Johnson County Public Library
On the site where the Johnson County Public Library now stands, in the early the 1900s, was the first moving picture house in town to have a pianist play during the movie. Wheeler’s Grocery then occupied the building after 1910.The library’s first bookmobile was donated in 1969 and the current structure that houses the library was built on this site at 444 Main Street, opening in 1970. Later, two renovations created nearly 8,000 square feet of space. A third renovation in 2004 included the purchase of the adjoining building to increase the space by roughly half again, to 12,180 square feet.A fourth renovation began in July 2018 and was completed roughly a year later. This renovation was prompted by growing pains and is something the library happily embraced. No money was borrowed to complete the project and the library’s tax rate had not been increased in the six years prior to the renovation, a testament to sound fiscal management. The project began with work to shore up the creekbank, which was losing its integrity. In the process of digging, a set of concrete stairs to the creek and a very large pipe, or culvert, made of Chillicothe brick were found. The stairs are thought to have been used during the time of the “Great Revival.” This fourth renovation included a reworking of the children’s and teens’ areas, with the addition of an interactive replica of the newest bookmobile near the picture books. All carpet, cabinetry, furniture and paint were refreshed and a new multipurpose room, named after long-time library supporter and previous Board of Trustee Member Robert M. Conley, was added. The library houses one of the best genealogy research rooms in Kentucky.On other stops, you’ll hear about the precursor to the modern public library in this area, the pack horse librarian, and the library at the old Works Progress Administration (WPA) building beside Paintsville Elementary.
Union Occupation of Paintsville
Paint Creek runs through Paintsville behind Main Street. On January 7, 1862, Union troops under Colonel, later President, James A. Garfield occupied Paintsville. Garfield knew the camp of the Confederates, under Brigadier General Humphrey Marshall, was at Hager Hill. In the late evening of January 7th, Garfield picked 400 men to march to the Confederates' camp. There were no bridges across Paint Creek at that time, so Garfield's troops placed logs in Paint Creek and crossed. Garfield's troops went up Flat Rock Branch, now Route 321, down Burnt Cabin Branch, and on to Marshall's camp near Route 23 and 321, only to find the Confederates had already left. They came back to Paintsville by way of Jennie's Creek and through what is now South Side and were fired upon by their own men until they were recognized.
Paint Creek Mills and Revivals
There were several mills along Paint Creek. One mill was roughly behind the library, Dixon's Mill was behind the present-day Ramada Inn, and Staffords Mill or Stafford-Franklin Mill was near where the bridge now crosses Paint Creek leading from Broadway Street over to College Street.James Franklin had the Staffords Mill built by John Auxier, but he lost the mill to James Stafford. It was then called the Staffords Mill or the Stafford-Franklin Mill. It was used for grinding corn. A saw mill was added later, which prompted the building of frame structures in town. Haviland Limoges China and press glass were sold there.Just below Dixon's MIll, near the Ramada, was a Baptizing Hole used by churches who practiced immersion for the rite of baptism. Henry Dixon may have been the first minister to utilize the pond his mill made for this purpose. The Dixon's Mill pond was used in an enormous revival in February of 1880, preached by traveling evangelist George Owen Barns (1827-1908). A Lincoln County, Kentucky, native and former Presbyterian, Barns spent some years in Chicago under the influence of John Nelson Darby and Dwight L. Moody. His crusades were financed by Chicago industrialist John G. Owsley, a former Lincoln County native and long acquaintance. Barns was also a faith healer and the first ever to preach dispensationalism in Johnson County using terms that are common now, such as "rapture" and "Great Tribulation". After leaving Paintsville, Barns preached in New York and Australia and soon afterward fell under the influence of John Alexander Dowie, self-proclaimed "prophet Elijah" who founded Zion, Illinois. He died in 1908 while a minister in Dowie's church.In March of 1910, six different denominations came together for a great immersion event. One hundred people from a crowd of 1,500 came forward and the pastors simultaneously baptized the followers. Churches participating were Methodist Episcopal Church North, Methodist Episcopal Church South, Christian Church, Freewill Baptist, United Baptist, and Missionary Baptist. Afterward, it was reported in the "Social Events" of The Paintsville Herald that there are to be no more female card parties. It was by unanimous vote the men have exclusive use of the cards. The revival did it!Another enormous revival was conducted by local pastors in the spring of 1915. A published quote stated "hardly a [was] soul left unsaved in town," according to some accounts. After local mills became obsolete, the location fell out of vogue as a baptizing place.
