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.

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
The artifact – housed at the Pennyroyal Area Museum – was once housed outside of the historic Phoenix Building, which is slated for demolition.
By Alissa Keller
western union sign on bike rack
A closer look at a historic trunk housed by the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville & Christian County reveals more stories than one might expect.
By Alissa Keller
Revolutionary-Trunk-3
The Torah survives today because it was loaned to the local museum two years before the Jewish synagogue building collapsed in 1977.
By Alissa Keller
Hopkinsville’s Jewish synagogue, Temple Adath Israel, stood on Sixth Street from 1925 to 1977. (Photo from the collection of William T. Turner)
The silks were donated by the family of the late Henry G. Adcock, the Christian County man largely responsible for developing harness racing at the local fair.
By Alissa Keller
Two Christian County horsemen — H.G. Adcock (right) driving Lady Goose, a 2-year-old pacer, and Dave Mitchell driving Lucky Coin, a 5-year-old trotter — condition their horses during a morning workout prior to the Pennyroyal Fair races. The photo was taken in the mid-1950s. (From the collection of William T. Turner)
In this month's Snapshots in Time column, museum director Alissa Keller looks back at the Hopkinsville Fire Department run records — and what they reveal about a fateful night in October 1924.
By Alissa Keller
fire station after blaze
Richard Holland constructed and furnished the opera house in grand fashion for $25,000 to $30,000 in 1882. He was 23 years old when it opened to the public.
By Alissa Keller
A 1940s postcard image of downtown Hopkinsville includes Holland's Opera House, the three-story building with the Coca-Cola sign on the right. (From the collection of Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County)