Glimpse into the past

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 6, 2007

Swimmers and boaters enjoy water near the Barren River Dam in 1940.

Hidden and long-forgotten glimpses of Warren County life are coming to light once more, dug out of family collections and local archives.

The Historic Preservation Board is partnering with other local groups interested in history to make digital copies of pictures and recordings more than 30 years old, seeking to borrow those items from their owners to supplement public collections. Just a few weeks into the yearlong &#8220Sights and Sounds of Warren County” project, Robin Zeigler, county historic preservation planner, said some unique views have already turned up in the hands of local residents: films from the 1930s to the 1950s, black-and-white and color photographs, and slides.

&#8220We’ve gotten probably about nine different people actually bringing their things by,” she said. &#8220I’m really excited about what we’ve gotten so far.”

Several more people have called to promise interesting items, but haven’t shown up yet, Zeigler said.

Some of the most interesting items came from the collection of Bowling Green Municipal Utilities.

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After reading about the &#8220Sights and Sounds” project, BGMU managers asked a former employee where their own photo archives might be, said Miles McDaniel, BGMU manager of Business Development & Marketing. That employee then spoke to Zeigler, who with Kentucky Library Special Collections Librarian Jonathan Jeffrey browsed the entire collection for interesting items.

Past utility employees probably took most of the shots and simply filed them away, McDaniel said.

&#8220I don’t know exactly how they came to be in our archives,” he said.

BGMU is working on its own photo museum at the Water Treatment Plant, and will use many of the photos in that, McDaniel said.

The BGMU collection gave rare insight on the building of local infrastructure, Jeffrey said. One shot showed workmen cleaning out an open-air reservoir on the hill where the BGMU water tower now stands. Water pumped up from the Barren River was held there, giving the rise its old official name of &#8220Reservoir Hill.”

&#8220That’s not something that people would normally take photographs of,” he said.

A closely related shot showed construction of the round ground-level water tank now atop the hill, which at that time was the biggest such tank in the country, Jeffrey said.

One very old picture shows utility workers in the process of burying Whiskey Run creek, which still flows through the storm sewer system beneath Center Street. The Whiskey Run outfall still emerges in the Barren River near downtown, but the creek’s very existence is now unknown to most people. Mike Gardner, Water-Sewer Systems manager for BGMU, guessed the Whiskey Run picture might date to the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the dam on Barren River Lake was built, Barren River floods rose so high that people on the bridges could lean over and touch the water, and some of BGMU’s pictures illustrate that, Jeffrey said.

When pictures, film or audio recordings are loaned to &#8220Sights and Sounds,” they will be copied onto CD or DVD for the Kentucky Library & Museum, then the original will be returned to the owner – along with another free digital copy. Each item will probably be kept for a couple of weeks, or the originals can be donated to the Kentucky Library and a copy will still be made for the former owner, Zeigler said.

Of the items brought in so far, all but one – which is still being copied – have been returned unharmed to their owners, Zeigler said.

Project organizers are particularly interested in candid shots of the Shake Rag area and other neighborhoods, family films or snapshots that show off the countryside or old buildings, the Historic L&N Depot, the Warren County Courthouse, Hobson Grove, and the old steam plant and historic boat landing on the Barren River.

Even if owners don’t know exactly when or where pictures were taken, they’re still worth bringing in – the Kentucky Library staff is expert at dating pictures from visible clothes and cars, and has a good chance of figuring out which old buildings are shown, Zeigler said. Items less than 30 years old won’t be turned down if they’re significant.

Things submitted for copying may be used in future publications or research at the Kentucky Library, and some will show up on &#8220Warren County Preserves,” an Insight Channel 5 show dealing with local preservation issues.

The Kentucky Historical Society and the Landmark Association each contributed $250 to the copying project, and Insight Communications is producing advertisements.

– Items may be dropped off for copying at the City-County Planning Commission office at 1141 State St. between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, or mailed to Robin Zeigler at 1141 State St., Bowling Green, KY 42101. Zeigler can also pick up items. Call 842-1953 to schedule.