"Two Northside Families" by Rose Lucas

One of the great joys of living in closely built neighborhoods is the opportunity to get to know neighbors.  My memories of two families, one who lived in our neighborhood for more than sixty years, and one who lived here for more than twenty years, are the focus of this entry.  These families have made a huge impact on our neighborhood and elsewhere.

I grew up next door to the Kloeckers.  That begins a story that crosses many generations.  I look out my back door to the arbor graced with a lovely antique pink rose.  It has aged gracefully since it was planted by Grandma Kloecker, whose husband John H. Kloecker, Sr. moved to 628 Elsmere Park in 1918.  I only have anecdotal memories of Grandma because she went back to Cincinnati after her husband died.  But I will never walk away from my memories of her son, John, and his wife, Esther, and their children JoAnn, Phyllis and Jack.

I was prompted to write this when Phyllis died this spring.  She was a gifted athlete, played tennis and golf with the best, and was a respected tennis coach.  Her teaching and coaching took her after graduation from UK to University High in Lexington and then to Valencia College in Florida.  Phyllis married Ed Shemelya who was a strong athlete as well and played at Eastern Kentucky University.  I have lots of memories of the Kloeckers, but those of Phyllis that stick in my mind is seeing her laying out in the sun in the backyard and playing (after dark) baseball (with a tennis ball) with all of the “kids” on the park.  Although she as older than most of us, she was as much into the games as anyone.

JoAnn was one of my babysitters – there are wonderful pictures of her sitting on the ground with me and a few others playing jacks.  JoAnn married Bill Griffin of London, KY, and together they made a huge impact on, first, the economy in London, and then later the economy in Lexington/Wilmore through their ownership of Highbridge Spring Water and Kentucky Underground Storage.  Their business enterprises and their entrepreneurial spirit passed to their five daughters.  But most of all my memories of JoAnn are of a soft spoken beautiful woman who never passed up a chance to visit with her mother and my mother, and by extension with me, and who always made those she met feel really good when she left.

Jack was closer in age to me, and I lost track of him as we went through high school and college.  I do remember he hung around with the “kids” on the park a lot and played with us.  Like most of us he was not a fan of the overpopulation of garter snakes with which we suffered.  Power mowers later did help to control those critters!

But John Kloecker, Jr. was a man way ahead of his time.  As I researched the family for this writing, I learned Mr. Kloecker famously chaired the Greater Lexington Committee that unanimously recommended the annexation of the suburban area surrounding the city. At the time, Mr. Kloecker was president of Dixie Ice Cream Company (remember Dixie Cups?) and Ashland Dairy.  The dairy followed the Lexington Brewing Company, which John H. Kloecker, Sr., together with several others including Lexington Mayor Tom Bradley, bought in 1919.  Lots of interesting information about the brewery surfaced as I researched this family’s influence, and much of it was centered around activities during Prohibition, including a tale about seizures of bottles of beer by federal agents who then poured the beer down city drains!  Mr. Kloecker, Sr. established Dixie Ice Cream company in 1920 to replace beer business lost from Prohibition, and the firm used the refrigeration plant from the brewery for production. The company produced ice cream and ices, and the daily capacity could produce up to 1,600 gallons with twenty five employees.

Mr. Kloecker, Sr. died in a tragic fall from the upper floor of the plant in 1931, and his son, John Kloecker, Jr., took over the business, later adding the dairy.  The firm was located in a building at Rose and Main, and the dairy later occupied the building now housing Awesome, Inc. and others on Main Street east of Rose Street.

My fondest memories of John and Esther Kloecker center around watching them rock in huge wicker rockers on the front porch which was replete with a green and white striped awning to ward off the afternoon sun and welcoming me and other neighborhood children to sit a while and talk with them. 

This family has had a huge impact on our city and our state, and it is a pleasure to say they were members of the Northside Neighborhood Association and neighbors to us all.

The second family has been called the “new” Putnams by many of the Elsmere Park neighbors – because there were two other Putnam families (not related to them) on our 28 house street when Don and Nora Lee Putnam became out neighbors.  Don died in early April, and his legacy is one of great compassion and service. Don and Nora owned Greentree Applied Systems, located on North Broadway, and moved to Elsmere Park more than 20 years ago.  I always enjoyed talking and spending time with them, and I was so impressed with the breadth of Don’s knowledge about legislative matters, particularly with relation to working for intellectually challenged persons.  He was a leader at the local, state and federal level for people with intellectual disabilities.   I often remember Don and Nora leaving for a weekend to be substitute house parents at Bluegrass Oakwood where their son, David, was a resident.  Don was a champion for racial and cultural reconciliation and a leader with BUILD, the interfaith organization working for community justice, and Nora was always by his side.  As I would leave for church on Sunday morning, Don and Nora would be leaving, too.  He was a Deacon and Sunday school teacher at Trinity Baptist Church.

