LA GRANGE, Ky. — It could be the second-oldest standing courthouse in the state, or perhaps railroad tracks that run through the middle of town.
Regardless, everywhere you look, there’s history throughout the city of La Grange, Ky.
And now, the La Grange Elementary School has brought that history to life.
“So the idea first came about when I was first doing a site visit to Eminence Independent Schools up in Henry County and they had a whole hallway that had a history wall,” said Melinda Hadley, librarian at La Grange Elementary School.
La Grange Elementary is one of the oldest schools in Oldham County. Take a step in the library and this long history shows. The school recently created a history mural compiled from yearbook photos that date back to the early 1800s.
If you’re a local resident, you might spot yourself, your mom, or even your great grandfather in this collection.
“La Grange Elementary is probably one of the most important elementary schools because its history goes back to the 1840s and then a fire happened and they constructed this school at this site in 1911,” said Nancy Theiss, executive director of the Oldham County History Center.
It’s a project that Hadley and principal Heather Thomas have dreamed of for years.
“I’ve been a principal here for 12 years, but I’ve been a teacher here for 28,” said Thomas. “So after 28 years, I’ve seen grandparents, I’ve seen parents and now we have a third generation that has come through here.”
Because of the cost entailed, they didn’t think the creation of the mural was possible. That’s when the husband of the late Cathy Barnard offered to help. Barnard taught at Oldham County Schools for 11 years and became the district’s first woman principal.
“When someone wanted to donate money in honor of his wife who recently passed away, who happened to be the first female principal in all of Oldham County and she had been principal here,” Hadley said. “So he wanted to do something in her memory.”
With the project, the library has documented more than a century of school life. From sports to class photos and even graduations that start in black and white and turn to color over the years.
“I was in the last 8th grade graduation class of La Grange and that was in 1966,” Theiss said. “Up until 1953 we had several high schools in the county and then they consolidated into Oldham County High School in 1953.”
This is a mural that no doubt will bring a smile to many faces. And hopefully this process of memory preservation will continue.
“I would love the generation we have right now to send their children here and look back and do the same thing and say this is where I went to elementary school and be very proud of where they come from,” Thomas said.
It’s plain to see the mural is much cherished by this historic town.