Posted in Kentucky
July 15, 2021
These 12 Candid Photos Show What Life Was Like In Kentucky In The 1920s
The Bluegrass State has a fascinating history. A Southern state through and through, there are certain things that are an inextricable part of Kentucky culture: horses, bourbon, fried chicken, and scenic splendor as deep and grand as our superlative caverns and waterfalls. While the world has changed so much in the last 100 years, these places and values form the fabric of Kentucky, and remain as strong as ever today. We’re feeling nostalgic, so we thought we’d share some photos of Kentucky from the 1920s that capture the spirit of that pivotal decade.


The Roaring Twenties were monumental for the Derby. 1920, American Thoroughbred Paul Johns was crowned the winner in a thrilling, nail-biter of a race.

Pictured here is Man o' War with trainer J. Bryan Martin.


Pictured here is a Kentucky coal miner in Jenkins, Kentucky.

The park opened July 1, 1941, but the photograph here is from much earlier. This photograph was taken during the teens, when Mammoth Cave housed the first tuberculosis "Consumptive's Room" in the country.

In the late teens, the women's suffrage movement was strong in Kentucky. After Congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, Bluegrass suffragettes were proud to watch Governor Edwin P. Morrow sign Kentucky's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Columbus is the oldest town in the Jackson Purchase, the American westward expansion that purchased thousands of acres from Paducah to Memphis from the Chickasaw Nation. Today, it's a wonderful place to visit both for its rich history and its beautiful scenery.

Photographed here is a family in Caldwell County circa 1920.


Here, folks are entering the kitchen wing of Federal Mansion, which is now known as "My Old Kentucky Home" for its connection with American composer Stephen Foster's anti-slavery ballad of the same name.

It's also home to the acclaimed Kentucky Hot Brown, a hot, cheesy, open-faced turkey sandwich. This is one relic from the 1920s that's absolutely stood the test of time!
Did you enjoy perusing these photos of Kentucky in the 1920s? While a lot has changed, the heart and soul of the Bluegrass State has only grown bigger and better in the last 100 years.
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