| |
A Lexington coffee house
has on file 42 newspapers from all over the Union (WPA 1938) |
| 1799 |
Jessamine County formed from Fayette County
Kentucky
|
| |
Census for Kentucky shows
3081 residences, slaves 28,517, acres 17,674,634 (Kentucky
Gazette, 31 October 1799, p. 2 col. 3) |
| |
Lexington paved a strip
of Main Street and built a bridge-of-sorts across mud holes between the courthouse and the Main-Mill corner
(Helm 1916) |
| 1800 |
Transylvania University has schools of
medicine and law
|
| 1800 |
Religious revival in Fayette County
(movement embraced by Methodists, Presbyterians and
Baptists)
|
| |
Postlethwaite's Tavern
built on Main street, on site of later Phoenix Hotel
(Helm 1916) |
| |
Ed West patents revolutionary
nail-cutting machine (WPA 1938) |
| 1801 |
Letter from Colonel Robert
Patterson to Dr.
John King on the Kentucky religious revival
|
| |
Other Lexington restoration
correspondence
|
| 1802 |
Lexington Insurance Company established. The
legislature inadvertently granted the company banking
privileges.
|
| |
Meetings of the Lexington
Jockey Club first held at Ashland, home of
Henry Clay (Helm 1916) |
| 1803 |
Fire at Fayette County KY clerk's home office destroys
most county records
|
| |
Stage route established from Lexington
through Winchester and Mount Sterling to
Olympian Springs
in Bath County
|
| 1805 |
Lexington trustees
prohibit citizens from harboring panthers as pets (Helm
1916) |
| 1806 |
Charless Almanac publishes
Lexington City Directory
|
| 1807 |
William W. Worsley and
Samuel R. Overton established the Kentucky Reporter
(Tadlock 1902) |
| 1808 |
First Lexington brick
courthouse built by Winslow & Stevens (Helm 1916) |
| 1809 |
Lexington Jockey Club
organized (Tadlock 1902) |
| 1810 |
First steam mill in the
west built by Winslow & Stevens (Helm 1916) |
| |
Local land prices boomed - Lexington
property values equal to Boston's (WPA 1938) |
| 1811 |
Henry Clay is speaker of the U.S. House of
Representatives
|
| |
December,
New Madrid earthquake
(shocks continue into 1812) |
| 1812-1814 |
War of 1812 -
Kentucky suffered enormous losses
|
| 1813 |
Daniel Bradford holds his first book auction
"at candle light" over the store of Bradford
and Vigus (Kentucky Gazette, 22 November
|
| 1814 |
Spotted fever epidemic in
March (Tadlock 1902) |
| 1815 |
Fayette Hospital for the insane granted
charter (now Eastern State Hospital). This was the first
such asylum in the west and the second in the United
States (Helm 1916)
|
| |
Luke Usher's theatre
opens in Lexington (Helm 1916) |
| 1817 |
Turnpike road companies chartered:
Lexington-Maysville and Lexington-Louisville
|
| |
First recorded saddlebred horse
show in Lexington
|
| |
Cornerstone laid for Lexington Lunatic
Asylum (June)
|
| |
The United States Bank
opened in Lexington on 27 January 1817 (Helm 1916) |
| 1818 |
Mary Todd, future wife of Abraham Lincoln, born
|
| 1819 |
First agricultural show at Lexington
|
| |
Second Lexington Baptist
church located on Mill Street opposite Gratz Park
completed in October (Helm 1916) |
| |
John Postlethwaite's Tavern burns (WPA
1938) |
|
1820 |
Census of Lexington shows total
whites, 3528; total slaves, 1641; total free colored, 115; entire total
citizens, 5279 (Kentucky Reporter, 30 October 1820, p. 3 col. 4) |
| 1822 |
Lottery authorized to establish Lexington
medical college
|
| 1823 |
Lexingtonian Colonel James Morrison dies
April 23, bequeathing $60,000 to Transylvania University
|
| |
D.A. Sayre and Co.