What I did not know about Don Putnam was he was a Navy veteran, having begun his service right out of high school.  He and Nora met in high school and were married while Don was in the Navy.  He served on the USS Yorktown as a navigator, and after he received a good conduct medal and an honorable discharge, he joined RCA as a technician and entered the world of computers.  Transferring later to New Jersey, he earned a degree from Rutgers University and then moved his family to Kentucky in 1976 and to Lexington in 1980. 

Until his last days, Don was carrying out his service and at the time of his death was the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Bluegrass.org.  Always concerned, always solicitous, always kind, Don Putnam was the perfect example of a good neighbor.  He and Nora served on the NNA Board of Directors and took care to be aware of the Northside concerns.  Because of Don’s health, they moved a year ago, but the family still considers Elsmere Park and the Northside home – another family who has impacted our neighborhood, our city, state, and country, and whose patriarch will be missed greatly by many.

"Of Northside Sites and the Circus" by Rose Lucas

I try to take different routes when I am going to and from the neighborhood so I can share in the sites.  Some are great, some are funny, and some need to be addressed. 

Two great housing sites:  the house on the corner of Toner and West Sixth Street that recently sold to a family.  I remember the family who lived there when I was growing up and whose son would play with us.  They would be so happy to see the house in its present form and know a family was living there.

In the 300 block of North Martin Luther King, a new house is being built, complete with an attached two car garage.  It is nice to see that construction.

A funny one:  driving north on Jefferson a week or so ago, I saw chickens out pecking on the front sidewalk.  A man sat on the porch watching them, so I guess they are well behaved and will not run into the street!  This reminded me of the rooster that lived on Upper Street behind our house and called us early every morning. 

To be addressed:  the trash all around the neighborhood.  I try to pick up as much as I can around my home and office, but there is a lot of paper and litter all over.  I hope each neighbor can address this issue in her or his own way.

Onto to the circus – some of my best early memories are of going to the big tent circus when it came to town.  It was so much fun to watch the circus unload downtown along Water Street and see the parade to the circus grounds.  I cannot remember the exact locations of the tents for every circus performance except for the last time I saw it in the big tent.  That was located in the field on the east side of the railroad tracks that cross Southland Drive.  The road had not been continued through, and to my eyes the big field (now developed) was completely filled with tents and sideshows.  The one time I saw the circus in Rupp Arena was just not the same.  I understand and sympathize with the concerns for the animal acts, but I still count those yearly shows as wonderful childhood memories unmatched by anything of the like.

"Santa Revealed -- Sorta! And Other Holiday Musings" by Rose Lucas

December, 2016

In the last issue of the Compass, NNA newsletter, there was a picture of Santa leaving the Yeary’s house on Elsmere Park.  Santa had been busy that day and had visited a lot of children on Elsmere Park, including my grandchildren.  Then, so the children would not see where Santa went, Santa went through Spence Alley, south, to the workshop on the Park, but did not have the key to the gate to get into the backyard.  So, Santa began to climb over the 6 foot high chain link fence, and got STUCK!  Along came one of our neighborhood travelers, and ask “Hey, Santa, do you need help?”  Never daunted by any task or challenge, Santa refused help and eventually got over the fence without damaging any clothing.  Santa has never lived down the experience and is frequently reminded by some of us about the adventure.

The holiday season seems shorter this year – I think when Christmas is on Sunday, it just makes everything seem closer to Thanksgiving.  Some of my neighbors have put their candles in the windows, and others are working on it.  I would love to see candles in many windows in the Northside.  The lights are such a welcoming sign for our part of town.

While leaf collection is not a holiday “musing”, it astounds me that we have so many leaves still in the streets, particularly since we are constantly reminded not to put them in the streets so as to not clog up storm sewers.  Of course, many leaves on our street had not fallen when the leaf vacuum truck appeared on a trash collection day…so many leaves were not collected due to Herbies, Rosies and Lennies in the street and such a late fall.  I do not remember a time when we have had so much leaf clutter in all the streets of our neighborhood.  I hope we all can work toward cleaning up this clutter.

