05/04/2026
In my hometown of Danville, Ky., there lives a knowledgeable lady with an awesome memory about our fair town. She gave me permission to share some of her beautiful memories of Danville while walking downtown. I was not there with her in person, but oh, the joy of remembering as she told the story of so many buildings on her morning walk. In my mind, I walked right along with her until the end.
Thank you, Eva Cochran, for allowing me to share your post.
Mary Frances King ~ From My Kentucky Home.
My Continued Walk Downtown with Ea Cochran.
I decided it was time to finish the walk I started last week. The weather forecast said it would be cloudy today; I hope it is right. It is Saturday morning, and maybe today I can find a parking spot closer than last week if I start a little earlier.
I found a parking spot on the corner of Walnut and Third Street. This building is now occupied by several medical offices, but I remember it as Slone’s Market. The parking garage across the street is big but I’m not sure how convenient it is. Some people like it and others don’t.
There is the old Centenary United Methodist Church across the street. This building holds a lot of history inside its walls. Today is serves not only as home to Third Street Methodist Church but has several offices upstairs. This building holds a lot of memories for me.
The Hub Frankel Store sat on the corner of Main and Third. On Third street side was a section on the sidewalk that would open, as a kid I thought that was really neat, magic in a way.
I made it to Main Street and as I turn the corner the old Hub building is still here, but it is no longer the grand old store I remember. It was a large department store that had the neatest store windows during Christmas. Inside you could just about get any kind of clothing you wanted and there were those long tubes that the clerks used. The clerks would put a receipt and money in one and swoosh it disappeared and a few minutes later it came back with your receipt and your change just like magic. It was the only store in town that had a system like that, I think.
Begley Drug store was here and a restaurant called the Colonial Restaurant was located in the back of the store. They used to decorate their store windows every holiday, and I loved looking at all the windows. I never got to eat there but the smell that came out would make your mouth water.
At the very top of this building, it says Gilcher. It used to be a big hotel with lots of rooms. The entrance was here and the Kentucky Theatre was next to it. I can still smell the popcorn coming out of the doors. I was never allowed to go inside but every now and then I would walk by to see what they were showing and look at the posters they had.
Today all of this has been combined into one giant building, part of it being used by the hospital and the other as a college coffee shop and bookstore.
Hard to miss this big yellow building. It says Lon-Kola Bottling Works at the very top of the building, guess I need to do some research on this. I remember a jewelry store here back in the late sixties, then there was another building I walked close to the road until I passed it, another pool hall. Whitaker Bank now takes up that space and part of where the Louisville Store was.
The very first store bought dress I ever had came from the Louisville Store when I was around ten years old. I was amazed at all the things inside that store and loved their window displays.
This block doesn’t seem quite as long as the others did or maybe this one holds more memories for me. I like the red shutters on this building, looks like another medical building. I am almost at the corner, I’ll sit a minute on these benches.
Looking back up the street is just dawned on me on what is missing that the street no longer has, parking meters. Glad they don’t have them anymore.
Constitution Square is across the street, and it looks busy. I forgot the Farmers Market is here every Saturday, oh well I’ll just mosey on over and check it out.
There are several food trucks parked on the street. I’ll just pass them by this time, maybe next time I’ll try one out. Where are the fresh vegetables? I see breads, flowers, lemonade and jewelry but no farm vegetables. Maybe I haven’t gotten to them yet. There is a guy up on the platform playing music, he is pretty good.
I notice the buildings have new roofs on them, looks a lot better. When daddy was in a good mood he would bring us up here for a picnic. There were several picnic tables spread out and there used to be gallows that the kids played on. It was removed years ago as it made a lot of people uncomfortable.
More tables with all kinds of stuff set up on this side of the jail. Wait I see some fresh vegetables. Look at those tomatoes and that lettuce. Wish they had a small batch of lettuce, that is too much for just me. I will get one of the yellow tomatoes to go on my bologna sandwich for lunch.
I like the wide variety of stuff here, sure is different than what I remember a farmers’ market looked like when I was growing up. I love Constitution Square; it holds so much of the history of our town’s past. Walking these grounds make me thankful for all the men who met here so many years ago to build a future for all of us.
Main Street traffic is a lot heavier than I remember and they seem to drive a little faster too. I made it to the other side finally. Before I go back up toward Third, I got to stop in at Burkes and get some donut holes and something to drink.
The Henson Hotel sat on this corner; the building is still here but I don’t think it is a hotel anymore. Looks like several businesses occupy the building now, but I do like the color, the orange trim makes the building pop.
Across the street again, at least Second is not as wide as Main. The State theatre was here in this building and after it closed many other businesses called it home for a short time.
I know there was something beside the theatre, but I can’t remember what it was, oh well I’ll just walk on up the street.
The buildings look about the same but where are the stores, The Gem Supply, the men’s clothing store and Cinderella store. They are all gone and now it looks like an investment company, a coffee store and a store with artwork have replaced them.
Where are all the people? The street has a few people walking but not many, I guess people of today don’t walk like they used to, but then the stores of today are more oriented toward a certain clientele than when I was a young girl.
I loved looking in the windows of this store, it had toys in it and had stuff I could dream of it was the Five & Dime store, today it is Danville Office Equipment. Part of this building was Chesnut- Salter- Best Hardware Store. My grandpa used to say they had the best hammers in town.
This building is now a small boutique, but I still remember it as ABC Grill. I loved walking past it and all those smells coming out of it.
The building on the corner is now a bank, but it too has had several occupants over the years. There’s more of them little black light poles on this corner. That one over there looks a little beat up.
I miss all the old stores, but I realize that things change but sometimes I wish they didn’t have to change so fast. Maybe they didn’t and it was just that I got older and haven’t caught up with my age yet.
Either way it is time to head back down Third toward my car and call it a day. Go home fry me a slice of bologna and add a fresh slice of tomato, and sit back and listen to some music from yesteryears.
I have enjoyed my walks, and while I may not like all the changes I have seen, I do like the look of the buildings on Main Street. I know that I must accept change if I am to live in today’s world, but I still will hold on to all my memories of days gone by and combine the two worlds when possible. I am thankful I live in a small town that still holds on to part of its past.
