Florence’s Main Street is our city’s most significant remaining identifying feature of our past. It guides us to look to our future by remembering what has always been important to our community. Main Street is truly the original heart of the city. It is where it all began. It holds our history, reflects the development of our community, shares our values and exemplifies how we are defined.
Main Street, the curvilinear street that once housed the city building, hotels, restaurants, bars, churches, grocers, blacksmiths shops and residences remains the same curvilinear street it was when platted in 1820.
The buildings have changed since then and the street is paved, but when you look closely you will still find pieces of our distant past and a living reflection of our development as a city. Take a look around Main Street and the immediate area and you will find quite a few buildings built between 1840 and 1890. The next prominent period of construction occurred in the 1920s and 1930s followed by many new post-WWII homes being built on the surrounding streets. And as frequently happens, new buildings replaced some of the old buildings.
Patricia Wingo
Main Street was the convergence of the Covington, Lexington and Union Pikes and thus became the first stagecoach stop on the road from Covington to Lexington. The small city struggled to find a name, at times being called Pole Cat, Crossroads, and Connersville and has been affectionately known as Stringtown on the Pike, but it was officially incorporated as the City of Florence in 1830.
When the town was platted streets were named for famous Kentuckians such as Governor Isaac Shelby and Governor James Garrard or were logically named, Center Street because it was in the center of town or Locust Street because of all of the locust trees. All the amenities the town required were focused on Main Street.
And so it remained well into the 1960s. But, as the city grew, so did the focus of Main Street as the heart of the city, and gradually activity shifted to other areas of town. New uses for existing buildings became commonplace. Favorite drugstore soda shops moved, grocers closed and people moved away. Even as new development promised to revitalize the street with shops and offices, Main Street continued to struggle to maintain its identity.
As we entered the new millennium, the City invested considerable resources to upgrade the aesthetics of the street. Repaving was completed and new curbs and sidewalks were installed as were landscaped medians. Utilities were moved, street lights were installed and banners were hung. A brief boost in activity occurred following this investment, but Main Street still finds it challenging to restore itself as a community destination.
Commitment to our past, present and future encouraged the City to continue to work toward the revitalization of Main Street. And now, interest in the original heart of the city is growing. The beat is getting stronger as the unique nature of the street is recognized by businesses and residents. The sense of place and history that Main Street provides is becoming more important as residents look to find a gathering place that can connect them to that history.
The City is reinforcing its efforts to assist in the revitalization of Main Street through the implementation of a comprehensive program. By working with residents and businesses to guide the process, a plan will be forged to incorporate additional aesthetic improvements, programming, marketing and economic development efforts focused on the reinvigoration of Main Street.
Main Street is clearly on the verge of a new beginning just a few hundred years after it all began.
Patricia Wingo is Assistant City Coordinator and Main Street & Neighborhood Revitalization Program Administrator for the City of Florence.
Shouldn’t the title say “200” years ago?
yes.