For Immediate Release
Contact: Diane Comer
502-892-3611
FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 11, 2022) – Nominations for the Louisville College of Dentistry building, and Downtown Morehead and Paducah Northside historic districts, will be considered for National Register of Historic Places listing during a meeting of the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 12 via Zoom. The meeting is open to the public and may be accessed at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85094408811, Meeting ID 8509440881.
Also known as Raymond E. Meyers Hall, the College of Dentistry is a three-story, Neo-Classical Revival building located at 129 East Broadway, constructed in 1900 and considered at the time of its opening one of the most modern dental colleges in the nation. Original interior features included, on the first floor, an open dental infirmary with space for more than 100 dental chairs, their locations still evident in floor markings today. Other building spaces included first floor offices, waiting and examination rooms, small clinics, an amphitheater, lecture hall, prosthetic and plaster rooms, and areas for extraction, gas, and crowns. The school remained open until 1970, when the program moved into a new building a few blocks away. The building is being nominated for Neo-classical architecture in Louisville, 1895-1930.
Downtown Morehead Historic District is a commercial, governmental, and residential district with 53 contributing structures that accommodate the community as county seat. The majority are constructed of brick and/or brick veneer, are one to two stories, and were constructed between 1881 to 1969. Architectural styles and types vary but most consist of vernacular expressions of commercial Italianate, commercial Art Moderne, and Craftsman bungalows. The district includes three notable buildings – the c1899 Richardsonian Romanesque Rowan County Courthouse, the c1910 C&O passenger depot, and the c1880-81 Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad freight station. The nomination is being evaluated within the context of community planning and development with relation to the three most important factors that led to Morehead’s growth: education, transportation, and industry.
Paducah Northside Historic District is a residential neighborhood featuring 392 contributing buildings over 183 acres located northwest of Paducah’s central business district. Properties date between 1890 to 1969 and include the building styles of Colonial Revival, Bungalow and Craftsman, and American Foursquare, typically one to one-and-a-half stories. The majority of houses are vernacular in character, generally interpreted as not built by an architect or someone with formal training but often based on traditional forms. According to the nomination, the majority of the houses are also modestly scaled and ornamented front- or side-gabled, roofed cottages, among which are interspersed a series of Craftsman styles. The district is being nominated for architecture, community development and planning, and African American ethnic heritage.
The review board is charged with evaluating and recommending National Register submissions from Kentucky. The program is administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS). Following review board deliberation, NPS will have 45 days from receipt to issue a final determination of National Register listing.
Among states, Kentucky has the 5th highest number of listings in the National Register, the federal government’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. To read the nominations, visit www.heritage.ky.gov, or for information contact Lisa Thompson, KHC National Register coordinator, 502-892-3609.
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An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office is responsible for the identification, protection and preservation of prehistoric resources and historic buildings, sites and cultural resources throughout the Commonwealth, in partnership with other state and federal agencies, local communities and interested citizens.