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History

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.
Alhambra Theatre constructed in 1928 as part of a municipal building
Jennifer P. Brown•
The theater opened in May 1928 to show silent movies accompanied by musicians in the orchestra pit between the stage and the auditorium. It closed within a year to be updated for sound movies.
Alhambra Theatre
Philanthropist John C. Latham’s boyhood home became Virginia Park
Jennifer P. Brown•
A gift from Latham to the city upon his death in 1909 also resulted in the creation of Peace Park at the opposite downtown corner from Virginia Park.
Virginia Park band stand
Riverside Cemetery headstone reveals an interesting piece of Hopkinsville history
Jennifer P. Brown•
A search for M. Ted Jacobs Sr. on a popular cemetery research website provides details of his life here after growing up in New Orleans.
IMG_0986-1
Basketball owes its jump shot to a college innovator who graduated from Hopkinsville High School
Jennifer P. Brown•
After high school, John Miller Cooper became a basketball star at the University of Missouri.
John-Miller-Cooper-high-school-team
Round Table Literary Park, tucked into a grove of trees at Hopkinsville Community College, dates to 1974
Jennifer P. Brown•
The park features a replica of King Arthur’s sword in a large stone, a Round Table surrounded by 24 stone seats and a Graeco-Roman amphitheater with a sculpture of Melpomene.
Round-Table-Park
Fewer than 200 people lived in Hopkinsville at the start of the 19th century
Jennifer P. Brown•
The city has seen varying degrees of growth with each decennial census. The 1950s marked Hopkinsville's largest population jump.
Downtown Hopkinsville Business Section Postcard
City’s old clock tower heralds a hopeful message in our modern crisis
Jennifer P. Brown•
Gov. Andy Beshear has asked Kentuckians to display green lights as a symbol of compassion and renewal.
Green-Light-Clocktower_COVID19
Hopkinsville’s official city seal includes a nod to the Pennyroyal plant
Jennifer P. Brown•
The plant has a fragrance similar to spearmint. In certain quanities, the plant's extract is toxic.
Pennyroyal plant
Hopkinsville took big steps in 1895 toward modern conveniences
Jennifer P. Brown•
Also that year, the Kentucky Press Association met for a convention in Hopkinsville's Hotel Latham.
Hotel Latham in Hopkinsville
County historian joins church bell-ringing from his farm, recalls historic milestones marked by bells
Jennifer P. Brown•
The governor asked churches across the state to simultaneously ring their bells. This is the first Sunday churches are not able to have in-person worship because of the coronavirus.
William Turner ringing bell
Susan B. Anthony spoke in 1879 to a Hopkinsville audience that overwhelmingly did not support women’s suffrage
Jennifer P. Brown•
The South Kentuckian newspaper reported on Anthony's speech and stated local men "don't want the woman dabbling in politics ..."
Womens-suffrage-susan-b-anthony-feature
Gant Gaither, an artist and Hollywood and Broadway producer, grew up in Hopkinsville
Jennifer P. Brown•
The son of a local surgeon, he graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1935. Working in New York after World War II, he became friends with Grace Kelly.
Gaither-scarf-feature