Our History
The Building
“The Southeast Greyhound Line (SEGL) Building was built in 1928 as the Consolidated Coach Corporation, and became a Greyhound bus facility in 1936, operating as the SEGL headquarters and bus station until 1960.
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“Between 1960 and 1972, the building had numerous tenants, including a kitchen planning center, a printing press, a supermarket, and other businesses.
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“It was acquired in 1972 by The Transit Authority of Lexington (LexTran), and operated as their headquarters and maintenance/ repair facility until 2015, when LexTran built a new facility just to the West at 200 W. Loudon Ave. In 2018 LexTran sold the property to Needham Properties.”
“In 2015, NoLi CDC applied for and received $550,000 from The Knight Foundation to pursue establishing a Public Market in the 101 W. Loudon Ave. building.”
“Since then, they have been engaged in a community-led process to develop a meaningful vision for the space, and to develop a plan to make it a reality. Julietta Market is the result of that process.”
The Julietta Market
Julietta Market (formerly called The Common Market) is named in honor of Lexington Civil Rights Activist Julia Etta Lewis (1932-1998), who lived a life that paved the way for a project such as this. One of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in Lexington, KY, Julia Etta Lewis was a leader of the Lexington Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Using non-violent demonstrations and sit-ins, Lewis, along with colleague Audrey Grevious, led the fight against segregation in education, entertainment, shopping, restaurants, and public transportation.
Her values of Freedom, Love, and Equality are exactly those that Julietta Market is striving to embody, to give all neighbors the platform and opportunity to support themselves and their families, to come together, to buy the things they need, doing what they love.
“If you want something, go get it!”
In researching archives and interviewing the folks that worked and organized with Ms. Lewis, this quote kept coming up. This captures the spirit of what we hope to accomplish at Julietta Market - a place where people can “go get it,” can pursue their dreams, can grow and prosper.