In downtown Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, it is not difficult for a visitor to imagine this beautifully preserved town as it was a hundred or more years ago. The old bones of Mt. Sterling are that strong.
While many communities struggle to rehabilitate and save historic town centers that have been neglected – often with stark, modern facades plastered over blocks of storefronts in the 1960s – the core of Mt. Sterling is mostly true to its original design. Two- and three-story brick and stone buildings retain their vintage facades and windows. There’s little evidence of structural rot or neglect in the heart of Mt. Sterling’s old business district.
But it wasn’t this quaint a few decades ago, when at least a third of the downtown buildings were vacant, recalled Kevin Howard, 46, who helps his father run Bob’s Music World on Main Street. He saw the revitalization take hold as city leaders and the Chamber of Commerce got serious about saving the downtown district before it was too late.
“They have worked really hard over the last 15 years,” Howard said. “Now you can hardly find a building downtown that doesn’t have a business going in it.”
Mt. Sterling, the Montgomery County seat, established its Main Street Program in 1987. The community is also recognized as a Renaissance Kentucky City.
Downtown Mt. Sterling houses a mix of commerce that includes restaurants, business offices, bakeries, hair salons and a barber shop, banks, a florist, two tattoo parlors, a sign maker, specialty shops, law firms, medical offices and an athletic club. Churches and older homes surround the business district. The Gateway Regional Arts Center, which opened in a former church in 2009, is the cultural heart of the downtown district.
A high-end bridal shop that attracts customers from surrounding cities shares a block on Main Street with Bob’s Music World, which has sold guitars and other musical instruments for 40 years.
“We get customers from several counties surrounding us,” Kevin said. “I think most people who come here are impressed with the downtown.”
New ventures have been tucked into old places without polishing away the past. For example, the iconic neon sign for Little’s Jewelry advertises Elgin Watches more than 25 years after that business closed. Today the sign hangs over the entrance to Spoonful of Sugar, a popular bakery, coffee house and lunch spot.
Down the street from the bakery, the former Farmers Bank building retains a vault and the story of an unsolved mystery from the Civil War. According to historical accounts, Confederate soldiers robbed the bank of roughly $60,000 on the night of June 8, 1864, when Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s raiders were in town to attack Union forces. Morgan’s men lost that battle, but the money, taken after Confederates went to the bank cashier’s home to steal his keys, was never recovered. A few years later, the bank lost on appeal a civil case that put the blame on a lieutenant in Morgan’s cavalry.
Mt. Sterling is known as the Gateway to the Mountains and the Bluegrass. Lexington and the surrounding thoroughbred country is 30 minutes to west on Interstate 64. The Appalachian foothills are a short drive to the east.
Longtime residents know there’s much more to Mt. Sterling than its picturesque downtown. In fact, it took an economic recovery with a new industrial base to spur what is evident now in the old part of town.
“In 1990, we had an awakening,” said Gary Williamson, who concluded 20 years as mayor in December 2018. “We had gotten fat and lazy. We thought because we had two big industries and tobacco that we were set.”
Then one industry shut down and another slashed its employment from 1,200 to 125. Several years later, the federal government did away with the price support system for burley tobacco auctions.
The community had to adjust or flounder, so “we started listening instead of talking,” Williamson said.
Community leaders and elected officials made a commitment to unify their efforts to recruit new industries. The city and the county began working together.
“The new attitude was ‘Check your attitude at the door,’” Williamson recalled.
Today, Mt. Sterling, with a population of 7,200, can boast of two industrial parks and more than 4,500 jobs in the manufacturing, service and technical industries.
The largest of those is Nestle, with more than 1,100 workers at a plant making Hot Pockets, a microwaveable turnover filled with meat and cheese. In fact, every Hot Pocket sold in the world comes from Mt. Sterling.
Industry, including several factories that produce for the automakers, are the lifeblood of the community, Williamson said. Workers come from Montgomery and 18 surrounding counties.
Other businesses have a long history in Mt. Sterling.
Ruth Hunt Candy, established in 1921, produces pulled creamed candy, Blue Monday cream candy bars, bourbon balls and caramels. The company’s 20 employees make 4 million bourbon balls a year. Tour buses and school groups are frequent visitors, and customers include specialty shops across the country.
The Judy Drive-In is one of seven drive-in movie theaters still operating in Kentucky. Patrons drive from an hour or more to see movies under the stars at the family-run business. It has been open seasonally since 1952.
The community’s roots are still rural, and several hundred farms produce cattle, corn, tobacco and alfalfa hay. In the last farm census conducted by the University of Kentucky, Montgomery County had 99,000 acres in agriculture production.
The earliest white settlers came to the area in 1779. They found an ancient burial mound constructed by Pre-Columbian Native Americans who were part of the Adena culture. The settlers first called the area Little Mountain.
In 1792, a town founder chose the name Mount Stirling, recognizing both Little Mountain and his home, the town of Stirling, in Scotland. However, when the Kentucky legislature approved the town’s establishment, it misspelled the name. Stirling became Sterling and was never changed. Four years later, Montgomery County became Kentucky’s 22nd county.
Considering the importance of an economic boost to Mt. Sterling’s recent revival, it seems appropriate the town’s oldest tradition was rooted in commerce. Court Day, observed annually since 1794, began as a day for the early settlers to buy, sell and trade crops, horses, mules, guns, knives and anything else essential to life in the late 18th century Kentucky. It was called Court Day because it was the day a circuit judge would be in town to hear cases.
In its modern version, Court Day runs for four days in October. It attracts more than 1,000 vendors and crowds estimated at 130,000 in recent years.
Today, it is a huge homecoming and one of Kentucky’s biggest festivals. Knives and gun are still sold, along with arts and crafts and food galore. There’s live music and entertainment. And the best stage Mt. Sterling can offer – its picturesque downtown.
— Jennifer P. Brown