These Places Matter
Paducah’s visitor information centers promote tourism while preserving history.
Paducah knows there’s plenty to lure people to their buildings. The city’s historic preservationists wield immense influence in retaining the aesthetics and shaping the usability of spaces, bringing history to life for modern visitors and residents. Travelers have access to three historic buildings that are now visitor information centers:
- Whitehaven Welcome Center
- Downtown Convention & Visitor Bureau
- Texaco Station (Lower Town Information Center)
Whitehaven Welcome Center
Whitehaven Welcome Center is the only historic house in the United States used as a rest area. Built in the 1860’s, the former farmhouse turned revival mansion, has gone through several owners and names. If you exit Interstate 24 from the west too early after entering Kentucky, you completely skirt Whitehaven, passing through the western fringes of Paducah toward the Ohio River.
Travelers will find typical items like maps and attraction brochures, vending machines, and public restrooms, but unique to Whitehaven is the house tour. Check in at the office in the former dining room for a trip through Paducah’s history and see the meticulous ongoing restoration and preservation efforts. Originally red brick, it now has a distinctive white exterior with a grand portico in the Classical Revival style. A carriage house is connected facing the parking area. For many years the mansion sat empty, sinking into a state of disrepair which invited squatters, vandals and ultimately mother nature to deteriorate the structure.
When an extension of Interstate 24 to Illinois was authorized in the 1970’s, and construction set to begin in 1981, John Brown, Kentucky’s governor at the time and an advocate of preservation, diverted construction around the mansion and greenlighted an extensive restoration project to save the home, rather than demolish it. In 1983 it debuted as Whitehaven Welcome Center and by 1984 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior.
Tall floor-to-ceiling, stained-glass windows, unusually shaped stenciling, and ornate ceiling plasterwork are all peculiarities that make the home a treasure. Several original furnishings were donated back from the community and compliment other period furnishings that embrace the eccentric. In the piano room, there is an 1850’s W. W. Kimball grand piano that is said to have traveled the Ohio River on a steamboat that ended up in a saloon in nearby Metropolis, IL. The portrait of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, and its companion portrait of her wedding party in the parlor, came up from New Orleans in the 1850s. It hung in someone’s home in downtown Paducah for 90 years before it was donated to Whitehaven in the 1980’s.
Moving upstairs from the first floor, the staircase balusters were rebuilt, but the treads and handrails are original with minor repairs. A large stained-glass window at top of the landing features an American Beauty Rose under each number of ‘1903’, the year the Atkins family purchased the mansion. The family bedrooms are decorated just the way they were during the time it was used, based on old photographs of the family.
There is also a dedicated room with memorabilia from Alben Barkley, who served as Vice President under President Harry Truman. He was a resident of Paducah for many years. The room is filled with personal objects of his life in public service including the vice-presidential desk and chair, a hand carved teak desk from the president of the Philippines, and a collection of walking canes and shaving mugs which were given to senators at the time. A cloak given by a Russian orthodox priest, containing gold threading is also on display.
Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau
Leaving Whitehaven, a downtown access road directs the flow of traffic from Interstate 24 five miles east to the heart of the Downtown Commercial District. This area has a concentration of historically significant buildings. Walk up Broadway near the Port of Paducah, the riverfront area, to the duplex building at 126/128 Broadway, and you’ll find the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau which, like Whitehaven, played many roles throughout its 140+ year history, including that of Western Union Telegraph Office, a tailor shop, and a book bindery.
This two-story building is one fine example of cast-iron architecture, characterized by cast-iron facades with details including capitals and columns, window hoods on the lower floors, and bracketed cornices on the upper floor. A design motif is the stamp of the maker, The J. H. Johnson iron foundry. They operated in Paducah until 1902 with a sideline business of manufacturing cast-iron facades.
When you enter through the 128 side, you step onto multicolored pastel tiles fabricated by Pence Tileworks which were popular in bars and restaurants because they were easy to clean. You will also find brochures, public restrooms and decorative hanging quilts, a reminder that Paducah is home to the National Quilt Museum.
Texaco Station Information Center
Stroll north from the Downtown Commercial District to visit the Lower Town Historic Arts District - Paducah’s oldest residential neighborhood. Up until the outbreak of the Civil War, Lower Town was a prosperous neighborhood where leading citizens built brick houses in the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. Years later, in the early 2000’s, this area gained national attention during the Artist Relocation Program. Art is part of the atmosphere here, after all, Paducah is a UNESCO Creative City, and it extends outdoors with flood wall murals at the riverfront and sculptures along the streets.
Meander the streets on your own or follow the self-guided Historic Paducah Audio Tour maps to explore architectural treasures on foot. One stop is the Texaco Station Information Center. While it isn’t staffed or its interior accessible, it serves as a community board offering locals and visitors information on events like artist studio tours or demonstrations and business services.
This small building features an architectural element called a Porte-cochère which is a pyramidal roof used to provide cover for guests arriving by car. Formerly the St. Clair Oil Company building, you can get off your feet by using the public wood benches shaded by a lovely garden.
If you like finding new and interesting things to experience, consider stopping at any of Paducah’s visitor information centers. You’ll be sure to learn something new whether you arrive by interstate, river, or foot!