Historic Eastern Kentucky Sites Added to National Register

Three locations in Eastern Kentucky were added to the National Register of Historic Places in August as official sites worthy of preservation. This distinction may qualify the owner of the sites for tax exemptions to help preserve their significance.

First is the Middlesboro Jewish Cemetery in Middlesboro, Ky., established in 1904 for Jewish residents of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Jewish population in the area had been growing since Middlesboro became a coal boomtown in 1890. Although the town economy crashed in 1893, many of the Jewish residents of Middlesboro waited for a rebound. They started a congregation and synagogue in 1905 when local resident Ben Horr donated the cemetery lands after his grandaughter passed away.

Second on the list is the Kellogg and Company Wholesale Grocery Warehouse in Richmond, Ky., which was added to the register for symbolizing the advancement of the commercial age. Built in 1906, it was one of the first brick storehouses along the rail line in Richmond and was the center of industrial growth in Richmond and Madison County.

Also added to the historical register was the Craig-Peak House near Georgetown, Ky. Built in three stages between 1820 and 1860, the building reveals how architectural trends from the cities influenced the rural areas of Kentucky’s hilly Bluegrass Region. — Otto Solberg