Adamstown in Lexington, KY

Adamstown was an African American community that was placed at the bottom of a hill on what was the edge of Lexington, KY, in the 1870s. By 1880 there were 65 African American families in the community. Adamstown was on Adams Street, located near what is today Euclid Avenue. The neighborhood was removed in preparation for the building of the University of Kentucky's (UK) Memorial Coliseum in 1949-1950. Quoted in an Atlanta newspaper, UK Coach Adolph Rupp remembered seeing the community when he first arrived on campus in 1930; he counted 55 homes. For more see J. Kellogg, "The Formation of Black Residential Areas in Lexington, Kentucky, 1865-1887," The Journal of Southern History, vol. 48, issue 1 (Feb. 1982), pp. 21-52; D. Kindred, "Memories of the old master revived," The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, 04/02/1985, Sports section, p. C4; and reference to Adamstown removal in B. L. Mastin, "Home is where the art is[:] Mason, 71, uses skills creatively at his house," Lexington Herald-Leader, 03/04/1995, Lifestyle section, p. 10. See also T. Eblen, "Before UK's Memorial Coliseum was built, a black history 'folk hero' lived there, Lexington Herald-Leader, 01/31/2017, p.A3; and L. Blackford, "Adamstown, buried under UK, is uncovered," Lexington Herald-Leader, 05/16/2019, p.3A. 

Photo images of Adamstown are available at the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.