Local museum highlights Hopkinsville history during downtown summer stroll

On the stroll, Keller recounted how local churches nursed wounded Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, "Night Riders" burned three tobacco warehouses in 1907, the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses at six intersections in 1924 and more.

The Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County hosted a “Downtown Summer Stroll” on Friday evening to showcase Hopkinsville history.

Alissa Keller, executive director of the organization, led the group from East Ninth Street to Main Street, explaining the historical significance of landmarks along the way.

alissa keller leads downtown summer stroll on hopkinsville history
Alissa Keller (front, holding tablet and bottle) leads the stroll down East Ninth Street in Hopkinsville. (Photo by Dustin Wilcox, WKMS)

“[Local history] gives us all a sense of place, of where we are, where we’re from and where we can go with that,” Keller said. “I think it’s really important for us to connect back to those and stories and those people and those places that came before us and to allow that to help build our identity as a community.”

Kalleb and Bennett Greene said they attended the Downtown Summer Stroll because they both grew up in Hopkinsville and have “always been interested in local history.”

“We haven’t been to the new museum, and we’ve been excited to see it,” Bennett Greene said, referring to the renovation project that concluded in 2020. “So we’re excited to have this in Hopkinsville and have things to do on the weekends and support our local museum.”

hopkinsville history tour
Alissa Keller (left, wearing backpack and holding tablet) shares Hopkinsville history in front of the museum on East Ninth Street. (Photo by Dustin Wilcox, WKMS)

On the stroll, Keller recounted how local churches nursed wounded Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, “Night Riders” burned three tobacco warehouses in 1907, the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses at six intersections in 1924 and more.

Justin Combs, another attendee, said he enjoyed spending his Friday night learning about local history, and he learned things he hadn’t yet studied on his own.

“We have a very rich and vivid history in this community, being one of the larger cities in Western Kentucky,” Combs said. “Especially being on the ground, you get to see what was there and what is now or maybe what still is there. It’s nice to get out, enjoy the community, and appreciate the things around you.”

For more information on the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, visit them in-person on East Ninth Street in Hopkinsville, or online at their Facebook page or website.

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Dustin Wilcox is a student at Murray State University majoring in journalism with minors in Japanese and media production. He graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 2019. Since 2017, he has run Wilcox Arcade, a news blog covering the arcade industry. Wilcox began writing for RePlay Magazine, a trade publication for coin-operated amusements, in 2018. He has contributed writing to Cultured Vultures and editorial art to the Murray State News. He also produced a season of MSU2Nite alongside five of his friends for class. When not writing for WKMS, Wilcox can be found cashiering at Five Below in Hopkinsville. His hobbies include playing video games, watching cartoons and listening to various strands of rock.