establishes a bank in Lexington
(Observer and Reporter 29 July 1868) |
| 1824 |
April 17 - stage line from Maysville to
Louisville through Lexington and Frankfort (two-day trip)
and to Washington D.C. (six-day trip) begins
|
| |
Henry Clay is a presidential candidate
|
| |
Grand Masonic hall
erected at corner of Walnut and Short streets; was used
as a hospital during 1833 cholera epidemic (Tadlock 1902) |
| 1825 |
Henry Clay appointed U.S. Secretary of State
|
| |
General Lafayette visits Kentucky (May 16)
|
| 1826 |
Meetings of the Kentucky
Association, oldest living turf club in America [in
1916], were held at the Williams' track on what is now
the tomb-spiked northern plateau of the Lexington
Cemetery (Helm 1916) |
| 1827 |
Lexingtonian Thomas
Harris Barlow builds first locomotive in western America
(Tadlock 1902) |
| 1829 |
Road to Maysville begun
in Lexington during the fall. This was the first macadam
highway in Kentucky (Helm 1916) |
| 1830 |
Companies chartered to build railroad from
Lexington to the Ohio River (January)
|
| |
First rail of Lexington & Ohio Railroad
laid at Lexington, 21 October (Ranck 1872)
|
| 1832 |
minor cholera outbreak in Lexington (October)
|
| |
Lexington chartered as a city
- first mayor is Charlton Hunt.
|
| |
Third Street Catholic Cemetery established
in Lexington
|
| 1833 |
Importation of slaves prohibited (repealed 1849).
Legislature adopts resolution in favor of Union and
against nullification (February)
|
| |
Kentucky Colonization Society sends 102 freed Negroes to Liberia (March)
Four letters from Liberia to
Lexington
|
| |
major cholera epidemic (May and August) Total Lexington
deaths June 1 through August 1: 502 (Observer &
Reporter, 22 August)
|
| |
Lexington Orphan Asylum
established to care for those orphaned by the cholera
epidemic (Helm 1916) |
| |
Kentucky Livestock Association holds exhibit
at Lexington (September)
|
| 1834 |
St. Catherine's Academy for young ladies
moved to Lexington from Scott County (Ranck 1872; Helm
1916)
|
| |
First city school established in Lexington,
intended primarily for orphans of the of cholera epidemic
(Helm 1916)
|
| 1835 |
First train runs from Lexington to
Frankfort--time, 2 hours 29 minutes (January 29)
|
| |
Northern Bank established
(Tadlock 1902) |
| |
10 July, Bank of Kentucky opened with
R.S. Todd, President, William S. Waller cashier, T.H. Pendell teller,
Ben C. Keiser porter (Observer
and Reporter, 15 July 1835) |
|
1836 |
May, Kentucky legislature chartered
Lexington Fire, Life and Marine Insurance Company |
| 1837 |
national economic crash affects local
businesses
|
| |
Third Street Episcopal Cemetery established
in Lexington
|
| |
St. Peter's Church,
Lexington, dedicated 03 December (Helm 1916) |
| |
Odd Fellowship begins in
Lexington on May 6 (Tadlock 1902) |
| 1838 |
Presbyterian cemetery
established between Limestone and Upper streets north of
Sixth--date approximate (Helm 1916) |
| 1839 |
Mac Cabe publishes
Lexington/Fayette 1838 Directory
|
| 1840 |
Census shows 4135 whites,
2484 slaves, 404 free colored, total population 7023 (Kentucky
Gazette, 26 November 1840) |
| 1845 |
True American, abolitionist journal,
established at Lexington by
Cassius M. Clay (June 4).
Refuses to discontinue publication (August 14); press and
type seized
|
| 1846-1848 |
Mexican-American War --- Lexington sent two
volunteer infantry companies
|
| 1848 |
Telegraph line built between Lexington and
Louisville (March) (Tadlock 1902)
|
| 1849 |
James Lane
Allen (1849-1925), born on Parkers Mill
Road near Lexington
|
| |
Cholera epidemic - By August 18, total dead
numbered 342 (Lexington Observer and Reporter)
|
| |
Lexington
Cemetery
established, taking over Thomas E. Boswell's woods on
Leestown road
|
| 1850 |
Congress passes
Fugitive Slave
Act permitting slave owners to enter free territory and retake
their escaped slaves.
