribed by pb, July 2006