No matter how you celebrate the December holidays, I hope all have a wonderful season.  Enjoy!

"Snatches of Memories from Earlier Days" by Rose Lucas

Recently, I attended a presentation by Holly Weidemann about the renovation of the old Fayette County Courthouse, and a jumble of memories came to mind…

Pictures of the courtroom reminded me of our first Boxer puppy.  One Sunday morning, when I was about eight years old, I was at the court house with my dad – he frequently took us to the courthouse, city hall and the jail – the benefits of having an attorney for a parent.   On that particular Sunday, one of the magistrates strolled in with this little brown wiggly puppy, and my love affair with Boxers started.  She was Mitzi, and there have been six more, including the two I have now. 

Working in the backyard garden or sitting on the patio these past few years has not been the same without the chiming of the courthouse clock.  I understand the works will be put back in order, and I look forward to hearing the clock striking again as I have most of my life.  It is a straight shot from downtown to Elsmere Park – no big buildings block the sound, and it is a wonderful and musical gong.  When I worked downtown at my dad’s office in the summers, the clock was just across the street, and it was such a joyful sound. 

Recently I have noticed popcorn in cone shaped paper bags in the grocery store.  I have fond memories of the outdoor popcorn stand located along Limestone at Water Street.  Often our family would go to my mother’s sister’s home in Versailles for Sunday dinner in the early afternoon, and coming home was always a great ride, watching the telephone poles along Versailles Road (no median, and lots of wires).  A slight detour on the way home would land us at the popcorn stand for a cone shaped bag of white popcorn (we only had yellow popcorn elsewhere), and we would have a light treat for supper. 

After I was old enough to walk downtown by myself, maybe I was about nine, I spent many a summer day in Gratz Park.  First I would return books and then check out books from the  Lexington Public library (now the Carnegie Center) , and then I would sit on one of the benches at the fountain and have a sandwich and read.  I kept this up until I had read everything on the second floor (children’s books) and was not old enough to check out books from the first floor (adult section).  I seem to remember the age was 12, or maybe 14, to use the adult section.  Reading library books was a big deal at our home; my dad would bring home new editions frequently.  Thus, my sitting at the fountain turned into sitting on the porch (not nearly as cool) so I could read “grown up” books.

I hope the children growing up in the Northside are harvesting memories for their futures.  Few places offer all the adventures we have and enjoy, no matter our ages.

"Fall in the Northside" by Rose Lucas

Fall in the Northside – I mean the weather, not the missing sidewalks and messed up streets!  Will we ever see smooth walks and streets again?  The sidewalks, particularly, lend themselves to “fall in the Northside”.  I am fascinated by the work being done on Sixth between Broadway and Upper – no thought whatsoever to closing alleys when there was only one lane on Broadway open.  Thank goodness we have the center passing lane!  Some days I wonder who gives out the permits for all this work being done in our neighborhood, and if the “permiter” realizes how many people use our sidewalks, crosswalks and streets.

Ahh…on to more positive topics.  Our neighborhood is truly beautiful in the fall.  Our old growth trees, some of the most majestic in the city, provide color through the first of November.  Our new growth trees are coming along.  Fall decorations, with pansies, mums, pumpkins and other color, provide  pleasant travel for the neighbors and for those who traverse our streets.   Restoration of homes on Broadway, Upper, Sixth and the apartment complex at Sixth and Broadway certainly is improving the streetscape – and is fun to watch.

Growing up in the Northside, one of the greatest pleasures was walking to downtown and passing through the Transylvania campus to Gratz Park.  This remains a wonderful path, and I am so happy to see more and more people walking on Broadway, Upper, and Lime as well as the side streets.

With school back in session, the lazy days of summer have morphed into a busy schedule for all of us, and I am no different.  I am way behind on these Northside memories entries, but this has been an incredibly busy time.  One of the exciting events I want to share is the final wrap up of the 125^th anniversary of Elsmere Park.  On September 4, we held a park picnic, and over 60 people attended – the most excitement celebrated all the children who now live on the park, including brand new babies, Chet for Cady and Ryan Brown and Boone for Christi and Whit Hiler, and new neighbors, Emily and Beatrix Cheatham.  At the picnic, young and older folks enjoyed the balloon toss and the egg in spoon race.  Former neighbors came from Alabama and various neighborhoods around Lexington.    Park picnics on Elsmere Park started in the 1970’s and have been held most years since then.   All this in celebration of one of Lexington’s earliest subdivisions.

