The Covington & Lexington Railroad (C&L) was incorporated in 1851 in Covington, Kentucky, and reached Lexington in eight years later as the Kentucky Central.(1)
In 1888, the C&L entered Cincinnati, Ohio over a new Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Bridge across the Ohio River.(1) Two years later, the railroad was acquired by the Louisville & Nashville (L&N).
In 1919, the line became known as the L&N Kentucky Division, then the Cincinnati Division in 1931.(1) It was transferred to the Seaboard System Railroad in 1982, then CSX in 1986. It is known as the CSX Cincinnati-Corbin Subdivision today.
Paris, Kentucky Passenger Depot
The Lexington and Covington Railroad train depot in Paris, Kentucky was constructed in 1853 after several years of “agitation.”(2) It was financed by $250,000 in private county subscriptions, but the line only extended south to Lexington. The station was not as much frequented until the railroad line was completed north to Covington in 1854 at a cost of $5 million.
The railroad was financially unstable and was reorganized as the Kentucky Central Railroad, later absorbed by the Louisville and Nashville.(2) In 1880, the line was purchased by C.P. Huntington of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Charloton Alexander, who owned most of the bourbon County stock. He served as local director.
The station was rescued from demolition in the mid 1970s and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.(2) It was rehabilitated with funds from the county, state and the Department of the Interior, and opened in 1985 as a Senior Citizens Center. It later became a restaurant.
Gallery
Sources
- Tipton, Rick. “The PRR in Cincinnati.” The Pennsylvania Railroad in Cincinnati. By Rick Tipton and Chuck Blardone. Altoona: Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 2004. 3-103.
- Langsan, Walter E., and William Gus Johnson. Historic Architecture of Bourbon County, Kentucky. N.p.: Historic Paris-Bourbon County, Inc., 1985. 274.
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