History of South Frankfort
Excerpt from “South Frankfort Neighborhood Plan: An Element of the Frankfort/Franklin County Comprehensive Plan”, Prepared by the Frankfort Department of Community Development. 1981.
The first settlement in South Frankfort took place prior to 1800 as a result of the need for a ferry to provide transportation across the Kentucky River. Only four buildings were standing in South Frankfort before 1800. Two of these buildings were cabins. One cabin was located on the site of the Second Street School and the other on Murray Street. The other two buildings were a home on Shelby Street and an old brink seminary.
South Frankfort became a separate corporation by an act of the Legislature on February 1, 1812. By this time many of South Frankfort’s streets were named after important landowners and statesmen. Shelby Street was named after Governor Isaac Shelby; Logan Street was named for General Benjamin Logan, a renowned Indian [native American] fighter and statesman; Ewing Street took the name of Col. Baker Ewing, the first Registrar of the Land Office and a prominent businessman; and Murray Street was named in honor of William Murray, the Attorney General. At this time, Fourth Street was called Cross Street and Capital Avenue was called Main Street. Cross Street was renamed Fourth Street in 1897 and Main Street was extended south of Todd Street and renamed Capital Avenue in 1905 when the new Capitol was under construction.
By 1830, the population of South Frankfort was still less than 200 persons. The small size of this community was evident by the common practice of blocking public streets to traffic. The minutes of the Town of South Frankfort often cited individuals for fencing across Main Street, which is now bustling Capital Avenue. Another interesting practice during the 1830’s was the sale of unused portions of streets to residents. Portions of Main Street, Third Street, and Second Street were sold about this time with the entire end of Conway Street south of Campbell Street selling for only three dollars.
The difficulty of traveling between North and South Frankfort impeded the growth of South Frankfort. In 1806 a pontoon bridge made of anchored boats covered with planks was completed at the end of Ann Street to connect North and South Frankfort. The first permanent bridge was constructed across the Kentucky River in 1816. The bridge keeper’s residence and toll house stood on the present site of the old YMCA building on Bridge Street.
South Frankfort did not experience significant growth until the 1850’s, soon after a new covered bridge was completed across the river and South Frankfort and North Frankfort were consolidated under the same government in 1850. The impact of the railroad brought about an increase in business activity downtown about that time. The need for North Frankfort to expand both residentially and industrially into other nearby areas, and the need for South Frankfort to gain unrestricted access to the businesses and churches in North Frankfort were important reasons for the merger of the two towns in 1850. Disputes over property rights that resulted from the consolidation were not settled until thirty years later.
South Frankfort, like the rest of Frankfort, was in turmoil during the Civil War due to the alternating of command by the Union and the Confederate troops. The Civil War Barracks on Shelby Street and Woodland Avenue were constructed in 1871 by Alexander Goldsmith Brawner to house the cavalry of the Ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers. This military complex, which also at one time included a guardhouse, a bakery, a hospital, and other wood frame buildings, was leased to the Federal government from January 1872 until 1876 for $250 per month. This site was chosen because of its proximity to Coleman’s Spring. While the infantry remained in South Frankfort, the grounds where the Capitol now stands were used as a parade ground.
The plentiful supply of water was partly responsible for the early residential and industrial settlement of South Frankfort. In the nineteenth century the South Frankfort neighborhood was supplied by three springs: Mitchell’s Spring which was located near Ewing Street; Coleman’s Spring which was at the end of Steele Street; and Sayres Spring which was in the area bounded by Capital Avenue, Logan Street, Fourth Street, and Campbell Street. In addition to these springs, a few public wells also supplied water to residents during the early ninetieth century. Public wells were located at the corners of Second and Shelby Streets, Steele and Third Streets, and in front of 417 Shelby Street.
As early as 1806, E. Spillsbee Coleman established a tan yard near a spring later known as Coleman’s Spring. More important to industrial development than the springs was the area’s proximity to the Kentucky River which attracted many industries along South Frankfort’s banks during the latter part of the nineteenth century. An 1882 map of South Frankfort reveals that many industries were located in the eastern and northern sections of South Frankfort along the river. The large Hermitage Distillery complex, owned by W. A. Gains, occupied most of the land east of Hermitage and Fowler Street to the river. Nearby on Murray Street was a large cooper shop where whiskey barrels were made. This distillery complex, which had a production capacity of 100 barrels a day, went out of business during Prohibition.
Many of these distillery buildings were used soon afterwards by the Brown Irion Furniture Company which specialized in upholstered and overstuffed furniture. After some successful years in the 1920’s this company went out of business during the depression in the 1930’s. Nothing remains of this once formidable industrial complex except the modest homes that surrounded the industry and provided for the workers.
Other industries present in South Frankfort in the late nineteenth century were a saw mill at the end of East Fourth Street, a saw mill and a planing mill on the present site of St. John’s Court, a brick yard located between Logan and Capital Avenue north of Second Street, another brick yard on the 100 block of Shelby Street, the Frankfort Elevator Coal Company at the end of Steele Street, and a slaughterhouse at the corner of Logan and River Streets.
The industrial development of Frankfort in the latter part of the nineteenth century created a demand for labor and nearby housing. In response to this demand a densely populated neighborhood was established in the northeastern section of South Frankfort in the vicinity of some of these industries. Historically this area of South Frankfort always had a large black population. The modest homes, small lots, and ethnic character of this neighborhood are still evident today. One building of particular historic importance in the neighborhood is 228 East Second Street which once housed the Winnie A. Scott Memorial hospital. The hospital served black patients until they were admitted to King’s Daughters Hospital [now Frankfort Regional Medical Center] during the 1960’s.
The hospital began as the Women’s Improvement Club in 1903 and was open for patients as an operational hospital by December 1910. The founder of the hospital, Miss Scott, was a high school teacher at the Clinton Street School. The hospital had seven or eight rooms plus an operating room. Doctors Berry, Offutt, and Underwood were among those who practiced there. After the hospital closed in the 1960’s, it became an apartment house. This building, which has changed little in appearance, has symbolic importance as a landmark of segregation in Frankfort.
The selection of South Frankfort as the site for the new Capitol was a controversial decision. The site selected for the new Capitol was called Hunt Hill, which at the time was owned by lawyer Frank Chinn. The former owner of the property, Major Hunt, was a wealthy Mississippi planter who constructed a large brick residence on this site as a summer home. The State purchased from Mr. Chinn this property and the two homes on the site. The old Hunt residence and a later residence built by Mr. Chinn were removed from the site. Mr. Chinn’s residence was sold and moved down Capital Avenue on rollers to Fourth Street where two cottages were erected from the building. The construction of the Capitol was begun in 1904 and was completed in 1909. The cost of the construction was paid for by retirement of an old war debt to the Commonwealth, therefore no State bond issues or tax increases were needed.
Many houses were constructed in South Frankfort around the time the new Capitol was under construction and this trend continued until about 1920. The Hermitage Distillery closed down during the Prohibition and other major industries faltered in South Frankfort during the depression, most notably the Brown Irion Furniture Company. Therefore, little residential or industrial development took place in South Frankfort after the 1920’s until after World Ware II. In fact, most of the industries along South Frankfort’s river banks never did recover from the depression.