"Elsmere Park" by Rose Lucas

Elsmere Park is celebrating 125 years since it was accepted into the city of Lexington as a subdivision.   Among the best aspects of Elsmere Park is the history of the people who have lived on the street.  However, rather than detail the lives of former residents, I am taking advantage of this forum to tell a more personal story. 

There is an ongoing rivalry between Joe Binford and me about who has lived on the street the longest.  Joe takes the record for continuous occupation.  He and Anne moved to the Park in September, 1963, thus they have 53 years in residence at 657.  Jack and I had moved to 612 in June, 1963, and I fondly remember the Binford and Lucas children playing together before Jack’s work took us to Ohio for 14 years.   I came home to 638 Elsmere Park as a newborn, lived here for much of the 1960’s, and I have lived at 612 or 638 for a total of 61 years.  So I claim the longevity prize from Joe.

I love parties – and one of my first memories of a boy-girl party was a dance my parents had when I was in the sixth grade.  My dad, who always had a surprise up his sleeve, rented a jukebox for the party, and one of the songs on the machine was The Tennessee Waltz, sung by Patti Page (it is available on line with a great video of her singing the sweet tune).  My cousin from Versailles brought his friend, Joe Binford (an older boy!!!) to the party, and Joe and I danced to The Tennessee Waltz.  What an impression I had of this guy – and then we lost contact until the Binfords came to live on the Park just after Jack and I did in 1963. Today, I count myself lucky to have such good friends as Joe and Anne just across the street! Elsmere Park circles are pretty overlapping! 

"Gardening by Squirrel" by Rose Lucas

At the invitation of the NNA Board of Directors, I have returned to write about Northside memories and challenges. My challenge this spring is a BIG one – gardening by squirrel. Reflecting on the beautiful gardens of the Northside, both front and back yards, and remembering such spots as the one in Lydia and Maurice Clay’s back yard, which was begun by Bliss McDowell, and Loris and Phil Points’s current idyllic space gives me great pleasure. I love my backyard garden beds, replete with heritage plants and…squirrels!

This spring, I have noticed some of my red tulips moved next door to the Prewitt’s yard, and I had a mixed bag of unplanned colors appearing in my beds. I wish I could catch those four legged critters in the act! My last Boxer reacted to the word squirrel with fierce dedication, but the two I have now do not seem to understand the vocabulary! I have even gone so far as to abandon my late husband’s bird feeders in order to lessen the population of the furry creatures, but to no avail. So, I will accept their landscaping talents and try to be amused…even as a baby squirrel woke me one summer night a couple of years ago as it jumped on me while I slept. He apparently found his way in, and thankfully I found no others with him. He quickly left, slipping out on his own four feet!

As this early spring gave us the most glorious red bud blossoms and the richest forsythia in years, I am so excited about the summer gardens generated by the early warm weather – though not necessarily thriving with the later rain. As I mentioned, heritage plants are an important part of my flower beds, and I enjoy the single ruby red and fragrant double white peonies which came to our yard more than eighty years ago from my father’s family home on East Third at Deweese. Likewise, the tiny blossomed fever few (which I do not see in any garden catalogs) from my maternal grandfather’s greenhouses in Woodford County and Louisville are prolific. The lovely towering purple phlox migrated from next door when Clara Curran had a massive supply, and I so enjoy the lush white hostas from a friend in Woodford County. I even have some day lilies and tiger lilies which we moved from Ohio in 1983. Part of the charm of gardening in the Northside is to be able to receive gift plants from others and to share what we can…even liriope, even though sharing might make someone dislike us later! Do share, though, and enjoy! Maybe the squirrels will love you, too!

Northside Memories: Rose Lucas

Please enjoy and relish Rose's final blog to Northsidelex's website. Recruiting Rose for the launch of our site was a unanimous decision of our committee and worth the persuasion it required of the author. But a unanimous decision did not by any means make Rose agreeable. However, growing up in the Northside, rearing her family here, starting her successful business here and serving on the Board made her an irresistible candidate and she melted. Rose added to her schedule this commitment to share with us for a year the description of the evolution of our neighborhood before we arrived and that explains why there is this resurgence of interest and migration to her neighborhood. Thank you, Rose. We hope this will be a sabbatical.

