1884 - Woodland Historic District
Woodland Christian Church reflects the historical, visual, and cultural character of Lexington’s Woodlands Historic District. Woodland Park was established in 1884 when the Woodland Association began to subdivide Kentucky State Senator James Trotter’s “Woodland” farm, adjacent to the present church.
The park boasted a magnificent grove of many large trees along with 222 buildings, consisting primarily of single-family residences with some professional, commercial, and religious structures as well. Kentucky State Superintendent of Instruction W. L. Davidson described the park like this:
“Under the giant oaks scattered thickly about the grounds can be found ample shade, green grass makes a velvety carpet everywhere; walkways wind among the trees; fountains kissed by the sun blossom into rainbows, while flowers nestling in tastefully made beds fling their fragrance on the air.”
Woodland Park has been the site of political rallies, performances, arts fairs, fireworks, Chautauqua meetings, lectures, and speeches from national figures. In the days before radio, when illiteracy was rampant, education for most people came from public gatherings, including church. There was a rising interest in providing children with a basic education that included elementary reading, and writing, and enough math to avoid being swindled in the marketplace. The ability to sign one’s name became the test for literacy.
A fledgling public school system had just gotten started when it was decimated by the Civil War. But postbellum interest in public education was on the rise and more teachers were going to be needed. The Kentucky Chautauqua Assembly began in Woodland Park to great popularity and provided many days of programming. Prof. Ruric N. Roark conducted the School of Pedagogy including lessons on Language Arts, Arithmetic, History, Civics, and even how to open and manage own school. Dr. M. M. Parkhurst conducted a minister’s Institute that promised to provide many topics for free discussion and leave preachers with ample material for many sermons.
The city took over Woodland Park and created the Lexington Chautauqua in 1904. When the state of Kentucky chartered the Eastern Kentucky Normal School, in Richmond in 1906, Dr. Roark was named its first president.
The park boasted a magnificent grove of many large trees along with 222 buildings, consisting primarily of single-family residences with some professional, commercial, and religious structures as well. Kentucky State Superintendent of Instruction W. L. Davidson described the park like this:
“Under the giant oaks scattered thickly about the grounds can be found ample shade, green grass makes a velvety carpet everywhere; walkways wind among the trees; fountains kissed by the sun blossom into rainbows, while flowers nestling in tastefully made beds fling their fragrance on the air.”
Woodland Park has been the site of political rallies, performances, arts fairs, fireworks, Chautauqua meetings, lectures, and speeches from national figures. In the days before radio, when illiteracy was rampant, education for most people came from public gatherings, including church. There was a rising interest in providing children with a basic education that included elementary reading, and writing, and enough math to avoid being swindled in the marketplace. The ability to sign one’s name became the test for literacy.
A fledgling public school system had just gotten started when it was decimated by the Civil War. But postbellum interest in public education was on the rise and more teachers were going to be needed. The Kentucky Chautauqua Assembly began in Woodland Park to great popularity and provided many days of programming. Prof. Ruric N. Roark conducted the School of Pedagogy including lessons on Language Arts, Arithmetic, History, Civics, and even how to open and manage own school. Dr. M. M. Parkhurst conducted a minister’s Institute that promised to provide many topics for free discussion and leave preachers with ample material for many sermons.
The city took over Woodland Park and created the Lexington Chautauqua in 1904. When the state of Kentucky chartered the Eastern Kentucky Normal School, in Richmond in 1906, Dr. Roark was named its first president.
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