A Walking Tour of Lexington, Kentucky (Look Up, America!)

A Walking Tour of Lexington, Kentucky (Look Up, America!)
Doug Gelbert (Author)

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Kentucky

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour is ready to explore when you are.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

By 1820, before steamboats tamed the Ohio River and drew industry to its banks, Lexington was one of the largest and wealthiest towns west of the Allegheny Mountains. If you wanted to engage in commerce you came to Lexington. If you wanted an education you came to Lexington. If you wanted to keep up with the latest news or borrow a book you came to Lexington.

Early on the growing of hemp used in ropes on sailing ships drove the economy. The tobacco became a cash crop for more than a century. There were local distilleries and in recent years education and technology have been the economic engine. But hovering above it all in Lexington since its founding in 1775 has been horse breeding.

The men from Maryland and Virginia who settled the town rode their best horses over the mountains or floated them on flatboats down the Kentucky River. The first census in 1790 showed more horses in Lexington than people. Kentucky's first races had begun informally three years earlier. An early law in the county was passed that was designed to keep the blood of race horses pure. Stallions were imported from England and Arabia and the breeding of thoroughbreds, trotters and saddle horses came to infuse every aspect of life in Lexington. Today nearly 50,000 horses are bred each year on the Bluegrass Country farms around Lexington.

Lexington has sometimes been called "the city in a park" for all the surrounding horse farms but our walking tour of the historic town will uncover nary a reference to race horses. Even the golden stallion weathervane that once lorded over the city from the top of the Fayette County Courthouse is no longer seen (although it is inside the building) and that is where we will begin our tour...

• Rank: #286101 in eBooks
• Published on: 2011-11-16
• Released on: 2011-11-16
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

Description #1 by eCrater - bygone-binds:

The President's wife: Mary Todd Lincoln;: A biography by Ishbel Ross Hardcover: 378 pages Publisher: Putnam (1973) Language: English ISBN-10: 0399111328 ISBN-13: 978-0399111327 Mary Todd was born in 1818 in Lexington, Kentucky, to wealth in the world of Southern planters and politicians. She was the perfect mate for up-and-coming lawyer Abe Lincoln. He was destined to become the most famous man in America and yet his melancholia took its toll on wife Mary. She always insisted on calling him "Mr. Lincoln." She enjoyed a luxurious girlhood and was trained in all the social graces. Abraham met her at a dance in Springfield in 1839 when she was twenty-one. He considered her a bright and brainy girl who could convrse on political matters, but was fun loving and liked to dance to the music of that time. Mary had always loved finery of clothes and ornaments; she delighted in elaborate gowns and flowers in her hair and as a nosegay like the gardenia I wore on my hand to my first dance at Martin College. She dearly loved her children and though she did not show much affection for the president openly, she was jealous of other women he appeared to notice. One in particular was Mrs. Ord whose husband was Major General of the Union forces at the Saint James river. Like most vain females, she depended on others to procure silks and fine materials and make her glamorous gowns for all occasions. But, like socialites, she tended to trust the wrong people. Her seamstress, friend and confidante (like we talk to our hairdressers) during the Civil War wrote an expose, 'Behind the Scenes,' which made her look unstable. She lost three of her sons to death from which she could not retain her inner strength, and some took advantage of her vulnerabilty at that time. After her husband was shot right before her eyes, she went into decline emotionally, and her ungrateful son, Robert, had her confined to a mental institution, He was the vain one with a reputation to consider; also, he wanted her belongings and the money left from the Presidency years. It's not so different today as the sons tear up a family for their own financial and emotional benefit. I know that first hand. She was forced to face him in court on a few occasions before she was freed to travel and put her life together again on her own. She wrote to him and demanded her valuables to be returned. Mrs. Lincoln was a most prolific letter writer and much is available in several collections. The husband of this pairing was the great orator who wrote his own speechs, and is the most quoted, but behind the throne of a great man is the great woman he chose to be the mother of his children. She turned to spiritualism to try to contact her beloved son Tad. It was a sad ending to a woman who gave so much and received so little from this country of ours. She has been maligned and her reputation sullied all to the detriment of her family. She was a strong woman and spoke up for what she believed; in her own way, she was as important to this country as Eleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Ross has written several other biographies of famous people, including the wife of US Grant who was no great beauty, Mrs. Jefferson Davis, daughter of ole Zach Taylor, Grace Coolidge and my favorite, 'Rebel Rose,' about the Confederate spy whom I would have envied had I lived back then. Until you walk a mile in another man's (or woman's) shoes, you should not criticize, as no one knows what they have endured and the sorrows and pain they have suffered. Mary Todd Lincoln had more than her share. Hardcover no dj. Book shows moderate edge wear. Pages are very clean. Binding is tight.