October, 2013
As I end my year of Northside Memories, I think of all the stories I did not tell. My work and my lack of time really got in the way this summer and early fall. But, I have some reflections with which to end my stint as the inaugural writer of this series. As I have traveled around and seen all the hardscape improvements recently, I note the care given to installing sidewalks on Tates Creek Road, and I bemoan, again, the issue of cars parking in the utility strips and on the sidewalks of North Broadway (not to mention in yards!). Efforts are underway to stripe a parking lane on the east side of Broadway between Fifth and Sixth Street as was done when the Fourth to Fifth block was paved. The center line and the lane marks have already been moved to the west. I hope this is completed soon, and once again people are able to use the sidewalks along Broadway as sidewalks. I am particularly concerned about our neighbors in wheelchairs traveling in that area. The summer slipped away before I recounted the great fun of walking to Castlewood Park to swim when we were pre-teen and teenage. Collecting a crowd of people from all over the Northside (from Short to Delcamp), we would traipse to the park and spend the day, and then we each would pay a nickel for a flat box of pretzels to eat on the walk home. Sadly, no more nickel pretzels, nor the corner store where the pretzels were purchased. Many might not be aware that Elsmere Park is the oldest concrete street still in existence in Kentucky. Built in 1926, it has seen its share of patch paving, and it is in need again. Legend says the owners of the houses on Elsmere Park pitched in to pour concrete over the brick street, raising the level but preserving the limestone curbs on one of the first subdivisions taken into the city. The residents are lobbying to have repairs done in the immediate future. The recent spate of damage to cars and outbuildings is troublesome. Just within the last week, an attempt was made to set a house on fire on Elsmere Park – and a day or two later the playground near the old Russell School was a victim of arson. Over the decades I have lived here, we have seen these types of vandalism and crime rise and fall. The police have certainly been responsive this time (at least from what I have observed), and I hope they are able to stop these recent episodes. Vigilance on all our parts is essential. Keep an eye out and call the authorities if anything seems amiss. I appreciate the opportunity to leave my thoughts with those who wish to read them. Thank you, Northside Neighborhood Association, for your efforts on the behalf of all us who live, work and play in our wonderful neighborhood!

Of Tours, Picnics and One Way Streets

 Sitting on my front porch during the 2013 Northside tour, I was able to talk to so many people I had not seen in a while and quite a few who had never seen Elsmere Park. Get that a lot – people just do not know where our street is, or that it even exists. The tour really helps lots of folks understand more about the Northside. Congratulations to the organizers for a most successful day – we served a lot of lemonade and cookies on Elsmere Park. I was reminded, too, of the tour in the early 1990’s when we had more than 40 sites lined up…the crowds were huge, but my most fond memory was seeing journalist Al Smith visiting with a homeowner in the 400 block of North Upper who was telling Mr. Smith all about her family and tracing her ancestors back for more than 100 years and relating their wondrous stories. I had a hard time moving on to the next site and leaving the storytelling that was so unique. Elsmere Park celebrated another annual picnic this month, and memories of the early picnics were shared…including stories from Joe Binford about singing and playing his banjo, of Clara Curran who would bring her stereo (this was the 70’s) out onto her porch for the neighbors to enjoy music, of Maurice Clay who would organize games for adults which consisted of trying to sweep magnolia leaves down the street, of later generation neighbors who would lead the children’s games of egg toss and water balloon toss (some adults really enjoyed those, too). Neighborhood celebrations all, and creators of wonderful memories. And one way streets…a question I pose: given the long range planning to remove the viaduct at Jefferson Street and potentially the viaduct at Martin Luther King (on the plan to memorialize the Town Branch through downtown), if Upper and Lime become two way, and Transylvania is in session, how does one move a vehicle from north to south in an emergency, since most of the hospitals are south of Main Street? And, if that run on sentence is not enough, what about delivery trucks and Lextran buses on two way, one lane each way streets? Andres Duany, a great urban planner, once said, (mostly with regard to parking) that a two block walk to a destination is a good thing, but the walk must be interesting. I would be curious to know how (my anticipated, I admit) gridlock would be interesting. Granted, the perception is we do not have much traffic on the north side of Main Street, but I would like for the current traffic consultants to make the almost daily trips to doctors and hospitals that I make and tell me it is all going to be fine. One of the advantages of living here all my life is that I remember what it was like when Short, Second, Lime and Upper were two way streets. Short and Second were paired as one way in the 1950’s, while I was still in high school. Lime and Upper came later. Traffic moved pretty well before one way streets, but the population was 50,000. Today is different in so many ways.