First United Methodist Church/Vaughan's Chapel
The Methodist Church had a nationwide split in 1865 over slavery issues. Churches in the Kentucky Conference were assigned to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1865, the congregation that later met in this building, but at the time met in Vaughan's Chapel, split with other Methodist Churches and formed a new congregation, the Methodist Episcopal Church North. This congregation was composed of people who favored the Union.This lot (505 Main Street) was a gift of Reuben and Amanda Hager Patrick in 1867 and was valued at $150. The first church, Vaughan's Chapel, was a frame structure. The current structure, home of the First United Methodist Church, was completed in 1914 and has been in continuous use since, with additions made. It displays several fine Gothic Revival features and is a good example of the church style favored by many Methodist congregations at the turn of the century. It has a central sharply gabled section joined on one side by a three-story tower with an entrance. The brick building is ornamented with stone quoins and crenellations. Its eclectic character is well expressed in the window shapes, some of which incorporate stained glass. Window shapes are pointed arch, rounded arch, rectangular, and Palladian. The Palladian window shape has a central arched window with rectangular, usually smaller, windows on either side.
Civil War Era Education
After the Civil War there were two elementary schools in town: one for children from Confederate families and one for children from Union families. Professor William Randolph was a Union Army veteran and teacher of the Union school, or Northern Grade School, for many years. His house was located on the corner of West and Main Streets and the school, known as the Upper School House, was across the street and one house down. The Southern school was three blocks down the street. The schools remained separate until about 1890, when the Painstville Free Grade School was started.
Golden Rule Hospital/Conley Hotel
This building was formerly the Conley Hotel built by Burns Conley and operated by the Hazelett family.The Golden Rule Hospital was opened here in October 1926 by Doctors G. V. Daniel, D. H. Daniel, J. P. Wells, Jacob A. Wells, and W. R. Castle. The first floor housed doctors' offices and the second floor included patient, operating, and delivery rooms.Doctors W. R. Castle and J. A. Wells maintained the hospital until April 1945, when Dr. Castle retired from practice due to diabetes and sold his interest to Wells. After his death in 1947, Wells was replaced by Dr. Paul Hulett [pronounced HEW lit], who practiced briefly in Paintsville. Dr. Augustus Darwin Slone ran the hospital until 1952 but kept the physician’s office until his death in 1968.Loretta Lynn came here for treatment as a child. Crystal Gayle is thought to have been born here, though she may have been born at the Paintsville Hospital on Euclid Avenue.
Howard Hotel/First Telegraph
This parking lot is commonly known as the site of the Howard Hotel. Jacob Price ran a boarding house or Hotel on this location prior to the 1890s. It included the first telegraph office in Paintsville. In perspective, this was as revolutionary as the Internet. The Cumberland Telephone came to town in 1906 and was located in the Paintsville National Bank Building, also known as the First National Bank building.In 1910 there were three hotels and 3 boarding houses in Paintsville. In 1920 there were 3 hotels and 1 boarding house along Main Street.IC. H. Rule built the Howard Hotel in 1923 for $100,000 and it opened in 1924. The exterior walls were 18 inches thick. It was at that time a “state of the art” establishment with a full dining room, which served three meals per day, down one side of the interior, and small businesses down the other side. Fifty rooms for rent were all upstairs. There was a barber in the basement. The hotel offered noon meals for Paintsville school students.Later, Maggard and Joseph Furniture purchased the building. In that establishment, there were some displays of appliances and such on the lower floor, but each of the upstairs rooms was decorated like a room that might be in your home so that the buying public could imagine exactly what the new furniture might look like in their homes. Maggard and Joseph Furniture burned October 21, 1999. Because it was so well built, it smoldered for days.
404 Main Street/Foster Hardware
Foster Hardware was located in this building, thought to be the second oldest building left in Paintsville. Foster Hardware was bought out by Big Sandy Hardware. It later became Williams Wholesale Grocery, then Dependable Office Supply, which went out of business around 1960. It was then bought by a Terry and opened as Terry’s Office Supply, which is the name many residents still use for the building. It was sold to a Mr. Richie, but he kept the same business name until a fire caused extensive damage and the office supply store closed. It has been remodeled as a small retail space, occupied by LeBrun’s Unique Boutique roughly 2019. A structural collapse claimed the entire rear portion of the building in 2018 and the rear portion had to be demolished. It is currently owned and operated by Paintsville Tourism as an event venue and called The 404 Downtown Pavilion.
G.C. Murphy
G.C. Murphy opened in this building in March 1938 and closed in 1985. Many residents have fond memories of shopping here and of the counter, which is still in use today in the current business, Treasures on Main, an antique mall.
H.B. Rice Building
At the corner of Main and Court Streets is the oldest building in Paintsville, erected in 1882, and commonly known as the H.B. Rice Building. It combines Italianate and Gothic architechectural details. It was owned by banker H.B. Rice and was home of the Rice Insurance Company for many years, starting in 1908. It currently houses The CoffeeHouse and Wilma's Restaurant.