|
| |
The horse Lexington foaled; progenitor of
Man O'War, Fair Play, War Admiral and others
|
| 1851 |
Emancipated slaves required to leave state
(March)
|
| 1852 |
Henry Clay dies in Washington DC (June 29)
H. Clay manuscript, archival collections
|
| |
Lexington and Big Sandy
Railroad Company organized - first rail laid 02 March
1872(Tadlock 1902) |
| 1853 |
Gas plant established in
Lexington (Tadlock 1902)
Livestock importing agency organized in Lexington (March)
First gas lighting available for Lexington homes (27
July) |
| 1854 |
Sayre Female Institute established in Lexington on 01
November
|
| 1856 |
John Cabell Breckinridge of Lexington elected United States
Vice President
|
1857
|
The Lexington Rifles organized;
John H. Morgan, captain (Tadlock 1902) |
| |
National financial panic -
railroad building in the bluegrass is halted |
| By 1860 |
Lexington Chasseurs organized |
| 1861-1865 |
United States Civil War
In Lexington, Transylvania College's Morrison Chapel and
Medical College were used as hospitals. Federal prisons
were at the northwest corner of Short and Limestone
streets and on Water street (Helm 1916)
|
| |
During
the Civil War, many Fayette County black men gathered at
Camp Nelson, a Union army supply depot 5 miles south in
Lexington in Jessamine County. They were often joined
there by their families.
|
| 1861 |
Legislature adjourns rather than call a
convention that could result in Kentucky's secession from
the union (February 11)
|
| |
Governor Magoffin refuses to furnish militia
for the Union (April 15); President Lincoln says that he
will not attack Kentucky as long as it remains neutral
|
| |
A "Sovereignty Convention" at
Russellville declares Kentucky a Confederate state with
Bowling Green as the capitol (November 18)
|
| |
Kentucky delegates are seated in the
Confederate Congress (December 10-12
|
| 1862 |
Legislature rules that anyone in the
Confederate Army or service who gives voluntary aid
against the United States or Kentucky is expatriated,
unless specifically exempted (March 11)
|
| |
U.S. Military Commandant
of Kentucky appointed (June 1) |
| |
Confederate General
John Hunt Morgan, (1825-1864) a Lexington native,
conducts first raids in Kentucky (July)
|
| |
Provisional (Confederate) Government holds
inaugural ceremonies in Frankfort, but flees the city
four hours later (October 4)
|
| 1863 |
President Abraham Lincoln issues
Emancipation Proclamation (January 1). It does not apply to Kentucky.
|
| |
Grinstead and Bradley
establish Lexington bank
(Observer and Reporter 29 July 1868) |
| |
City National Bank
established (Observer and Reporter 29
July 1868)
|
| |
The Trotting Track on South Broadway
established in Lexington
|
| 1864 |
President Lincoln places Kentucky under
martial law (July)
|
| |
John Hunt Morgan's Final Moments took place in Greeneville,
Tennessee (September 4) |
| 1865 |
Kentucky legislature rejects
Thirteenth Amendment to the US
Constitution
(February 24)
|
| |
College of Agriculture, to be part of the Kentucky
University and located at or near Lexington, established
by legislature (1865)
|
| |
President Johnson restores privilege of writ
of habeus corpus to all border states except Kentucky
(November 30)
|
| |
First
National Bank established in Lexington (Observer and Reporter 29 July 1868) |
| 1866 |
Agricultural and Mechanical College (later
the
University of Kentucky) began as a land-grant college
under provisions of the Congressional Merrill Act
|
| |
Federal Civil Rights Act
declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens,
regardless of circumstance (08 April) |
| |
Ashland, home of Henry Clay at Lexington, bought by
the University of Kentucky (January)
|
| 1867 |
Kentucky legislature rejects
Fourteenth Amendment to the US
Constitution
(January 8)
|
| |
Kentucky legislature passes amnesty bill
(February)
|
| 1868 |
Morgan's Men Association, Inc. founded at Lexington
|
| |
J.M. Hocker
and Co. establishes Lexington bank
(Observer and Reporter 29 July 1868)
|
| 1869 |
20 February - Earthquake in Lexington now set at level IV
intensity
|
| |
Kentucky legislature rejects
Fifteenth Amendment to the US
Constitution
(March 12)
|
| 1875 |
The Thoroughbred Weekly Record first
published
|
| |
Red Mile harness racing
track opens (September 28) |
1877
|
Early September: W.R.
