LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A spot to absorb and appreciate Lexington’s history that opened in the 1990s has found a new home just outside downtown.
A few weeks ago, the Lexington History Museum opened inside the Thomas Hunt Morgan house to the public.
The historic building is named in honor of Kentucky’s first Nobel Prize winner, “the fruit fly guy.”
“He got interested in bugs and rodents and all those things. He became a professor of biology at Colombia University. There, with his team and wife, discovered how genes mutate using the fruit fly,” Executive director Dr. Amanda Higgins said.
Dr. Higgins was hired in October 2022 to preside over the exhibits that span millennia.
From artifacts from the original settlers in Central Kentucky to the use of hemp in the agricultural trade to more recent history like the boom of IBM or the hotel industry's importance on the city.
Holding down a history museum is not exactly what Dr. Higgins thought she’d be doing as a career, but her curiosity and interest in history started from a young age.
“I learned really early to listen to my grandfathers who would just talk as they were doing things, and I would ask questions, and they would actually answer, and that got me interested in telling stories and understanding where folks came from,’ Dr. Higgins said.
“We wanted folks to come get their feet wet about Lexington history, so we wanted them to see a lot of things that make Lexington what it is but sort of on the surface so we can have conversations about going deeper.”
These conversations have been on hold for a long time.
More than a decade.
The original museum opened at the old courthouse in 2002, but that home was closed after some health concerns arose.
“As it happens in old buildings, lead paint dust and mold were discovered, and it was no longer safe to occupy the old courthouse,” Dr. Higgins said.
So, for the last ten years, the journey for the museum has been short respites at temporary locations or mainly stuck in storage.
However, funding approved by the City of Lexington led to Dr. Higgins coming on board and hustling to brush the dust off this Lexington timeline and move it into the Thomas Morgan House.
“Our job is to connect. We know no single place is going to have the answer,” Dr. Higgins said.
“If we can help the public figure that out, then we can help them be deeper learners and know more, be civically engaged. All the things we want for an active, engaged community.”
The Lexington History Museum is located at 210 North Broadway near downtown Lexington.
Hours are 12 p.m.-4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.
