History Lover's Guide to Lexington & Central Kentucky

The Athens of the West. The Horse Capital of the World. The Home to the Greatest Tradition in College Basketball. Heart of the Bluegrass. Lexington has a lot of names and an even richer history. The region played an oversized role in America's educational, political, religious and cultural development. Visit a historic AME church in downtown Lexington that was a stop on the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves. Walk through fifteen local historic districts. Explore an equine cemetery. Join historians Foster Ockerman Jr. and Peter Brackney on a tour through historic sites and buildings in Lexington and central Kentucky.

Peter Brackney is an attorney who practices law in his adopted hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. He is a double alumnus of the University of Kentucky and has served on the boards of different local history and historic preservations organizations. He has previously written Lost Lexington, which chronicles the backstories of Lexington's landmarks that have been lost to history, and The Murder of Geneva Hardman and Lexington's Mob Riot of 1920, which delve into dark chapters of central Kentucky's history. He has blogged since 2009 at www.thekaintuckeean.com and lives in Jessamine County with his wife and three children.

Foster Ockerman Jr., a Lexington native and seventh-generation Kentuckian, is a historian as well as a practicing attorney. A graduate of the University of North Carolina (1974, American history) and the University of Kentucky College of Law (1977), he has represented or served on the boards of numerous nonprofits and foundations at the local, state and national levels. He is a founding trustee of the Lexington History Museum Inc. He now serves the museum as president and chief historian. He was named the Outstanding Citizen Lawyer by the Fayette County Bar Association in 2018. He is also a former rock-and-roll disc jockey and a retired professional soccer referee. Ockerman is the author of five works of history, including Historic Lexington, the most recent history of Lexington, Kentucky; an anthology of his poetry; and The Ockerman Genealogical Project, as well as numerous opinion essays. His most recent book, The Hidden History of Horse Racing, was published by The History Press in March 2019. He was also historian for the Emmy Award-winning documentary Belle Brezing. Foster is married to Reverend Martina Y. Ockerman (United Methodist Church). They have two daughters and two grandchildren.