Demo Watch: Shotgun Houses on Lexington’s Jefferson Street

Clockwise from upper left: 440, 444, 448, and 446 Jefferson Street. 

Demolition permits have been filed to tear down four shotgun houses, each built ca. 1890, along the increasingly popular Jefferson Street corridor on Lexington, Kentucky’s northside.

As noted last week in another demolition watch, the “single-story shotgun is one of a dying breed.” These four shotgun houses were constructed a short time after the Warfield Bell Subdivision was platted. Located between Fourth and Sixth streets on both sides of Jefferson (plus Fifth and Sixth on both sides of Smith Street Extended), the subdivision consisted of 113 lots. It was the city’s first subdivision of 100+ lots.

I can’t find a proposal of what will replace these dwellings. Though at least one has been abandoned for some time and another is the site of multiple nuisance violations in the past few years, these houses did provide affordable housing in Lexington for 125 years.

And a quick note from last week’s Demo Watch: I posted a Watch for 3 structures already demolished. Mea culpa. I received word of the filing of the demolition permits on March 17 and posted three days later. The permits were, however, filed earlier. There isn’t much I can do about that, but I will continue to try and post Demo Watch posts. If a structure has already been demolished, at least something will remain written of it.

The permits for the above four shotguns on Jefferson Street, according to the Citygram I received, were filed on March 20. As of this morning, they hadn’t been demolished though it appears that the fire department has been doing some practice on the roofs of a few of the structures.

Demo Watch: Permits sought to demolish 4 structures near University of Kentucky campus

Demolition permits have been sought at these four Lexington, Kentucky properties. Individual images from Fayette PVA.

On March 9, demolition permits were sought for three structures on Euclid Avenue. Permits for wrecking the structures at 626, 630 and 634 Euclid Avenue would pave the way for a development already announced. The location is opposite Marquis from the new Euclid Kroger on its one end and a three story brick-and-glass commercial structure (The Ashland Building).

And while Euclid once had a number of single family residences along its way, the area has transformed into a more intensive use. Though these structures, built in the first half of the 20th century, were once representative of the homes along this avenue, they now seem almost out of place.

The history of this stretch of road can be told quickly through a few newspaper articles. In July 1903, the Lexington Leader announced that “the work of grading Euclid Avenue in the Aylesford division has been commenced and when macadamized will furnish the shortest route from the Tates Creek Pike to State College.” Once the road was paved, houses like the ones proposed for demolition sprung up on what became a residential corridor. In 1920, the road was designated a boulevard and paved with asphalt. But in June 1987, the Herald-Leader found that Euclid Avenue was “an expanding commercial thoroughfare that leads to Chevy Chase” and that it “may be designated a business corridor.”

The site is proposed to now become a retail and restaurant space; the development plan, also submitted to the city, can be accessed here. The map below shows its location, with the corner of Euclid Kroger poking from the bottom of the map.

Additionally, a demolition permit for 171 Montmullin was filed on March 11. This single-story shotgun is one of a dying breed. The one-bedroom, one-bath home is only 568 square feet. Built in 1910, it represents an architectural style once prominent in various parts of Lexington and other communities. Rapidly, however, progress is marking the end of the the shotgun style. Each year, more and more shotguns are being demolished.

Montmullin Street is located in the Pralltown neighborhood, which is the oldest historically African American neighborhood in Lexington. By 1940, it contained over 200 homes but has been “an ongoing battle to prevent the neighborhood from becoming a new housing area” for UK students for the past twenty years. Unlike the UK fight song, this battle has not been won and the demolition of 171 Montmullin marks another loss to the disappearing Pralltown.