The Odd Fellows Hall, Walton, 1906.
more on this building here. 

 

Taken from a gas balloon, circa 1909, and on the back it says “Near Walton.”  If you can shed any light on where this is, please contact us.  If you want to see the other gas balloon pics, they're on a Ludlow page here, and also there are some on the Latonia Race track page, here.

 

 

This two aren't just very similar pictures; they're object lessons.  In both, you're looking south from the old high school.  You can see Chambers and Grubbs in the distance, but the rest of Alta Vista is undeveloped.  We see an old Rouse/Wethington house on the far left, and what we think of as the Afterkirk house in the foreground.  Two things: just pointing your camera out at a random street scene may give you a boring picture today, but may be fascinating stuff in 50+ years. The other lesson this photographer taught us, is, uh, focus the camera.

 

Stephenson's Mill Road was named after Stephenson's Mill. Duh. From a Facebook post by Gerald Stephenson

 

		The story from the KY Post. The story from the Enquirer. Another story from the Enquirer.
Friday, July 13, 1956 saw Walton hit by a tornado. Photo by Jack Rouse, from a Facebook post by Marybeth Rouse Arthur

 

Walton, in 1939. Please note that north is to the bottom. Alta Vista doesn't exist, but Bridge Street does?		Map of Walton, from 1883 from An Atlas of Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties, Kentucky, published by D. J. Lake & Co. The Lake list of businesses is here. Learn how to see the entire Lake Atlas, here.

Mill Pond, South of Walton	Location of the Mill Pond, 1883	Mill Pond and Walton Heights, c. 1910 (You're looking at the the back of houses on S. Main, near the end of Loreco.)

We stumbled into a discussion on the internet where they were trying to locate where various lakes were in Walton. There seemed to be a lot of confusion. The post concerned the image of the Mill pond above, now gone. Here's where the five major lakes are/were in Walton.

 

Boone Lake Fishing Club, 1932
A few words on the origin of the Boone Lake Fishing Club are here.
The house on the far left is named “Red Oak”

Record fish caught at Boone Lake	The inaugural season.
Boone Lake Opens	Why is the headquarters in Newport?

The Old High Street Bridge photo by Asa “Buddy” Rouse (first house on the left used to be the home of the Walton Advertiser)		Modernizing the supports on the L&N Bridge, 1951 Read about the construction here.

 

“At Walton, Ky., a great many breeders from Boone, Kenton and Grant counties met and located a mile track and fair grounds, between Richwood and Walton, at the intersection of the C. S. [Cincinnati Southern] & L. & N. R. R., running from one road to the other, at a cost of $115 per acre.  They have named it the Northern Kentucky Agricultural and Breeder's Association, and the capital stock is to be $30,000, with share fixed at $50 each.”  from the Live Stock Record, as quoted in the Richmond, Ky. Climax, December 4, 1889.  And since nothing more was ever heard of it, we assume it never materialized.

Depot Street becomes Park Avenue, 1938

 

Not a postcard, but a booklet of tickets to the James Theatre	The L & N Heads South out of Walton	Yield of a 1942 Scrap Drive, behind the old school at High School Court. The man on the right is Bob Gordon

 

“Two construction trains are run daily between Covington and a point about two miles beyond Walton, Boone county, Ky., on the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Lexington Railroad. There remains but about four miles of track to be laid to complete the road. The first train will go through from Covington to Louisville in about four weeks.” Courier-Journal, April 8, 1869

Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, April 17, 1887

Cincinnati Times-Star, August 15, 1891

Cincinnati Times-Star, May 12, 1893.

(“Wheels” is an early name for bicycles.)

	Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, March 30, 1925	Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, May 11, 1925
	The walkers also considered Walton a destination.

These three were very likely taken just west of the railroad where Depot Street becomes Park Avenue. The Gaines Brothers were active horse breeders, and had businesses in that location. That's the railroad in the background. From a Facebook post by Barbara Watts

 

Girls on the cannon guarding the Walton Tourist Camp Lunchroom
Kentucky Post, January 11, 1930

 

 

Blue and White Modern Cabins, Walton

 

Robert Jones had a Buick dealership in Walton in 1918

 

Bally Ache, bred on Alan and Marvin Gaines' Twin Oak Farms just north of Walton, won the 1960 Preakness and finished second in the Kentucky Derby.  He was owned by one Leonard Fruchtman, of Toledo, at the time of the major races.

Defiance (Ohio) Democrat, January 19, 1850. Sounds fishy to us.

They're taking bids, in 1839, for the road construction from Grubbs (south of Florence,) to Gaines X Roads at Boswell's Tavern.
Prohibition anger causes shooting.	Walton man shoots random train passenger.
“In an exciting fight Sunday morning John Halton was cut seventeen times by three Bailey Brothers and two Wilsons.  Sunday night a drunken crowd came from Crittenden attempted to take possession of Walton.”  Maysville's Evening Bulletin, November 6, 1890
“The sales at the Walton Loose Leaf Tobacco market are growing stronger with every sale, and the prices are very satisfactory to the selling public. Last Saturday about 120,000 pounds were sold at prices ranging from eight to 38 cents, averaging $24.25. The market is said to be the strongest in the State in price and activity. The floor is filled every time and the only trouble is inadequate shipping facilities as the railroads cannot take care of the tobacco as fast as it is ready for shipment.” Boone County Recorder, February 14, 1918
Walton population exceeds 1,000; new parts of town annexed.
“A correspondent of the Rising Sun Recorder, writing from Walton, says that their town is the only one on the Lexington Pike where a man can get whiskey.  We wonder how Florence will feel over that assertion.  He describes Walton as a place of one hundred inhabitants, and three doggeries, where the barkeepers will sell you whiskey till you can't drink any longer, and then whip you for not drinking more.”  from the Covington newspaper The Ticket, August 7, 1875.
Horace Greeley (Wikipedia) stops at Walton. Greets crowd.	Liquor shipment during prohibition stolen in Walton.
Indianapolis News, January 30, 1899	Daily Globe (MN) August 18, 1878

Once upon a time, old Nicholson Road went up past the Gaines house, passed a residence that had been a tollgate on the Lexington Pike, and did a hard ninety degree turn to the right to go over a rickety bridge the Southern Railway “maintained,” altho it passed over the Southern and L&N tracks.  You can see the bridge in back of the toll house. It was widely detested.

The Enquirer's story on Walton's two decrepit L & N railroad bridges (the other was on
the L&N at Needmore)  can be read here.  (pdf)

 

One of the earliest references we find to Walton is this list of new subscribers to the New York Weekly Tribune, July 25, 1848.

Gaines X Roads gets changed to Walton
Licking Valley Register, December 18, 1841