-By Rose Lucas 
June 16, 2013

Ahh, Spring!

April 2013, By Rose Lucas There is no place as pretty as our neighborhood in the spring – old growth trees sporting lime green leaves, pink and white flowering trees and shrubs, and the reawakening of green yards (hard to have lawns in the urban core, right?). I love the idea of a front yard with its lush grass, the shrubs at the foundations of lovely old houses, and the sidewalks welcoming walkers. Living in town gives so many pleasures and provides such interesting sites for us as we wander our neighborhood, and front and back yards contribute lots of character to our homes. This spring the fickle weather has robbed us of most of the pear blossoms (and saved a lot of us serious allergy reactions), and I have missed the avenue of Broadway in front of Transylvania being a luscious white with the Aristocrat pears. On the other hand, the late spring has given forsythia a really strong start and has it blooming along with many other perennial colorful contributors. Not often do we see the bright yellow of forsythia combined with purples and pinks of azaleas. Growing up in the Northside, I was always so glad to see spring come…being able to walk more places was part of the joy, but spring always meant school would be out soon, and we could stay out later at night to play our version of baseball (with John Irvin’s car headlights allowing an even later end to our game). This baseball game, using a tennis ball but a real bat, would without fail be played with someone’s porch as a backstop; base paths were short and generally ended at a big water maple tree (more often than not we could stop without running into it), and there was no sliding home since we would be running into steps to a porch. Our games included mostly young people ages 9 to 15, but occasionally an older neighbor would join in – such as a high school student who already had a driver’s license (but nothing better to do right then) or even a college student. All of us who were younger thought we were pretty big stuff when we got the college kids to play! As to the water maple trees – they were property line markers for a lot of the early developments in the Northside. Very few are left, and they are not the first generation ones, but I sure can remember them as bases for our baseball games, as finishes for “Red Rover” games and as providers of the most wonderful shade, even while they were sending their roots into every crevice they could find in the water and sewer pipes. A love/hate relationship if there ever was one!

What is Missing?

3/1/2013
By Rose Lucas

As I think back over the neighborhood I have known for seven decades, I remember some of the landmarks we no longer have. Walking along North Broadway or North Limestone, as I did for most of my years of school at St. Catherine Academy and Lexington Catholic High School (located where the Sayre Upper School is today) and my years of college at Transylvania, every day I enjoyed neighbors and neighborhood buildings. Transylvania’s campus faced North Broadway and had an entrance arch that led to the College of the Bible Building (razed in 1959/ 60 and replaced by Haupt Humanities Building). McAlister Auditorium was the college gym on the corner of Fourth and Broadway and included classrooms that were built in a wrap around for the old gym that dated when my mother was a student in the 1920s. One of my earlier posts bemoaned the loss of the corner groceries – and the Transy Den, on the northeast corner of Fourth and Broadway, was an institution for many years for both Transy students and neighbors. The Colonial Inn, a fantastic southern restaurant, was housed in an historic home on the southwest corner of Fourth and Broadway and was replaced, along with another home used as both a private home and housing for Transy students when my mother was in school, by the Young Center. Further out Broadway, several homes were razed to make room for apartment buildings. The stone “castle” at the southeast corner of Sixth and Broadway was a particularly significant loss; as was the lovely apartment building at the northeast corner of Elsmere Park and North Broadway that was torn down to build a professional office building. I sit at my keyboard on the other corner of Elsmere Park and North Broadway in an office building which replaced a beautiful home with round brick columns similar to the ones found on a house on the east side of the 500 block of Broadway. Kudos to early efforts on the part of NNA to stop the wholesale demolition of homes to make room for apartment buildings and office buildings. Limestone has missing parts, too. Across from St. Catherine Academy was a row of furniture stores; across from Sayre School the retail buildings still stand and are in use, but I expressly remember the Buchignani grocery store in that block that had one of the first frozen food cases in Lexington. Doodles was a neighborhood service station, then later the liquor store; there was also a service station at the southeast corner of Fifth and Lime – now a grassy area complementing the Brand House at Rose Hill. The old Johnson School was a magnificent structure on the northwest corner of Fourth and Lime, replaced by the Johnson School Townhomes. Yet, nothing will replace the thrill of hearing Dunbar High School’s band practicing on the campus. My first year as a teacher found me at the old Lexington Junior High School, and I miss the historic original structure and the home just south that was lost in the expansion of the school. I am sure others can come up with more “missing” elements of our neighborhood, but I have had this subject on my mind for a while and wanted to share some of the highlights in my memories

