HISTORIC COOPER HOUSE

By Aimee Nielson

Around 1865, a Greek Revival home was built in Lexington on what is now the south side of the University of Kentucky campus. At that time, it was surrounded by farmland with no easy way through town. In 1887, the Agricultural Experiment Station of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky bought the home and surrounding 48.5 acres to serve as a research farm and residence for the acting station director and dean of agriculture.

The farm was the foundation of the growing station and the current UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. By 1908, the A&M College became the State University, and the Agricultural Experiment Station had grown to more than 230 acres. The station director and dean Melville Amasa Scovell and his team began repairing fences, tilling, surveying plots and roads, and seeding the original 48.5 acres in grass.

In a letter to S.E. Bennett, former veterinary science professor, Scovell said, “We have one of the fi nest farms anywhere, and we are very proud of it. The station is growing rapidly.”

The smokehouse that sits behind Cooper House.

Thomas Poe Cooper became dean and director in 1918. He stayed in the position longer than any other dean. During his tenure, he also served as acting UK president from 1940-1941, but turned down the opportunity to be president in favor of staying in his role in the College of Agriculture. When he turned 70 in 1951, he had to step down, according to university policy at that time.

Cooper’s grandson Tom Hammond, retired NBC sportscaster, said Cooper was dean and director during many notable seasons.

“He was there for the end of World War I. He was there for the Roaring Twenties, for the Great Depression, for World War II and for the beginning of the Cold War,” Hammond said. “There’ll never be another like him again.”

Hammond and his mother Catherine Cooper Hammond lived in the house for several years while Hammond’s father Claude served in the military. He remembers the house with vivid detail from the oval stained-glass window, red brick and cherry wood, spiral staircase to the gardens, the detached garage and an old walnut tree with a swing on a lowhanging branch. The tree is still standing. Many pieces of furniture that were in Cooper House, now occupy space in Hammond’s Lexington home.

The residence at the corner of Cooper Drive and Nicholasville Road was named for Cooper, along with a host of other roads, awards and structures at the university, such as Thomas Poe Cooper Forestry Building, Cooperstown apartments, Cooper Drive and the Thomas Poe Cooper Awards that annually recognize outstanding Kentucky farm leaders and outstanding UK faculty achievement.

From 1887-1969, Cooper House served as residence of the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s dean. After that it became the home of the Landscape Architecture Department. It now, sits empty waiting, patiently for restoration to begin.

Large gathering at Cooper House in the late 1800's.

Tom and his sister, Susan, playing on the lawn of Cooper House.

Tom standing at the staircase as he visits in more recent years.