Alissa Keller

Alissa Keller is the executive director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County. She’s a graduate of Centre College with degrees in history and English and of Clemson University/College of Charleston with a master’s degree in historic preservation. She serves on the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance boards.

The artifact featured in this month's Snapshots in Time column served as an inspiration for the menu at the museum's upcoming gala.
By Alissa Keller
hotel latham spoon
Found on the floor in the basement shortly after the building was chosen as the site for the Pennyroyal Area Museum, these pages provide insight into the construction of this landmark on the downtown streetscape.
By Alissa Keller
Snapshots Blueprints Keller
The dress, which is on display at the Pennyroyal Area Museum, is connected to one of the most famous people and one of the most notable events of the early 20th century.
By Alissa Keller
(Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
In this month's Snapshots in Time column, Alissa Keller details the history behind a 1978 Christian County cookbook — and highlights from a recent event inspired by its recipes.
By Alissa Keller
Alissa Keller stirs caramel icing during a Supper Club demonstration on Thursday, June 23, 2024, at the Pennyroyal Area Museum. The icing went on a Kentucky jam cake featured in the 1978 cookbook by Lucile Van Cleve Wallace. (Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
After running a hotel in the heart of Hopkinsville, proprietor Burwell C. Ritter was elected to Congress and was serving in Washington, D.C., at the time of Lincoln's assassination.
By Alissa Keller
Lotspeich ledger
In January, readers chose the artifact they'd like museum director Alissa Keller to feature next. Here's that column.
By Alissa Keller
(Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
Before he became internationally famous as a psychic, Cayce earned his living for several years as a photographer in Hopkinsville and other cities.
By Alissa Keller
A glass negative, from the collection of Edgar Cayce's photography, as seen through a light table at Pennyroyal Area Museum. (Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
Cowan Brooks, the son of Dr. Philip Carruthers Brooks, donated the artifact to the Pennyroyal Area Museum shortly after the death of his father.
By Alissa Keller
brooks hospital exhibit
It came from the estate of Dr. Bertha Beazley, one among a small number of female dentists practicing in Kentucky during the mid-20th century.
By Alissa Keller
This artificial eye is one of the smallest artifacts in the Pennyroyal Area Museum's collection. (Hoptown Chronicle photo by Jennifer P. Brown)
Among the scarves designed by Gant Gaither in the Pennyroyal Area Museum's collection is one depicting ice skating horses.
By Alissa Keller
Gaither-featured
For 40 years, parking meters lined the streets of downtown Hopkinsville, during a period of industrial progress that eventually drove people — and parking meters — out of the city's center.
By Alissa Keller
Two parking meters that were previously installed in downtown Hopkinsville are part of the permanent collection at the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville & Christian County. (Photo submitted)
Mary Kimbrough Stoner's story is revealed through book of poetry "The Cardinal Cat," which includes a tribute — in verse — to Hopkinsville.
By Alissa Keller
The-Cardinal-Cat_Mary-Stoner_Inside-Cover