Street Scenes, Fort Thomas, Kentucky

City Building & Fire Department
In a Jim Reis column in the May 17, 1999 Kentucky Post, he notes this building was built around
1885, cost $8,000, and served as a school, as well as the city building. It sat on the same
site as the current city building in Ft. Thomas, and was razed in 1967. The front of the
building (street side) is on the left side of this picture.

“Newport – John Meyer, a teamster in the employ of Peter Young, dairyman, was killed yesterday afternoon by the upsetting of a slop wagon which he was driving on Highland Avenue, about two miles from this city. His team ran away, and in trying to stop the horses he was thrown to the ground with the wagon on top of him.”
From the Commonwealth, December 13, 1877


Children in Fort Thomas location and date unknown, although I'd guess WWI-ish If you can locate it, please contact me.	Looking northerly from the mess hall, toward S. Ft. Thomas Ave. Think of it as looking up Rossmore toward the Avenue. And thanks to Brian Bolland for identifying the location for me.

The Masonic Building
Fort Thomas Lodge F. & A. M. No. 808

The lodge was organized at the Central School House, at Mt. Pleasant & Bluegrass
on March 30, 1908, and the first meeting at their new temple was on
December 27, 1909. It cost $5,747.04. The rejected an offer for it
from "the Presbyterians" in 1925 for $15,000.

The Reservoirs of Covington Water Works, Located in the Kentucky Highlands, 1903

This is Major Samuel Bigstaff. What did he do, you ask? Well, he came to Newport as a prisoner, having been wounded in the Civil War (he rode with Morgan), married a local girl, became a lawyer, worked for the company that built the Cincinnati Street Railway System, developed the Cote Brilliante section of Newport, created the streetcar lines to Fort Thomas, personally convinced General Sheridan to move Newport Barracks to the Fort Thomas site, laid out the Bonnie Leslie section of Bellevue, built the old Shortway Bridge, built the Inverness Country Club . . . Read the Jim Reis bio of him at this site. This is the man responsible for Fort Thomas, if not all of Campbell County, being what they are today.

This is the Joe Ross Bridge, across I-471.
Air Force Captain Joseph Shaw Ross's (1-26-1943 / 08-01-1968 ) plane went down in Vietnam.
The body was not recovered. I've not found additional information about Capt. Ross. If you can supply it,
I'd be happy to add it. You can contact me here.

Jack "Bullett Jack" Thoney
Major League Baseball Player from Fort Thomas
You can find his career stats here.

Did you know there was a
Fort Thomas in Arizona? Here.

Dispute over building the Highlands / Fort
Thomas Post Office, 1894, here.

"A few days ago a large oiled-paper balloon gracefully swept down upon the meadows at Mrs. Cumming's, at Highlands, four miles from Newport, Ky. An examination revealed the legend 'Carrie Lente, East New York, Long Island,' in a lady's chirography." from the New York Times, July 22, 1883.

Anybody ever heard of Weierick Avenue in Fort Thomas? How I know there was one.

"An enormous mudcat, measuring five feet in length and weighing 100 pounds, was fished out of the reservoir at Newport, Ky., a few days since. This is something out of the ordinary in the way of a fish story." from the Engineering News Record, 1880

Remember when they drove Elmore's, Fords, and Herreshoff's in Fort Thomas? Fort Thomas Auto Registrations, 1910 and 1911, are here.

Highland's graduate Lt. Col. Donald C. Faith received a Medal of Honor for his actions in Korea on November 27, 1950. Read his Wikipedia entry here.

C. B. Truesdale compiled a legal and incorporation history of Fort Thomas. You can read it here. (pdf) His cover letter, almost as long, is here. (pdf)

A 1970 study gave the chronological
history of Fort Thomas, here (pdf)

"The police of Fort Thomas are to be commended in their effort to stop speeding on the streets of Fort Thomas. Three children have lost their lives in the last 18 months. One child has been severely injured - this child happened to be the child of one of the policemen. The speed limit in the city proper is 15 miles in the congested district and 20 miles on all streets in the city. This safety measure is being rigidly enforced. Signs have been placed in the city limits warning the people of the speed law." from Motour, June, 1930.


The Covington Waterworks, 1914 (Sorry for the quality of the pic - best available)	Fort Thomas, Kentucky, The Covington Reservoir	Fort Thomas, Kentucky, The Covington Reservoir	The Reservoir in Military Park


Fort Thomas Avenue, Looking North from in front of Dietrich's Club House	Fort Thomas & Grand Avenues


Klainecrest at Grand, Fort Thomas	The Minshall farm, looking south, from near Klainecrest and Grand; note the streetcar tracks.


Fort Thomas Business District	Fort Thomas Business District	Fort Thomas Business District, 1948


Fort Thomas VFD, 1929	Fort Thomas VFD, 1941, personnel detailed here.	District of the Highlands VFD "The Chemical Wagon"


Alexandria Pike at Hawthorne June 28, 1929	Looking from Grandview towards the YMCA note the street car turning around	June 28, 1929 Ft. Thomas Avenue and US 27


We know this scene today as the Memorial Parkway	The New Post Office, 1941 The cornerstone was laid on April 27, 1940.


1883 Map of Highlands Area	Map of the Fort Thomas Streets & Voting Precincts, 1940	Fort Thomas, 1937. The brown area to the left is the extent of the '37 flood