Historic downtown buildings sell for $690,250

The former Cayce-Yost Department Store building and several other historic downtown buildings in Hopkinsville sold at auction for a combined $690,250.

The former Cayce-Yost Department Store building and several other historic properties in downtown Hopkinsville sold at auction Tuesday night for a combined $690,250.

Downtown Hopkinsville auction program

Harris Real Estate and Auction conducted the sale of the “Cayce Bros. Properties,” for longtime owners who included the heirs of Kenneth Cayce Jr. and D.D. Cayce III.

Most of the winning bidders are Hopkinsville business owners. One exception was a Nashville real estate agent.

The old Cayce-Yost building, which is now two properties in the 1000 block of South Main, will go to the current tenants — Jim Creighton, who owns Heirloom Tables at the corner of 10th Street, and Amanda Fitzpatrick, who owns Amanda’s Cupcakes. Creighton bid $141,000 for the two properties with the understanding that Fitzpatrick will eventually assume half the cost.

Others properties that sold included:

  • The Look Boutique and the former Bastin Optometric Clinic, South Main, and an 11th Street parking lot, $80,000, to Ghirmai Abraham, Nashville.
  • The former Market on Main building, which is occupied by a church, $87,500, to Michael Vance, Hopkinsville.
  • The Pennyroyal Building, South Main, Small Heart Day Care and an adjacent parking lot, South Virginia, and a parking lot at 12th and Main, $270,000, to Tyler Young and Taylor Thieke
  • A house at 1306 S. Campbell St., $13,000, to Ben Payne
  • A commercial building at 914 Walnut St., $36,000

The combined bids of $627,500, plus a 10 percent buyer’s premium, brought the auction total to $690,250.

“To my knowledge, there has never been an auction of this much downtown property at one time,” Christian County historian William T. Turner said.

Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.