Joseph Border's Store/Cook's Raid
During the Civil War era, this was the location of Joseph Border's store. On July 16,1864, fifty Confederate guerillas led by Sidney Cook raided this area in what came to be known as Cook's Raid. Jospeh Border's store and the Sheriff's office, located in the Court House across the street, were robbed. The guerillas left Paintsville by Big Mud Lick and headed for Elk Fork of the Licking River. The robbers, all men, took an unusual selection of items. For the theft, Joseph Borders filed suit against the robbers after the Civil War, stating that in addition to taking boots, cofee, hats, and a saddle, they took hoop skirts, calico, gingham, cashmere, and muslin.
The Sipp Theater/ Stafford Theater
The Sipp Theater was named for Sipp Meade, whose father Dr. Lloyd G. Meade owned and built the theater in 1933, though it was originally called the Stafford Theater. The Sipp was designed with perfect acoustics and featured Vaudeville entertainment. Lash LaRue made many personal visits to small towns. He was one of the bigger names that came to Paintsville to promote his westerns and demonstrate his use of the whip, which is how he got his nickname. The theater is currently owned by Paintsville Tourism and operated as The Historic Sipp Theatre, serving the community as a venue for a variety of performing arts.
The Turner Building
The first post office in town was established in 1825 and listed by the U.S Postal Service as Paint Creek Post Office. A John Auxier was postmaster from 1825-1831. The post office was located just east of this location down Main Street at the current Pointe of Joy location in 1893. In 1921 it moved to the Turner Building on Main Street, in what came to be known as Ed Spenser's law office. The post office moved to Second Street in 1933.
Alger House Hotel
The Meek family owned and operated The Alger House Hotel located on Main Street. The livery for the hotel was located down the street in what came to be known as the Peggy Lou Building. Beside the hotel was the haberdasher, or hat-maker, and a clothing store.There is an interesting love story that began at the Alger House Hotel. The Meek's daughter Alice, who was nicknamed Alka, worked for her father there. When John C.C Mayo was a guest at the hotel, he became sick, and Alka was charged with delivering messages to his girlfriend until he got better. She didn't deliver the messages, but she did nurse him back to health. She became his wife on February 21, 1897. She was 16. Mr. Mayo was twice her age. They had two children together, John and Margaret. Mayo was not the richest man in KY when they married. Alka is sometimes credited with helping him acquire his fortune. She would carry coin money in the hem of her skirts when they traveled about purchasing the broad form deed rights. There is much more about the Mayo family at other stops on our tour.
Big Sandy Drugstore
This building was once a theater for touring groups. The building originally was built with very good acoustics for Chautauqua and formal presentations. John C.C. Mayo had a hand in making sure it was built because he wanted education and cultural activities for the city to be the envy of Lexington with all it had to offer. Big Sandy Drugstore is a common name for this building, as it occupied the space for a long period of time in the late 20th century. Linda's Cafe is the current resident.
Paintsville Grocery
Paintsville Grocery, a grocery wholesaler, stood beside the Alger House Hotel. It was owned and operated by James W. Auxier. He would send salesmen out on horseback to take orders and then deliver the goods by horse and wagon, and later by truck. The only competition he had was Sandy Valley Grocery, organized by a Wheeler.Mr. Auxier was a contemporary of John C. C. Mayo and was considered a great thinker. He was often seen with his arms behind him, head down, walking in deep thought. With his son-in-law Harry Laviers, James W. Auxier helped develop the North East Coal Company located in what is now Auxier, a town named for him. It was one of the county’s biggest employers in 1914. Each year, sometime in January, Auxier would speak before the Rotary Club and predict what would happen in the coming year. His predictions were most often correct. Mr. Auxier was also Chairman of Mayo Church for many years.
Main Street Fire of 1914
There was a great fire in Paintsville on May 24, 1914. A total of ten businesses in five buildings on two corners of Main and College Streets were destroyed. The businesses on the other two corners were heavily damaged. Windows were blown out by the force of the blaze. The J. F. Deal store was lost as well as several barber shops, a restaurant, a clothing store, a harness shop, Wood Brothers Photographers, and Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph. All were renters and there was no insurance. It was noted that the city was “rid of a bunch of fire traps”. It was also commented that Paintsville needed a good water works. It was not until 1923 that voters approved a bond issue for a water works and in 1925 the first Paintsville Fire Department was organized.
