Protecting the Places Where Our Stories Begin
Our Story
The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation is a grassroots, membership-based nonprofit that serves as Central Kentucky’s resource for protecting, revitalizing, and promoting our historic places, enhancing the quality of life for all.
The Blue Grass Trust was founded in 1955 by a spirited group of Lexington citizens determined to save Hopemont from demolition. This group raised funds to purchase and restore Hopemont, an 1814 residence of the John Wesley Hunt family, located in Gratz Park. In 1958, due largely to this restoration, Gratz Park became Lexington's first local historic district. Today, Lexington has fifteen local historic districts. Still under our stewardship, Hopemont represents the birth of the preservation movement in Central Kentucky.
Over the years, the Blue Grass Trust has helped save many other historic structures, including the Dudley House, Shakertown of Pleasant Hill, the Adam Rankin House, Henry Clay’s Law Office, Belle Brezing’s Row Houses, the Mary Todd Lincoln House, the Stilfield Log House, Benjamin Latrobe’s Pope Villa, and most recently the Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan House and Historic Palmer Pharmacy. The Blue Grass Trust also stewards three other properties: Latrobe's Pope Villa at 326 Grosvenor Avenue; the Endicott Cottage at 322 Grosvenor Avenue; and the Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan House at 210 N. Broadway, which includes the H. Foster Pettit Auditorium and the offices of the Blue Grass Trust.
Now into our seventh decade, the Blue Grass Trust continues to provide valuable advocacy, education, and service to the preservation movement in Lexington, Central Kentucky, and throughout the state, ensuring the tangible and intangible benefits of preservation are accessible to every Central Kentuckian.
Celebrating Seven Decades of Making Preservation Possible
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We are proud to announce our 70th anniversary in 2025! To mark this major milestone, we are launching a year-long series of events, initiatives, and special programs to celebrate our legacy and to highlight our important mission of preserving Kentucky’s historic structures, diverse communities, and compelling stories. These presentations, events, and publications are designed to bring together the community to reflect on the past, present, and future of Kentucky's preservation moment.
“We are excited to celebrate this significant moment in the history of the Blue Grass Trust,” said Executive Director Dr. Jonathan Coleman. “But this year is not only a great chance to honor our rich past; it’s also an excellent opportunity to share and expand upon our continued commitment to preserving the places and histories that make Lexington and Central Kentucky unique. We invite everyone to join us in this celebration and discover the role they can play in the ongoing work to protect our historic places.”
Some key events and initiatives throughout the year will include:
Blue Grass Trust History Harvest: Do you have stories, photographs, or artifacts that help tell the history of the Blue Grass Trust and historic preservation in Central Kentucky? We’d love to learn more! Reach out to our Executive Director at jcoleman@bluegrasstrust.org.
70th Anniversary Founders’ Day: A special celebration event bringing together supporters, preservationists, and community leaders to commemorate 70 years of historic preservation will be hosted at Hopemont in July
A New Tour the Historic Bluegrass: A virtual and free curated tour surveying the earliest stone and log structures in Fayette County, sponsored by Kentucky Humanities and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will launch this summer.
Special deTours: Visit iconic sites throughout Central Kentucky which the Blue Grass Trust helped save over its seventy-year history through our ever-popular monthly deTours.
Additionally, we will continue our ongoing education, service, and advocacy work, supporting policies and efforts that protect historic sites and raise awareness about the importance of preservation.
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Learn about the history and impact that the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation has had in Central Kentucky throughout the years by watching this comprehensive presentation by Dr. Zak Leonard.
At the Blue Grass Trust, We Are…
Connection Makers
We bridge the gap between people and places. Our focus is on cultivating strong relationships with Central Kentuckians and making people feel connected to their heritage and their sense of place.
Facilitators, Not Regulators
We provide solutions, not problems. We are a friendly and accessible support for our community, offering services and resources that reduce barriers to preservation.
Stewards of Historic Places
We are champions of the past and its places, focused on protecting, revitalizing and promoting the historic sites that have shaped our diverse culture.
Our Mission
The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation is Central Kentucky’s resource for protecting, revitalizing, and promoting our historic places, enhancing the quality of life for all.
Our Vision
Our vision is to live in a community that honors its diverse cultural legacies through historic preservation.
Our Values
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Education
We will share the value of historic preservation with Central Kentucky.
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Advocacy
We will lend our voice to historic preservation efforts in our Central Kentucky communities.
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Service
We will serve as a resource and guide to help Central Kentuckians in their historic preservation efforts.
Solidarity Statement
As a preservation-focused organization that seeks to protect historic places around us, the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation acknowledges the pivotal role the Black community has played in the creation of our cherished buildings. Just as we seek to protect and support African American history and spaces, the board and staff of the Blue Grass Trust stands with the Black community in the call for justice and racial equality.
Without action, talk is hollow. Here are specific ways we plan to move forward, honoring our mission to be Central Kentucky’s resource for protecting, revitalizing, and promoting our historic places, enhancing the quality of life for all:
We commit to tell the stories of our historic structures with a wider lens and ensure the recorded history of our properties is not whitewashed.
We will highlight with sensitivity the stories we tell and the viewpoints we use to include Black voices connected to historic properties. As we continue the restoration of Pope Villa, we pledge to research and include stories of the enslaved workers to both focus on their humanity and to celebrate their profound contribution.
We will expand our efforts to protect properties, such as the Palmer Pharmacy, that are part of the built and cultural legacy of the Black community.
We vow to listen to Black voices and be receptive to suggestions on how we can do and be better. We are stronger when we work together and consider viewpoints other than our own.
Annual Report
Blue Grass Trust Recognition
1996 - Ida Lee Willis for Service to Preservation award to BGT for Primary Heritage Education Curriculum
2006 - Ida Lee Willis for Service to Preservation award to BGT as an organization
2013 - Ida Lee Willis for Service to Preservation award to BGT deTours program
2014 - Preservation Kentucky Helen Dedman Preservation Advocate Award to BGT for the work of CPC/ED com
2015 - Downtown Lexington Corporation Perfect Partner Award to BGT deTours program
2022 - Kentucky History Award for our digital app and website, Tour the Historic Bluegrass
2024 - Kentucky Historical Society Thomas D. Clark Award of Excellence to Blue Grass Trust for outstanding contributions to historic preservation
“Thank goodness the Blue Grass Trust was formed... and is still working tirelessly to promote the historical beauty of the Bluegrass.”
— Jon Carloftis, Jon Carloftis Fine Gardens
