We Were Planning to do Some Shopping…

…continuing with our October 2021 exploration of some of the attractions near Lexington Kentucky.  After sleeping in a bit and enjoying a little breakfast at the hotel, we decided to drive down I-75 to Beria Kentucky to do some shopping.  In addition to Beria College, this town is a big artisan/handicraft center and features many opportunities for shopping…

Our first stop was at Beria’s Visitor’s Center which is located right in the middle of a number of shops.  Berea is the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky.  The visitor’s center in located in the heart of the town’s Artisan Village which features handmade jewelry, fabric stores, galleries, glass studios and artisan studios as well as boutique and gift shops.

As you can see, the visitor’s center is located in Berea’s former railway depot…a win for me with my love of history and especially railroading.  In 1887 this property along the tracks was sold to the Kentucky Central Railroad and a small wooden depot was built.  Then, in 1891, traffic really picked up when the Louisville and Nashville Railway Company purchased the line through Berea.

I liked the fact that the former ticket agent’s booth now serves as the information desk for folks visiting Berea.  A small museum occupies much of the space in the building.

The first depot built on this spot burned down.  It was replaced by a second wooden depot on the other side of the track but it proved too small for the increasing amount of passengers and freight.  This building, the third and final depot, was constructed in 1917 at a cost of about $30,000.   

As I was wandering around outside the old depot/visitor’s center, I noticed this building across the tracks.  From my experience, it sure looked like an old freight depot.

Subsequently, I did a bit of research on the old passenger depot in Berea and I ran across this old photo.  It clearly shows the old wooden freight depot at the left a passenger train that is on a second set of tracks.  There was quite a crowd at the depot as trains were still the primary mode of transportation at that time.  Note all the old cars…very nifty photo.

As for the passenger rail service, in 1959, Louisville and Nashville Railroad’s, Pullman Sleeper service on the “Flamingo” was discontinued.  The “Flamingo” ran between Cincinnati Ohio and Jacksonville Florida but was later truncated to end in Atlanta.  Coach passenger service continued from Cincinnati to Atlanta until 1968.  The single set of tracks in the photo is still an active CSX freight line, with as many as 30 trains passing the station each day.

Some folks might find these hand sculptures a bit weird or unsettling.  It turns out that they were part of a public art project that was created back in 2003.  It was titled “Show of Hands” and reputedly there are 12 of these ‘hands’ scattered throughout the Berea.  They are about 6 feet tall with most of them being made from fiberglass…decorated as the artists envisioned them.  Directions to all 12 are reported to be available at the Welcome/Visitor’s Center.  To view photos of this creative ‘handiwork’, you can go to hands on display in berea ky - Bing images. 

Unfortunately, the one factor I didn’t consider was that despite Berea being a major tourist destination, Kentucky is still part of the Bible belt.  Look at all the closed stores right adjacent to the Visitor’s Center!  Only 2 stores were open…one right next to the depot and another one across the parking lot that allowed us to walk through but the proprietor was really setting up for a handicraft class.  Poor planning on my part…so we moved on to our next Lexington area attraction.

Our next attraction will be the topic of my next post…but eventually, Laurie and I did return to Berea for a little more shopping.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave