Early Lexington was a center of commerce for the region, with markets and shops

Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.

Shopping in Lexington during the 19th century didn’t look like it does today — not in size, scope or importance.

Between 1800 and 1820, commerce in Lexington centered on Main, Short, Water and Vine streets, said Bradley Cannon, a retired professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. Because of Lexington’s location, it became a central area for shopping and selling goods during that time.

“There was a two-story brick market house between the courthouse and Cheapside,” Cannon said. “An upstairs room served as the town hall. The floor was unpaved and often muddy. Farmers brought their produce in on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The market also had stalls where local or itinerant sellers plied their wares.”

While trustees adopted a number of rules for the market in 1810, an enforcement officer was hired to arrest cheating vendors and unruly attendees.

At that time, Lexington was the second-largest city west of the Allegheny Mountains. Smaller than only New Orleans, the city had 4,600 residents in 1810. By 1820, that number had grown to about 7,000, Cannon said.

Because of its central location, Lexington was a center of commerce for a wide area. The invention of the steamboat, however, made river towns like Cincinnati, Louisville and Nashville larger centers of commerce.

By 1830, both Louisville and Cincinnati had passed Lexington in population.

Throughout the city, there were a few general stores that sold the necessities: groceries, clothes, dry goods and hardware. The stores would have been packed with all the goods a family would need throughout the year. Once a person entered, they would have been greeted by a clerk at the register who would gather all the items on the shopper’s list, package them, and record them in a handwritten ledger.

It wouldn’t be until 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened the first Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, that customers shopped for themselves. His self-service model allowed customers to pick their own products off the shelves, a practice that became the norm across the country by the late 1930s.

His new way of shopping also introduced the use of shopping baskets, price tags on items, checkout counters, cashiers and baggers. But in the early 1800s, clerks kept track of families’ spending, giving farmers credits until their crops came in, and bartering for eggs, milk and other goods.

There were also some specialty stores in downtown Lexington that sold specific items, like fancy clothes and hats, fine china and cutlery, imported wines and imported coffee. Lexington had two bookstores in 1810, most of which sold books for between $1 and $3.

There were numerous tradesmen like coppersmiths, tanners, saddle makers, livery drivers, artisans and mechanics like blacksmiths, well-diggers and brick makers. Most tradesmen operated out of their homes, with their stores on the first floor and the living quarters above it.

And there were several taverns and shops selling beer and cigarettes.

Prices were considerably cheaper. Whisky was 30 cents a gallon, cider was $4 a barrel and beer was $8 a barrel. But, $8 in 1810 is the equivalent of about $210 today.

The average American made about $200 to $300 per year, or the equivalent of roughly $8,000 today. By comparison, a barrel of beer containing 15.5 gallons of domestic beer costs about $150 and the average American makes about $62,000 per year.

Another difference in the 1800s — there was no paper money. Gold and silver coins were scarce, and many people would barter for goods and services. Spanish dollars and bits of silver (equivalent to 12.5 cents) were as common as American dimes, quarters and silver dollars, Cannon said.

Buttons and pins sometimes served as coins for small sales or change, and often small IOUs were used for known customers.

In 1806, the state legislature established a Bank of Kentucky. The Lexington branch of the bank was on the south side of Main Street, between Mill Street and what is now Broadway.

It paid good dividends, but wasn’t popular among merchants and other tradesmen, Cannon said, so its charter wasn’t renewed after the financial crisis and Panic of 1819. At Alexander Hamilton’s urging, Congress established The Bank of the United States in 1792.

But despite petitions from Henry Clay and other Kentucky politicians, a branch wasn’t put in Lexington until 1818.

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.