After a brief and delightful visit to ArtsPlace, a facility operated by the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council in the downtown Lexington, I insouciantly ambled toward the Gratz Park Historic District nearby with colossal expectations to be vehemently wowed. The composed atmosphere of the park and grand 19th-century townhouses gradually transformed my big wows into a still and exquisite monotone with few startlingly loud interruptions by my camera’s shutter sound. I felt culpable for robbing the silence.

The Gratz Park Historic District, located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, comprised of a city park and sixteenth historical buildings, including the Hunt-Morgan House, the Bodley-Bullock House, the Carnegie Library. In 1793, the park was purchased by the Transylvania Seminary to be the location of its Lexington campus. The main building for the seminary, designed by Lexington architect Matthew Kennedy in 1816, was destroyed in the fire in 1829. The “Old Kitchen Building” was the only surviving building from the original campus in the park. In 1833, the “Old Morrison” building, designed by Kentucky architect Gideon Shryock, was completed under the supervision of Henry Clay as the only campus building in that era. The “Old Morrison” building was designated a Registered National Historical Landmark in 1966 and is now serving as the Administration Building in Transylvania University.