Tour of African American Sites in Paris

1. On permanent display at the Paris Bourbon County Library, located at 701 High St., are exhibits on African-American jockeys and trainers, several with Bourbon County connections. Among the jockeys included in the display are: James "Soup" Perkins, Alonzo Clayton, William Walker, "Babe" Hurd, George Garrett Lewis, Erskine Henderson, Isaac Murphy, Willie Simms, Oliver Lewis, James Winkfield and Oliver Lewis. Isaac Murphy is probably the best known of the jockeys listed as he was the first African-American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times. One of his most memorable racing moments was the 1891 Kentucky Derby when he rode Kingman to victory in record time. Bourbon County is one of the places mentioned as a possible birthplace for Murphy as his exact birth date and birthplace are unknown. African-American trainers included are: Ed Brown, Raleigh "Roller" Colston, Dudley Allen, William Perkins, Ansel Anderson and William "Uncle Billy" Walker.
   
   
2. The Seventh St. Christian Church is located directly across the street from the library parking lot. The church was built in 1870 by a group of African-American who had been members of the First Christian Church. One of the early pastors was Brother Stafford Campbell, who served as pastor from 1899 until 1942. According to the church history, Brother Stafford walked many Sundays from Lexington to Paris in order to be with his congregation.
   
   
3. Site of Western School, where thousands of Bourbon County African-American children were educated between the late 1880s and 1967, is marked with a stone marker at the corner of 7th. St. and Western Way. The famed African-American orator Roscoe Conkling Simmons, nephew of Booker T. Washington, delivered the 1917 Western High School graduation address and returned to speak at the 1922 Western graduation ceremonies held at the Paris Opera House. One of the most well-known of the early principals of Western is F.M. Wood. He became principal of the school in 1911 and oversaw many improvements, including the addition of a 12th year of classes which became mandatory for graduation and the absorption of the Claysville and Ruckerville school students into the Western student body. In 1923, Professor Wood was named as president of Kentucky State University in Frankfort. The last Western principal was William "Chief" Reed, who served in that position from 1943 until the school was changed to a junior high school as part of an integrated system in 1966. He was also the basketball coach and led the Western Tigers to the National Negro High School Basketball Championship in 1952. Western School was torn down in the 1970s.
   
   
4. On 8th St., two additional early African-American churches are located including First Baptist Church, located at 128 W. 8th St. and Zion Baptist Church located at 312 W. 8th. First Baptist was built in 1858 and Zion Baptist was founded in 1855 as the First African Baptist Church of Paris by the Rev. Elisha W. Green. Rev. Green was born a slave in 1816 in Bourbon County and became a Baptist minister in 1845. Around 1856, he purchased his freedom, but most of his family remained slaves. In 1860 he purchased freedom for the rest of his family with the exception of his son who was sold and never heard from again.
   
   
5. Farther down High St. is St. Paul United Methodist Church - located at 1117 High St. The church building was constructed between 1870 and 1876 after a tornado destroyed the congregation's earlier church - the Cottontown Methodist Church that dated back to 1853. St Paul was one of the charter members of the Lexington conference that was formed in 1879 as a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church. St Paul Methodist Church is the oldest black Methodist church in Kentucky and the oldest African-American church in the county.
   
   
6. On the corner of 10th and Vine Sts., is an historical marker recognizing the birthplace of the famous African-American inventor, Garrett Morgan. Morgan invented the tri-color traffic signal, forerunner of the present traffic light and a gas mask worn in rescue work in Cleveland, Ohio in 1916. His gas mask design was the basis for one used during World War I. Among his many awards was the first grand prize of the 2nd International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in 1914. In addition to the highway marker, there is a permanent exhibit on Garrett Morgan on display at the Hopewell Museum, 800 Pleasant St. The exhibit was given to the museum by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation which used the exhibit for several years to educate school groups on Garrett Morgan, for whom the national educational program was named.
   
   Also recognized on the marker is the Branch School where Morgan received his early education. The school was located in the neighborhood of Claysville, which is adjacent to the marker. Claysville was one of the early black settlements which sprang up after the Civil War when newly freed slaves needed a place to live. According to research done by Claysville residents Lawrence Kellis and Minnie J. Hitch for a handout that was distributed at for the marker dedication ceremony in 1976, the settlement was sold in small lots by Samuel H. Clay and his wife Julia. One of the homes built in the new settlement was that of the Rev. Garrett Reed, Garrett Morgan's maternal grandfather.
   
   "The little settlement of Claysville was a mecca for Negroes who often wandered around seeking gainful employment or enjoying their newly found freedom from the plantations. The church became a focal point of interest with soul saving its primary objective; thus Reverend Garrett Reed's home became a shelter for many who were seeking to adjust to their new way of life," reads a portion of the handout.
   
   Besides the church, the other important institution in Claysville was the school. The Branch School offered a chance for education that was unavailable to African-Americans before the Civil War. The handout also gives a first-person account of the activities at the Branch School where teachers earned as little as 50 cents per student per week. "Our school curriculum included reading, arithmetic, language, spelling, writing, geography, history and singing. The highlight of our school week came every Friday afternoon when programs were given with the folding doors opened to make an auditorium, there was prayer, Scripture reading, singing, reciting poems from Paul L. Dunbar and others, spelling bees, mental arithmetic races and other games. This kind of program gave the students a fine chance to develop their talents; and it made us feel that life was worth living - even a joy!"
   
   
7. Cedar Heights Cemetery, also known as the Paris Colored Cemetery and originally owned by the African Cemetery Company, is located in the 1900 block of Cypress St. It contains graves of African-Americans who died in Bourbon County dating back to the late 1800s. There is a listing of most of the names on the markers in the small building located just inside the entrance of the cemetery.