McAdams and Morford Building
National Register of Historic Places

McAdams and Morford Building

Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
Listed
October 24, 1973
Type
Building
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
73000799

About this property

The McAdams and Morford Building in Lexington, Kentucky, also known as the Melodeon Hall, is a 3-story commercial building constructed in 1849. An Italianate cast iron facade was added after 1857. Druggists McAdams & Morford occupied a corner space in the building 1898–1994. The building was home to Lexington's Melodeon Hall, a theater and meeting space with seating for 300 patrons. Robert Jefferson Breckinridge addressed a gathering at the Melodeon in 1861, and his remarks helped to preserve Kentucky as a Union state during the American Civil War, although Kentucky maintained separate Union and Confederate state governments during the war. The University of Kentucky (Transylvania University) Commercial College occupied the building for 35 years under the direction of Wilbur R. Smith. In 1908 the college was incorporated separately from the university as the Wilbur R. Smith Business College. In 2017 a vehicle damaged the building, and repair workers uncovered arches from the cast iron facade that had been hidden by previous remodeling. The McAdams and Morford logo appears on the cover of the 2000 album The Sickness from the nu-metal group, Disturbed.

Location

200-210 W. Main St.
Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky
38.04736, -84.49840

Categories

POLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTUREPERFORMING ARTS
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Fayette National Bank Building
Civil War
0 mi
Morgan, John Hunt, Memorial
Listed
0 mi
Fayette National Bank (Boundary Increase)
Industrial
0 mi
Lexington City National Bank Building
Industrial
0 mi
Higgins Block
Civil War
0 mi

Nearby Battles

Morgan's Raid on Lexington, Kentucky (Sep 1862)
1862Civil War
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was McAdams and Morford Building listed on the National Register?

McAdams and Morford Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 24, 1973.

What type of historic resource is McAdams and Morford Building?

McAdams and Morford Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for McAdams and Morford Building?

The period of significance for McAdams and Morford Building is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1849.

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