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Interesting Facts
- Best known for Wildcats basketball, the University of Kentucky also gains fame as the alma mater of actress Ashley Judd. Star of such films as A Time to Kill and Kiss the Girls, Judd majored in French and received minors in women's studies, theater, cultural anthropology, and art history.
- In Lexington's early history, one of its most recognized landmarks was the Phoenix Hotel on East Main Street. A familiar site since the 1820s (when it replaced a circa-1800 tavern), the hotel went through several incarnations until it was demolished in the late 20th century and replaced by Phoenix Park. The sunken park (next to the public library) features sculpture, a Vietnam veterans memorial, a water feature, plantings, and plenty of seating.
- In the days before European settlement, the area that is now Kentucky was known to Native Americans as the "great meadow" and was a prime site for hunting. The state's name harks back to a word in the Iroquois language, "kenta," referring to the area's level terrain.
- If you're not familiar with the word "pike" in some street addresses, don't fret. It's essentially the same as a road, although, technically, it refers to the toll roads private citizens built in past centuries. To recoup the cost and maintenance of these roads, folks placed an obstacle (or "pike") in the path until fees could be collected from travelers.
- Lexington's impressive public library at 140 East Main Street boasts the world's largest ceiling clock. Fueled by a Foucault pendulum, which moves in synch with the earth's rotation, the clock features a border of racehorses as a tribute to the region's most famous animal. On the floor, an enormous mosaic of North America finds its center at Lexington.
- In mid 20th century Lexington, the area around Main and Limestone was home to the town dog, known as Smiley Pete. So favored was Pete that, following his death in 1957, local citizens remembered him with a brass sidewalk plaque. Unfortunately, when renovations were made in the area, the plaque was removed, and now, knowledge of Pete passes on only through word of mouth.
- Lest you think that Kentucky's central region was named "bluegrass" after too many bouts with local bourbon, know that nature does back up the moniker. Obviously, the blades themselves aren't blue, but when the grass buds during springtime, broad sweeps of it take on a blueish hue. In pastoral areas of the state, the spectacle is one that visitors (and residents) still relish.
- Peanut, peanut butter.....and jelly! The next time you get a hankering for a PB&J, think of Lexington. It's entirely possible that your container of peanutty goodness was filled in the heart of Kentucky. In fact, Jif's factory in Lexington has the distinction of being the world's largest producer of peanut butter. And that's not just talkin' peanuts!
- As prominent as the University of Kentucky is in Lexington, it comes as little surprise that it's one of the city's top employers. What you may not realize is that Lexington – apart from horses and bourbon – is also home to a large Toyota manufacturing plant. Next time you check out a Camry on the highway, you'll think of "horsepower" in a whole new way!
- Although Transylvania University sounds as if it might teach the vampire arts, the school was actually named for the large, unpopulated territory west of Virginia it was set in. Derived from the Latin for "across the woods," Transylvania was intended to evoke pastoral lands ripe for expansion. Transy, as the university's fondly called, ranks as a top liberal arts school with approximately 1100 students.
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