Some of Our Green Spaces

 January 15, 2013 by Rose Lucas 
Always an active group with many projects and many hands to help, about the same time as the Northside Historic District endeavor was underway in the mid-1980’s, the Northside assumed ownership of the property on the southeast corner of North Broadway and Fifth Street (former home of one of our corner groceries, interesting particularly because the porch roof ran out all the way to the street and was a wonderful shelter from sun and rain). NNA commenced to build Founders Park, guided in part by Chuck Mallory who helped with the design and building of the park. Kudos, though, go to the neighbors who helped maintain the park, to the lovely Miss Catherine Dunn, longtime secretary of NNA, who allowed us to run a water hose to the park from her property two doors away to keep the newly planted park alive, and to the ongoing efforts over the years to plant perennials from neighborhood gardens and annuals to keep the park vibrant for passersby. More kudos to those who were responsible for the recent cleanup of the park this past fall. Founders Park and the North Broadway tree planting project, in memory of Mildred Moloney, and funded partly by memorials for her after her death, were two of the earliest Action Match Grant Projects approved by LFUCG. James B. Evans, Landscape Architect, with an office in the Northside, designed the tree project, and more than 70 street trees, maple, oak, London plane and Aristocrat pear, were planted from Second Street to beyond Loudon Avenue to preserve the tree canopy along this main entrance into downtown Lexington. Prior to 1986, a number of flowering trees along the 400 and 500 blocks of Broadway were planted in memory of George Lamason, founder and a past president. Each spring Broadway is bright with blossoms from these projects. March is not far away!! Now, can we figure out how to eliminate the muddy utility strips along Broadway from Fourth to Sixth Streets? Can we make those strips green again? Or should we consider trying to brick in the strips? What can we do to make these two unsightly pedestrian and vehicle ways look good?

Northside Lights

by Rose Lucas  

When I was a child growing up on Elsmere Park, I knew it was Christmas time when I could look out the kitchen window and see a colorful tree in the window of the house across Upper Street. I waited for that every year. So, this year, there is another early tree on Upper Street, although not at the same house, and it stirs memories of many lights in our Northside. For me, seeing early lights was so delightful as our family tradition was to put up a tree on Christmas Eve. My mother had help from Santa, and my father took my younger brother and me out to visit relatives and “see the lights”. When we came home, the tree was lit, and we could see it from the street. It was so exciting! I will always associate lights with the season, and on our street, for about the last 30 years, neighbors have put candles in their windows – even in the third floor windows. For almost that length of time, we have had luminaria lined up all around the Park – it takes more than 300 to circle the street. They are so beautiful for the three days of lighting: December 24, 25, 26. Recently, when the city put more lights along Main Street, I was reminded of the really gaudy decorations that used to hang on Main Street – for a child, they were magical. Garlands of greens (of some artificial ilk) crossed the street, red plastic bells were lit to hang from utility poles and big lighted stars hung from the garlands. It is nice to see the tasteful decorations today, but I miss the lights on the tree in Founders Park – the big evergreen was strung with lights for several years, and it was a great Northside Light. Maybe we should work on that for 2013? In the meantime, to all my neighbors in our great Northside neighborhood, season’s greetings, and enjoy the lights of all types in your life.

"The Ice Has It"

by Rose Lucas  November 2012

 

Many Northside residents today are probably unaware that we had local grocery stores on many of our corners: Fourth and Broadway, Fifth and Broadway, Seventh and Broadway, Fifth and Lime, Sixth and Lime – actually the original Progress Market took up the whole building at Sixth and Lime, and Mr. A. L. Larimore was one of the owners. He and his family lived on Elsmere Park. After Progress Market, Mr. Larimore opened Boss Food Store, located just north of Loudon Avenue on the west side of Lime – the building is still there. People who lived in the neighborhood often went to the grocery every day for fresh meat and vegetables. While some in the neighborhood had refrigerators, others still used ice boxes and had a yellow ice sign in their windows. The signs had numbers from 25 to 100, in increments of 25, and the home owner was to put the number of pounds of ice desired at the top of the sign. Most of the ice was delivered from the Southern Ice Company – the building is still on Loudon Avenue and has the company sign on it. The lot where the Rite Aid stands was the recirculating pond for the ice company, and metal pipes stood out of the water and aerated the water to keep it fresh – also notable, the area around the pond was the source of the garter snake population on Elsmere Park and its environs. Two teenage boys, and many know one of those was my late brother, Richard Moloney, brought two gallon jars of snakes from the pond area and turned them loose in the street to see which way they would run. Until power mowers appeared we were inundated with snakes. Today our rather large cat population and some of the neighborhood dogs help keep the snakes to a manageable number.

