Antebellum Winchester: Pre-Civil War buildings

Some time ago, I wrote about the pre-Civil War hous­es in Winchester.  This arti­cle focus­es on the down­town com­mer­cial build­ings erect­ed before the war and still stand­ing today.

Dodge’s Store Rooms/McGuire’s Pharmacy

Corner of Cleveland and South Main

Often referred to as the old­est com­mer­cial build­ing in down­town, it was con­struct­ed by David Dodge on a lot he pur­chased in 1811. According to our ear­ly his­to­ri­an, James Flanagan, Dodge built his store house in 1813–1814. The build­ing was described in a sur­vey of his­toric sites in Clark County. “Beneath a late 19^th cen­tu­ry face-lift­ing are hid­den the walls of the ear­li­est com­mer­cial build­ing in down­town Winchester.  The only evi­dence of this fact is vis­i­ble in the walls them­selves, which are laid in Flemish bond.” 

An 1821 ad in the Kentucky Gazette stat­ed, “For Sale, a very valu­able two sto­ry Brick House and Lot.  This house stands at the cor­ner of Main and Short-streets [now Cleveland] and the Lot extends on Main-street to Main-Cross street.  The house was built by David Dodge and con­veyed by him to Robert Clarke [1818] and by Clarke...to the Winchester Commercial Bank [1819].  The low­er part of the build­ing is occu­pied at this time by Charles C. Moore & Co. as a Store.”

Charles Moore and his broth­er Thomas R. Moore ran a cloth­ing store on the first floor until the 1830s.  Thomas rode horse­back to Philadelphia to pur­chase goods, which were hauled by wag­on to the Ohio River and by flat­boat down the riv­er to Kentucky.  The build­ing lat­er housed the Clark County National Bank (1877), a butch­er shop, bar­ber­shop, and dry goods store.  In 1901, the store rooms were occu­pied by Mrs. F. H. Haggard. She had a millinery shop on the first floor.  She and her hus­band, city attor­ney Frank H. Haggard, resided in the upstairs liv­ing quar­ters.  The build­ing housed McGuire’s Pharmacy for more than fifty years.

Masonic Lodge

12 West Lexington Avenue

In 1840, Chilton Allan donat­ed a “House and Lot” on Fairfax (now Lexington Avenue) to the “Winchester Lodge of Ancient York Masons num­ber twen­ty.”  Lodge No. 20 had been estab­lished by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1812, and Allan was a char­ter mem­ber.  One source states that the Masons tore down Allan’s old house and put up a new two-sto­ry, five-bay build­ing on the site, which adjoined Peter Flanagan’s hotel lot at the cor­ner of Main and Lexington Avenue (now the Brown Proctor).  In 1887 the Masons added a third floor and extend­ed the build­ing one bay to the west.

The Masons used their lodge until mov­ing into new quar­ters in 1907.  They sold the build­ing to N. Rol Ratliff, who in turn sold to Hiram P. Burch in 1914.  The fol­low­ing year, Dr. Russell Henry leased the upper floors to open a pri­vate hos­pi­tal, the Henry Infirmary.  The infir­mary oper­at­ed for two years, clos­ing when the Clark County Hospital opened.  W. R. Sphar acquired the build­ing, which he rent­ed for apart­ments on the upper floors and busi­ness­es on the first floor.  The lat­ter includ­ed at var­i­ous times a bus sta­tion, gro­cery, nov­el­ty shop, insur­ance office, taxi stand, jew­el­ry store, and oth­ers.  In lat­er years, the build­ing suf­fered a fire and has been unoc­cu­pied for decades.  At present, it is in very poor condition.

Clark County Courthouse

Main Street

The his­toric Courthouse was erect­ed in 1855 by the not­ed archi­tect and builder John McMurtry.  The coun­ty jail stood behind the cour­t­house and was sur­round­ed by an 18-foot-tall stone wall that gave the name to adja­cent Wall Alley. 

In 1938, the coun­ty had the Courthouse remod­eled with a large addi­tion on the west side that turned the T‑plan into an H‑plan.  The design and mate­ri­als match the old sec­tion and, with the brick paint­ed white, the addi­tion is not read­i­ly appar­ent. Over the years ‚the cour­t­house was home to a num­ber of local agen­cies, includ­ing the health depart­ment, coöper­a­tive exten­sion office, emer­gency ser­vices, and a library. 

The orig­i­nal tow­er was replaced in 1889 with one designed by the local archi­tect E. N. Lamm.  In 2017, the old tow­er was tak­en down, and the fol­low­ing year a new tow­er was raised—topped by a gild­ed dome.  The cour­t­house is list­ed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Presbyterian Church

109 South Main Street

The First Presbyterian Church of Winchester has been at sev­er­al loca­tions.  In 1857, the con­gre­ga­tion moved to a new build­ing that they erect­ed at 109 South Main. The Presbyterians remained there until 1893, when they moved again. The old church housed a fruit mar­ket and a skat­ing rink for a time before the Sun-Sentinel moved in and stayed for a decade. The Main Street Church of Christ pur­chased the build­ing in 1918. It was their home until 1957, when the con­gre­ga­tion sold the church to the Winchester Public Library. The library remained there until a new build­ing was erect­ed on Burns Avenue in 1998.  The present own­er is anoth­er church, First Baptist Church.