“A Sense of Place” is sponsoring an All-Hamlets meeting from 6 – 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 27, at Picadome Golf Course, 469 Parkway Drive.
Residents are invited to discuss how the city can best remember and celebrate the history of each rural black hamlet. The public is encouraged to bring artifacts to share.
“Our hamlet communities are vital to the history of Lexington,” Mayor Linda Gorton said. “It’s important to take time to appreciate them, preserve them, and show them respect.”
Tiffany Brown, Lexington’s Equity Officer, and chair of the “A Sense of Place” committee, said, “We want to hear the public’s thoughts on the past, present and future of our hamlets, and how we can best remember and celebrate each hamlet’s history.”
More than 20 historic hamlets have been identified in Fayette County. Hamlets or “Freetowns,” were places where African Americans built schools, churches, cemeteries, lodge halls, and grocery stores. Hamlets were places where community was formed. Several continue as vital parts of the community.
The “A Sense of Place” Steering Committee was formed to educate and inform the public about the rich history of the hamlets, with the purpose of preserving and celebrating their history and heritage.
The campaign to celebrate the hamlets officially began last Juneteenth (June 19). The committee has been raising money to complete the restoration of the Cadentown Rosenwald School, once a one-room school that served African-American children when schools were segregated. The project includes the restoration and marking of a cemetery on the grounds, creating a space inside the school where the history of Lexington’s hamlets can be honored and shared by future generations, and the addition of public restrooms.
“Up until this point, we have had outreach events with specific hamlets,” said Councilmember Kathy Plomin, who represents rural Fayette County. “This community wide event is an opportunity for all representatives of any of our historic hamlets to come together to provide input and ideas for the project. This will be a unified approach for the next steps of our Sense of Place Hamlet initiative.”
For more information, contact the Steering Committee at lexingtonhamletsproject@gmail.com.