Grilled Cheese and Orange Crush

by Rose Lucas October 2012
The resurgence of eating places along Jefferson Street brings to mind the neighborhood restaurants in place in the mid-twentieth century. Among those was the Jefferson Grill (now the Green Lantern) where the absolute best supper would be a grilled cheese sandwich and an orange crush! My mother often spoke of eating mayonnaise and lettuce sandwiches at the Jefferson Grill when she was in college at Transylvania in the early 1920’s. She could buy such a sandwich for less than 25 cents and save her money to see shows at the Opera House. Another favorite from my childhood was Amato’s. It was located in the lot on West Fourth Street across from the Florence Crittenden Home. A long, low white frame building housed some really fabulous home-cooked spaghetti and meatballs and other Italian favorites. Closer to Main Street was Coyle’s, and it was a great restaurant for lunch and dinner. Since was just one lot away from St. Joseph Hospital, there was always a lot of activity in Coyle’s. The original French-Bauer Ice Cream store was in the 200 block of Jefferson, and like the one on North Broadway, it had wonderful treats, and hand packed pints and quarts of ice cream were always available. Rogers’ Restaurant, on the corner of Main and Jefferson, offered home cooked food and was also a neighborhood destination, as well as one for many Lexingtonians. Wouldn’t a neighborhood ice cream store be great in the Northside?

Northside Memories - Rose Lucas

We are pleased to present the inaugural entry in Northside Memories, a forum for sharing Northside recollections and personal Northside histories. We are delighted and fortunate that Rose Lucas accepted our invitation as a guest blogger for our first year. Rose has served on the Board and as President of the Northside Neighborhood Association and contributed immeasurable time to historic preservation and Northside issues. After growing up here she returned to raise her family, start a business, and help to shape the Northside we now call home.

-By Rose Lucas September, 2012.
When I met Stephen Manella, the new Head of Sayre School, I welcomed him to the neighborhood. He responded – did I live in the Northside? Yes, I do. This is my home – I was born at old St. Joseph Hospital on West Second Street, came home to my Elsmere Park home and grew up there. I went to school at St. Paul and St. Catherine Academy (located where the Sayre Upper School is today), attended Lexington Catholic in the same location after merger of St. Catherine and the Latin School, graduated from Transylvania (then) College, moved into Hagerman Hall on West Second Street with my husband, Jack, moved back to another home on Elsmere Park and then left, as Jack’s job called us to Oxford, Ohio, for 14 years to return in 1983 to the house where I lived through my childhood and school years until I married. A true life circle. In the years when we were in Ohio, we came to Lexington at least once a month to help my mother, Mildred Moloney, longtime treasurer of the NNA. So, from my perspective, I offer memories and thoughts in this missive.

Growing up on Elsmere Park was an enjoyable experience. Although as the only girl, for a time, I was at the mercy of the boys – including being terrorized with garter snakes, which I detest to this day. I often hear the teenagers of today playing basketball in the street in the evenings, and I wonder what the older folks thought of our endless games of “kick the can” (hey, if you haven’t played, you should) – I imagine all were grateful when the streetlights came on, and we had to go in for the evening. When we got older, we had more freedom to wander away from the Park – to West Sixth Street where we had good friends, to swim at Castlewood, and to walk to the French-Bauer ice cream store just past Delcamp/7th and Broadway – last remembered as the home of the Swahili Elks. Nothing tasted as good as on a hot summer night as a Dixie cup of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet, but in the l950s new kinds of ice cream were being developed, and we could be adventurous if we wanted to do so.

As I see so many more restaurants, stores and enterprises come to the neighborhood, I am reminded of the great fun of growing up in the Northside, and I will continue to share these memories, and some current ideas and challenges, with my neighbors through this medium.