Midway: The Town the Railroad Built

Midway was founded by a railroad. The Lexington and Ohio Railroad laid out the settlement in eighteen thirty-five at the midpoint of its line between Lexington and Frankfort , hence the name. The railroad bought John Francisco's farm and the streets were platted.

The town has been shaped by trains ever since. The main street, Railroad Street, runs directly between the tracks, with shops facing the line on both sides , one of the most distinctive Main Streets in Kentucky. Midway also has a place in women's education: Midway University began as the Kentucky Female Orphan School in the eighteen forties and was a women's college for most of its history, going fully coeducational in two thousand sixteen. Midway's historic district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the shops and restaurants of Railroad Street attract visitors from Lexington and Frankfort on weekends.