Did you know that a song was written especially for the 1911 opening of the Arcade Theater in Paducah, and patrons were given a copy as the curtains went up for the first time?
Unless you are a member of the Rotary Club of Paducah, you might not know the Paducah club was the second organized in Kentucky in 1915.
These bits of history and many other items are part of the thousands of photographs and documents added over the past few months to the McCracken County Public Library’s digital collection. And all of them are available to the public with just a few computer key strokes.
New collections include the Citizens and People’s Bank Collections, Walter Beasley, Jr. Collection and more.
The curious will be able to travel back in time to 1905 and 1906 and see who stayed at the Hotel Lagomarsino in downtown Paducah. That’s in the “Hotel Collection.” The Arcade song appears in the “Paducah Cinemas Collection.” Having such a long and vital commitment to the community, the Rotary Club has its own collection, outlining the history of the charitable organization along with photos of individuals, club events and involvement in the Rotary Quilt Show plus much more. The new “Civic Collection” adds programs, newsletters and events covering other civic clubs and organizations.
Fans of Paducah’s famous son and author Irvin Cobb will find newly-added letters written by Cobb in his personal collection, those interested in development of Paducah’s government and industry, going back to 1894, can read about it in the new “Historic Book Collection,” and the “David Starr Family Collection” takes you inside the black-owned Starr Café on Paducah’s north side, and the Roof Collection goes back 150 years to highlight events in the lives of early McCracken County settlers.
If you are interested in every aspect of the construction of the Interstate 24 bridge linking Kentucky and Illinois, which began in the late 1970s, check out the new “Infrastructure Collection.” The “Jack Bray Collection,” “Debbie McGarry Peck Collection” and “Whipple Collection” give you glimpses into how Paducahans lived in the last half of the Twentieth Century.”
There are also new “Concord School Collection” and “Franklin Jr. High School Collection,” along with several additions to other school collections, such as new yearbooks, newspapers and individual photographs.
Check out these collections at www.digitalcollections.mclib.net
-Johanna Comisak Rhodes