APNA 100th Birthday:  Tree Walk

HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY!
  
First, a note on our neighborhood’s earliest history-

In early 1902, Judge Henry Clay McDowell (Henry Clay’s great grandson) began development planning along the western edge of the 660 acre Ashland Estate with a new road running from McDowell Blvd (now Richmond Road) to the Tates Creek Pike. This new road was named Hanover Avenue in honor of the Virginia county where Henry Clay was born. Hanover became the first residential street of Ashland Park noted in Lexington city directory (1908) and its median was a trolley route (1908-1938).

To design the development of this 95 acres, Judge McDowell contracted with the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline Massachusetts, an internationally renowned landscape architecture firm.

Their 1908 residential plan however was largely not implemented until after a group of Lexington businessmen purchased the 95 acre remainder in July 1919 and began building homes, thus giving birth to the first Ashland residential neighborhood- our Ashland Park.

This is why we regard 1920 as the start of our neighborhood. Home Construction proceeded quickly- by 1923 the city directory notes streets of Desha, Fincastle, Fontaine, and Slashes Roads, and by 1934 this development was fully built.

With this in mind, it is my pleasure and honor, on behalf of the APNA Board (itself founded in 1970, 50 years ago) to wish each and every one of our Ashland Park neighbors a Happy 100th Birthday!

And as promised last month, and also within the parameters of our ongoing pandemic, the Centennial Committee of the Board invites you and yours to the following first centennial activity for this great fall week ahead.

Ashland Park Tree Walk- as Lexington’s most forest-canopied neighborhood , we invite you to self-select a day and time best for you to walk our trees. We have map and 4 types of tree leaves printed in a small info brochure to guide and challenge and inform! Look for these brochures in the Free Take One realtor boxes installed adjacent to APNA Centennial banners beginning tomorrow morning, Saturday. These 2-3 banner and brochure pickup locations will be in our street medians.

Our Tree Walk coincides exactly with Lexington’s annual Tree Week if you have the opportunity to take advantage of those activities as well.

The Tree Walk and flyers will only be available for 1 week Oct 10-17 before the Centennial Committee announces its next fun and safe Walk activity that you may choose to partake.

My thanks to the Centennial Committee for so thoughtfully and carefully selecting and offering these activities enabling individually chosen, safe, and fun outside activity this Fall and offering a simple way to celebrate our Ashland Park 100th.

Happy Birthday, Y'all !

Mark Streety

421-2662

Friday, October 9
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