Lexington Public Library

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The Central Kentucky Cemeteries Maps are powered by Google Maps.  Counties include:  Fayette, Bourbon, Clark, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Nicholas, Powell, Scott, and Woodford.

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Join us for Kentucky Legends: a series of programs exploring Kentucky culture, history, and lore. Programs include author visits, Chautauqua performances, live music, activities and crafts, and more.

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Discover unique resources in our Digital Archives that tell the story of Fayette County.  Visit cemeteries throughout Central Kentucky using our cemetery maps.  Contact our resident experts in the Central Library's Kentucky Room with questions.

The Central Library's Parking Garage is available to our customers or anyone needing a parking space.  There are 428 parking spots in the garage, 10 of which are handicapped or van accessible.  The height clearance for garage entry is 13'1".  The height clearance for parking access is 6'4".

Two hours of free parking is provided with a ticket validated inside the Central Library.

Digital Archives - Collection - Group
historic frankfort kentucky

The Kentucky History collection contains Kentucky-related documents not specifically related to Fayette County.

 

Location
Central Library Exterior
Location Hours

Monday-Thursday: 9:30am-7:00pm
Friday: 9:30am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-5:00pm

Location Mailing Address

140 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40507

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The Lexington Public Library’s Digital Archives provide open access to researchers and students to learn more about the rich history of Lexington and Fayette County. It contains a fraction of the Library’s physical holdings, which are housed and available for reference in the Kentucky Room at the Central Library. New material is being digitized and added constantly, so there's always something new to find.

The archives have a simple keyword search, and it is possible to browse the collections by subject, area, or decade. The Lexington Public Library actively reviews and labels materials in our archives with statements that indicate how you may reuse the images, and what sort of permission, if any, you need to do so. Please check the information for each image to determine its legal status.

Located on the fourth floor of the Central Library, this space invites children and students to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math through hands-on experiences. Programming events targeted toward upper elementary and middle-school aged students include circuits, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, coding, 3D printing, recording in the audio booth, and so much more.

Digital Archives - Collection - Group
Kentucky Images

The Kentucky Images collection contains postcards, photographs and slides of people, architecture, and locations in Kentucky and Appalachia.

 

Digital Archives - Collection

The Kentucky Gazette was the first paper established west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded by John and Fielding Bradford. The frontier paper focused on East Coast and International news, though some local announcements can be found. Later, the paper focused on disseminating opinions on politics and issues of concern on the frontier. When political parties emerged, the paper developed a Democratic (conservative at the time) bent. John Bradford handed the reins of the paper over to his son, Daniel Bradford, in 1802.

While still owned and occasionally edited by the Bradford family, the paper had several editors and publishers through the mid-1830s, when Daniel Bradford returned to the paper’s byline as editor. Daniel Bradford edited the paper until 1840, when he sold it to Jim Cunningham. The paper shuttered in 1848, due to Cunningham’s failing health, but was revived in 1866 and published until 1910 by different publishers.

The years 1841-1910 are not digitized as of January 2020, but are viewable on microfilm and in print in the Kentucky Room at Central Library. Selected articles are indexed in the Library’s Local History Index.
 

 

Digital Archives - Collection
The Kentucky Military Institute was a military preparatory boarding school from 1845 to 1971, chartered by the state legislature in 1847. It had several homes, with the longest in Lyndon, Kentucky, outside of Louisville. There was also a winter campus for many years in Eau Gallie, Florida, and later in Venice, Florida.
 
The Cadet Adjutant was the school magazine written by the cadets at KMI. It varied as a bimonthly, then quarterly publication, and contained considerable information about events and alumni, as well as photos and cartoons. The issues in the digital archive were donated to the Lexington Public Library by the Louisiana State University Libraries Special Collections.
 
Digital Archives - Collection

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 19th and early 20th 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.