by Brian Harney
part 1
The Meadows sub-division, on the Northeast side of Lexington, Kentucky, was named for a farm of the same name, owned in pioneer times by the Warfield family, and later, others.
The sub-division is bordered by Louden Ave on the Southwest, Bryan Ave on the Northwest, New Circle Rd on the Northeast, and Meadow Lane on the Southeast.
The sub-division was being developed starting around 1948, and was annexed into the city proper in 1961.
It didn't have any names that I could immediately connect to my own genealogy so my interest was somewhat limited, but I said to myself that someday I hoped to sit down and look at the book at length, since the surnames involved were so prominent in the history of the Bluegrass area.
Warfield Place and Carneal Drive were named for two families in Mrs Kinkead's book. The Warfields owned the farm, The Meadows, and 198 acres of land on Winchester Rd, which, if connected to The Meadows, would have been an enormous amount of land, perhaps 500 acres or more.
The Warfields and Mrs Kinkead's husband's families were all prominent in the history of Lexington and Fayette Co, and Kentucky. They included a number of business people, lawyers, judges and other public servants, including Lexington Mayor and Ky State Senator, Shelby Kinkead.
Not until now, 2002, did it dawn on me the connection between the street names in The Meadows sub-division and Mrs Kinkead's family names and that we had/have a small connection to those within the book, that being my ex-in-laws, MC Mann and Margaret Hellard, who bought their new house on Darley Dr in 1949 or so (after having first lived on Loudon Ave), and lived there the rest of their lives, she til 1999, and he til 2000.
If you're like me and a lot of folks, you wonder about the disappearing farm land and how we are letting the Bluegrass area be changed in ways that are not beneficial (too many people is the main problem). Not sure what to do about these complex problems, but in the meantime, I composed these here web pages in order to get a better understanding about this corner of Lexington, an area that I spent a lot of time in, once upon a time.
Brian Harney, Frankfort, February 2002
part 2Marcellus Drive
18-Apr-1866, Died, Mrs. Maria Warfield at the Meadows on 15th, relative of Dr. Elisha Warfield, at age of 81.
7-Jul-1866, The tract of land The Meadows, formerly owned by Dr. Elisha Warfield, sold, home tract and 131 acres to Carneal Warfield at $191 per acre. 198 acres on Winchester Pike sold at $183 per acre.
13-Mar-1888, Lexington resident R. S. Henderson dies at home on E. Maxwell. Recently sold The Meadows to W. C. Goodloe.
4-Apr-1888, Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Dudley Warner (famous author) visited for several days at Warfield Place on Walnut St. (Walnut was renamed MLK Blvd in 1988.)
11-Aug-1888, FARMS. THE MEADOWS. Advertisement for the sale of this 180-acre farm owned by Mr. D. Swigert.
19-Feb-1895, Mrs. Julia G. Hunt, 74, dies at home of her daughter, Mrs. B. W. Dudley. Widow of Francis Key Hunt and daughter of Elisha Warfield of "The Meadows."
4-Jul-1896, Jesse H. Talbott sold "The Meadows," 236 acres, to R.S. Henderson at $150 per acre.
9-Dec-1898*, "The Meadows" This elegant Lexington suburban residence, recently the property of R.S. Henderson, deceased, formerly of Paris, has been most elegantly refitted by Beriah Magoffin, the present owner, son of the late Governor Beriah Magoffin.
12-Apr-1901, Mr. G. M. Asher, of the Meadows, left Lexington last night for a protracted visit to Oklahoma, where he has a large property of interests to which he will give personal attention during the summer. He owns 10,000 acres of land in that booming territory in various stages of clearing and cultivation and is increasing his holds as he sees…
5-Oct-1902, "Red hot election" District School No. 41 in Arlington Heights held an election Saturday afternoon to elect a trustee to fill the place of G.M. Asher, the present incumbent, whose term expires July 1. There were only two aspirants for the honor; J.N. Slade and L.P. Harney. After a heated contest the result was a victory for Mr. Slade, who received 73 vote, while Mr. Harney received 41.
17-May-1903, Lexington Leader, "Mr. J. Easten Keller, whose real estate projects fifteen or eighteen years ago had much to do with the awakening of Lexington in the latter '80's, and who recently returned here to take up residence has on foot the organization of a syndicate to purchase and subdivide "The Meadows," Mr. G. M. Asher's suburban place, just off Loudon avenue and Walnut street extended, containing 175 acres of beautiful Blue Grass land, the whole to be known as Highland Park.
8-Oct-1903, J.S. Stall buys The Meadows from the Asher Brothers, 185 acres.
8-Sep-1904, Sketch of "The Meadows" and J.S. State (Stall? Stoll?).
5-May-1908, James S. Stoll, 53, died in Oxford, Ohio, where he went for treatment. He resided at The Meadows.
1-Aug-1915, Judge Kerr orders "The Meadows" to be sold on October 11 to adjust the James S. Stoll estate.
5-Aug-1945, The Meadows on N.E. side of Lexington sold to M.C. and U.G. Saunders, 251 acres.
28-Aug-1945, "The Meadows", 304 acres off Loudon Ave. and the Bryan Station Pike, sold for subdivision.
27-Feb-1948, Sound government prior to annexation of the Meadows subdivision is asked.
1-Jul-1951, FARMS. THE MEADOWS. Coleman, J. Winston—Photos and text The Meadows—Lexington (Historic Kentucky)
16-Oct-1954, Leonard Sharp, 56, of 833 Meadow Lane, salesman for L. R. Cooke Chevrolet Company, died October 17th.
17-Jan-1961, Annexation of Meadows subdivision and sewerage condition there discussed in meeting of residents last night.
23-Jun-1961, Meadows is approved for annexation by City Commission and services will start June 26th.
20-Nov-1981, the Kinkead family donated the H.P. Kinkead House at 362 Walnut St to the Lexington Arts Center who had occupied it since 1970.
6-May-1998, MEADOWS- LOUDEN "Where the sidewalk ends" …The first goal of the newly formed neighborhood association is to get old sidewalks repaired and new ones installed, members said. Where there are no sidewalks, foot traffic has worn paths across several properties. Next to Ananias Calvin's property, at Meadow Lane and Louden, is a one-foot wide dirt path that runs parallel to Louden.