The home seat town of our little county in here in Kentucky, just out side of Louisville, Oldham County recently had a visit from HGTV. Recently dubbed the Kindness Capital of Kentucky, La Grange Kentucky is a historic and beautiful little town. It was a major draw for us when relocating to Kentucky and was a definite deciding factor as to our settling down here.
With that perfectly ideal main street feel reminiscent of similar streets all throughout America, La Grange is a special place that is part of why we made our home here, albeit in the next town over. After having lived in two different locations in Crestwood, We have determined that if we were to move again, it would likely be in this small unassuming town. Lined with Young trees and American flags hanging from the street lights, One can easily get a sense of what it may have been like to live here a hundred years ago, or even more. In a short 5 years La Grange will have its 200th birthday since its founding in 1827.
With shops lining the main drag of the town running directly in front of the old court house, the layout is quite similar to hundreds of small towns around the US. La Grange however does have a feature that makes it quite unique. This town is one of only two or so towns in the US which have train tracks running directly through Main Street. Not cutting the town sectionally, but actually down Main Street. Visitors to La Grange are highly likely to see a train come through town most any day of the week at just about any time as there are usually more than 30 trains per day coming through.
Back to the nature of the visit. Since 2019, two sisters, then 12 year old Reagan, and 9 year old Rylin Richins began making signs that read “Be Kind”. Starting with a small handful of signs, the movement has grown over the years as residents and business have purchased thousands of signs. Because of these sisters and their encouragement to their neighbors and friends, and the spreading of the idea of jsut being kind, La Grange was named the Kindness Capital of Kentucky shortly after they began making signs in 2019.I
Due to the nature of spreading goodwill to friends, families, schools businesses and tourist alike, attention grew until it was being received by none other than HGTV’s own spin off of their show “Home Town”, “Home Town Kickstart”. This show sees their hosts visit home towns around America, helping expand projects.
Of course,La Grange was the perfect place to start. In the episode aired on HGTV, we see the transformation of areas around La Grange beautified. A large building mural with the image of Kentucky with the Richins sisters motto “Be Kind”can now be found Just behind Main Street, directly across form our favorite Ice Cream place in town, a fantastic Mexican Ice Cream shop called Neveria Y Paleteria 5 De Mayo.
During this same time they began renovating a series of connecting alleys that wind through and around the Main Street area, connecting these tot he main shops, adding seating areas, and small shops. Two of these shops are mobile cart style shops made out of none other than old horse trailers revamped into cute custom retail shops. Perfect for this town that has a very linked history in Kentucky’s tradition of horse racing. This are is called the Alley Loop, and increases foot traffic to otherwise unknown businesses and creates a great “trail” or walking path around showcasing several of the great and unique businesses around town. While these improvements are being made, the Historic Courthouse itself, which sits in the center of town, has been undergoing major renovations. Along with the non-historic portions of the building being demolished, the part that is a a staple of the history of La Grange, has been carefully and painstakingly moved approximately 100 feet towards Main, in order to have additional building built around in order to facilitate the needs of this growing small town.
We easily found this mural, and shortly after seeing the beautiful mural work, hopped across the street for some delicious Tequila Ice Cream and bubble gum popsicles (for the boys). As we ate, we walked the new Alley Loop trail and sat at the benches. This improvement to our town has been wonderful so far. We have already made it a favored stop for our house guests who come to visit us. They have all enjoyed it as much as we have. We invite you to come and visit the Kindness Capital of Kentucky as well. We hope to see you soon, and until them remember to BE Kind!