Hill (the one white founder and treasurer of Nicodemus)
and Reverend M.M. Bell enroll nearly three hundred
freedmen from the vicinity of Lexington, Kentucky for
settlement in Nicodemus, Kansas.
September 17 The Lexington, Kentucky group arrives. This
date is still celebrated as the founding of
Nicodemus colony in Graham County, Kansas.
|
| 1879 |
Lexington's last market house, Jackson Hall,
built
|
| 1880 |
The Iroquois Hunt Club established. Continues in old
Grimes Mill
|
| 1881 |
Last Lexington stagecoach runs
|
| 1882 |
Horse-drawn streetcars in use in Lexington
|
| 1887 |
Lexington Opera House opens (August 19)
|
| |
Water trough being erected
on court house square (also on Broadway & High, Vine & Limestone, 2nd &
Limestone) (Lexington Transcript 27
September 1887) |
| 1888 |
Kentucky Leader first published
|
| |
Laura Clay, daughter of Madison County abolitionist
Cassius Clay, begins the Kentucky Equal Rights
Association in Lexington
|
| 1890 |
Electric streetcars introduced in Lexington
|
| 1896 |
Morning Herald first published
|
| 1897 |
Fayette County KY courthouse fire destroys
some county records (May 14)
|
| 1898-1899 |
Spanish American War
|
| 1899-1902 |
Phillipine- American War
An Anti-Imperialist Letter from
Lexington
|
1902
|
Lexington houses renumbered (Morning Herald 27 June 1902) |
|
1904 |
Bluegrass Cookbook
by Minnie C. Fox |
| 1905 |
Carnegie Public Library built in Lexington
|
| 1908 |
Agricultural and Mechanical College becomes
State University
|
| 1914-1918 |
World War I
|
| 1916 |
State University becomes
University of Kentucky
|
| |
Lexington
segregates its public parks - they remain segregated
until 1956. For narrative, photographs and oral histories
on the park systems during this time, see
The Daily Aesthetic
|
| 1917 |
American National Red
Cross holds first state convention on Lexington (August
22-23) |
| 1918 |
Influenza Pandemic
|
1921
|
Fayette County court days
outlawed, 26 October |
| 1922 |
The Kentucky Theater opened its doors on October 4
|
| 1924 |
Calumet Farm founded
|
1927
|
Lexington Board of
Commerce established commercial air field later known as
Blue Grass Airport |
|
1928 |
27 August, new City Hall to be occupied
(Herald, 12 August 1928) |
| 1929 |
Stock market crash result in increased
growing of tobacco as a cash crop; prices fell as a
result of over-production
|
1932
|
Sesquicentennial celebration of Bryan's Station
|
| 1936 |
First race at the
Keeneland Race Course, established on part of the old
Keene Place, originally granted to Francis Keene by his
kinsman and Virginia governor, Patrick Henry
|
| 1938 |
Lexington Children's Theatre established
|
| |
Adolph
Rupp's Era UK championship basketball teams
|
| 1939-1945 |
World War II
|
1941
|
A Hubbell Industrial Plant was
opened in Lexington
|
| 1947 |
Man O' War died |
| 1948 |
The Lyric Theatre opens |
1949
|
Lyman T.
Johnson wins discrimination lawsuit, is first black admitted to the
graduate school of the University of Kentucky
|
| 1950-1953 |
Korean War
|
| 1956 |
26 December, first IBM
typewriter rolled off the line in Lexington plant |
| 1958 |
Production begins in Lexington at International Business Machines
(IBM) plant
(Lexington office estab. 1948)
|
| 1961-1975 |
Vietnam War
|
1963
|
The Trane Company opens new plant
in Lexington to manufacture central station air handlers
|
| 1974 |
Lexington and Fayette County governments
form a
metro-government
|
| 1976 |
Kentucky ratifies Thirteenth Amendment to
the US Constitution (March 18)
|
| |
Kentucky ratifies Fourteenth Amendment to
the US Constitution (March 18)
|
| |
Kentucky ratifies Fifteenth Amendment to the
US Constitution (March 18)
|
| |
Lexington Opera House, newly renovated, reopens (May 22)
|
| 1979 |
Fayette countian John Young Brown, Jr. elected Kentucky governor
|
| 1988 |
First annual Lexington
Roots and Heritage Festival
|
