[music playing] For much of its history, Lexington found itself as the crossroads of a nation, first for pioneers from colonial America who were often in need of replenishing their supplies as they explored the new territories.

And after the American Revolution, more travelers came through looking to expand the new nation.

As the city grew and the steam locomotive came along, Lexington once again found itself at the crossroads of a nation as Americans continued to move westward.

[music playing] [music playing] Shortly before the Civil War, Lexington, Kentucky became a crossroads for our nation, where the growing network of railroads crisscrossing the country would pass through and often stop.

It was a role the city would play until after World War II.

In 1835, the first train to leave Lexington, named the Daniel Boone, would travel to Frankfort, making the run to the state capital in just two-and-a-half hours.

Well, in the 1830s, the first railroad was authorized in Kentucky, and the logical place to begin building a railroad would be Lexington.

It was still Kentucky's largest city.

[music playing] As the industry grew, Lexingtonians watched rail tracks guide trains down main thoroughfares like Broadway, Vine Street, even Main Street.

In 1907, a large train station, Union Station, was completed in the center of town.

Situated next to what was then the Walnut Street Viaduct, this commanding structure would alter the face of Lexington.

Departing Lexingtonians would unload at a large circle facing Main Street and then board trains on tracks lining Vine Street taking them to destinations across the country.

To accommodate the many out-of-towners arriving every day, filing out from under the station's two-storey stained glass window, downtown businesses would develop and grow, changing the economy of downtown Lexington.

[music playing] The hotel rooms of the longstanding Phoenix Hotel were no longer enough, and the skyline saw the rise of the $2 million Hotel Lafayette.

After dinner at a hotel restaurant, visitors could attend the new Ben Ali or the Strand Theaters.

One business, the Lexington Laundry Company, opened on Main Street.

Built to clean, steam, and press so many suits wrinkled after the wear of traveling.

Perhaps one business person who benefited during this time was Belle Brezing.

Her house of ill repute was within walking distance of downtown, and by the time the station was built, Belle had gained great popularity in Lexington.

She would earn national acclaim for running one of the finest bordellos in the land until 1917 when political pressures forced Lexington's red light district to close.

Union Station became the heart of Lexington, where soldiers marched off to war, national politicians arrived to solicit Kentucky voters, and the first NCAA championship Kentucky Wildcat basketball team would be wildly greeted by adoring fans.

It is something that really provides a sense of place, and all sorts of people going off to World War I, returning from war, going to World War II, returning from war.

You could take daily trains to Washington, all sorts of places, and get there on an overnight sleeper and be in Washington the next morning.

But progress would catch up with the railways and with Union Station.

Air travel surpassed the age of trains.

Blue Grass Field was established on Versailles Road, and the last train left Union Station in 1957.

Three years later, the building would face the wrecking ball, and the train tracks that once filled Vine Street would be ripped away.

[music playing] Today at the west end of Lexington, the locomotives of R.J.

Corman are on display and remind townspeople of this age of the iron horse, but the memories of Union Station have faded away.

The Fayette County Clerk Office stands where so many would go to catch a train.

The Phoenix Hotel, where so many out-of-towners stayed, was torn down, giving way to the Fayette County Public Library, and the Hotel Lafayette has been revived as a city government building.

As for Bell Brezing, well, the legend remains.

But for today's Lexingtonians, there is one last reminder of the great Union Station, though it often goes unnoticed.

Etched in the concrete over the heads of pedestrians passing by on Main Street is the name of the company that served so many of the travelers brought here by train, the Lexington Laundry Company.

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