Charles Donnelly House
159 Barr Street, built 1844
Augustus Hall in March, 1844, sold Charles Donnelly 45 feet of his corner “lot” here. The deed said ”together with the buildings, improvements, etc.,” so there was a house on it at the time. It extended along ”Ben Warfield's line to an alley between Warfield and E.P. Johnson” with Hall's line on the other side.
Hall released a mortgage to Donnelly in March, 1844, citing the house as “adjoining the property of Dr. John B. Payne and Benj. Warfield.”
Donnelly evidently removed to Chicago, as he deeded the house from “Cook County, Ill.,&rquo; August 27, 1859, to Peter S. Rule.
For the next several years it is referred to in adjoining deeds as the residence of W.S. Rule.
They were brothers and conducted a large lumber business at the other end of the block—where the handsome new Federal Building now stands.
Source: Dunn, C. Frank. Old Houses of Lexington. Lexington Public Library, 1976.
Transcribed by P. Brinegar, July 2004.
Updated December 13, 2025.