Paintsville National Bank/First National Bank
On Tuesday, March 8, 1932, at approximately 2:00 pm the Paintsville National Bank was robbed. Two bandits asked for money and another watched the front door while $47,000 was emptied from the cash drawers and the vault. The 30-year-old assistant cashier Ross Lyons was taken as a hostage. He later became president of First National Bank, successor to Paintsville National Bank. He was released unharmed about a block away before the getaway car left the city limits. The bandits hid in the barn of the Johnson Farm towards Turner Branch Hill and held the Johnsons captive until they could get away. Lawrence Piercy and Wilson R. Jennings were captured, tried and convicted for the city’s first bank robbery. Within 18 months they were given a full and free pardon by Governor Ruby Laffoon. Happy Chandler, who was from this neck of the woods, was Lieutenant Governor at the time. Laffoon concluded that Piercy and Jennings were victims of mistaken identity. No one was ever brought to trial for the crime and the money was never recovered.
Pack Horse Librarian/ "The First Bookmobile"
Before Johnson County had a public library, it had the pack horse librarian, or “The First Bookmobile”. May Stafford operated out of the Frew Stafford Building on Main Street, which belonged to her uncle. She distributed books out of a room to about 12-15 librarians. This earliest pack horse librarian program was considered an “experiment” in 1913. It was a privately organized enterprise operating 21 years before the earliest government program. It was the only practical way of making a start at reaching the scattered rural population.The Works Progress Administration, or WPA, later developed this program as a free library service. Librarians were paid $28 a month, equal to $938 per month today, and they maintained a headquartered library. People in the rural areas were paid the least compared to other states. As for the materials distributed, magazines were far more popular than books, especially practical ones like Women’s Home Companion and Popular Mechanics, as well as other magazines on home health care, cooking, agriculture, child care and machinery. Children’s books were also in great demand, and there were never enough. They were used by adults who had never learned to read, as pictures helped give clues to the words. Sometimes children read out loud to the household or helped parents and grandparents learn how to read. The famous author James Still was a pack horse librarian in Knott County. The pack horse librarian merged with the Library in 1940 when federal government money was running out.
Cox's Chevrolet/Bus Depot
The connected buildings at 428 and 432 Main Street have housed a bus depot and Cox's Chevrolet dealership. Fannins' Plumbing Heating and Electrical, Inc. has owned and been in business at this location since 1974.
C.H. Castle Funeral Director and Furniture Store
C. H. Castle Funeral Director and Furniture Store was on this site at 140/144 Main Street. The combination of those two businesses may sound odd, but furniture stores often built coffins as a part of their business. In the 1930s, embalming was just being offered. It was not a popular idea and, when given the option, most did not take it. Most funerals were held in the home of the deceased instead of funeral homes like now. Other services offered by the funeral director were picking up the body and placing it in a well fitted coffin, placing quarters over the eyes and a practice of placing tacks in the gums of the deceased and weaving thread around them to hold the mouth and lips shut. They would also make sure that someone would “stay up” all night with the deceased if the family requested.
Byrd and Leona Webb House
This home at 137 Main Street is known as the Byrd and Leona Webb House. It was built by H. C. Conley, noted local builder, and is one of several structures he built in the city. The Webb house is frame construction and exhibits the classical revival style with dormers. It has a graceful wrap around porch with Doric columns and was probably built in the late 1800s.
Allie and Preston Webb House
This home at 100 Euclid Avenue is known as the Allie and Preston Webb House. It is another H. C. Conley house. It was commissioned by the Webb family and inherited by a daughter who became the wife of F. S. VanHoose, founder of the local lumber company of that name.This two-story frame home has a central hall plan, tall chimneys, pediment dormers and a polygonal bay with gambrel roof.
Johnson County Courthouse
The Johnson County Courthouse has always been in this location on Court Street until the new court house was built just outside of town early in the 21st century. Many county services are still housed at this location, though. What was just a vacant house on Main Street was used as a court house in 1843 after the county was officially formed. The first court house was to be the first brick building in Paintsville. A kiln was built and brick was made from local clay. The first court was held there in March of 1845. It was on the steps of the first Court House that Nathaniel Auxier gave many an impassioned speech in support of the union even though he was a slave holder himself. His speeches were so influential that Johnson County remained a union county. This first courthouse was torn down in the 1890s because the bricks were eroding.The second court house was built in 1892. It was also made of brick. Renowned architect Frank P. Milburn was commissioned to design it. It was torn down in 1957. The brick was salvaged to be used in a house on Rt. 40 east of Paintsville. The WPA built the jail beside the court house in 1933 and they considered building a new court house in 1939, but the plans failed. In 1957, before the new court house was completed, court was held in The Royal Theater on Second Street. The current building on the Court Street site was the latest in modern architecture at the time it was built. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered an address from the steps of this building, which the county eventually outgrew. The addition that extends to Main Street was built in the mid-1980s.The monuments in the front of the building are memorials to the veterans of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War 1, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. There is also a memorial to honor local law enforcement personnel that have fallen in the line of duty.
