Cheapside Park

Cheapside, originally Public Square, was the town's main marketplace in the nineteenth century and included a large slave market before the Civil War.

Cheapside Park played a prominent role in the slave trade, many enslaved people sold here were moved to the lower South, or forced to work in the local areas.

[1] Since renamed, for previously enslaved Henry A. Tandy, it is currently home to the Lexington Farmers Market and popular events such as Thursday Night Live.

[3] Cheapside was also host to the sale of "fancy girls", young women of mixed race sold as sex slaves.

[4] "Fancy girls" were often transported to Kentucky, due to its reputation for being the largest supplier of these young enslaved women outside of the New Orleans area.

Future President Abraham Lincoln was visiting his wife's family in 1846 when her father, Robert Todd, purchased five slaves at Cheapside.

[14] The Pope Villa played a prominent role, involved with many affluential figures, in the landscape of American politics and economics—specifically regarding the commodification of human beings.

[16] Seated U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson from 1829 to 1835, William T. Barry was the only cabinet member who did not resign following the Petticoat Affair.

The historical marker on the corner of Short and Upper streets was commissioned by the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.