Hunt-Morgan House
Marker Number 2365
County Fayette
Location 201 North Mill St., Lexington
Description 1814 Federal-style home, named Hopemont, retains original architectural features, including a cantilevered staircase & fanlight window. Saved from demolition by the Blue Grass Trust in 1955. Built by John Wesley Hunt (1773- 1849), a philanthropist and the first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. Update of original KY Historical Marker #3
(Reverse) Inherited by daughter, Henrietta Hunt Morgan, mother of Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), known as the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy.” Birthplace of John Wesley Hunt’s great grandson, Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945), known as the “Father of Modern Genetics” and the first Kentuckian to win a Nobel Prize (1933). Update of original KY Historical Marker #3
Thomas Hunt Morgan
Marker Number 1714
County Fayette
Location 210 N. Broadway, Lexington
Description Winner of 1933 Nobel Prize was born in Hunt-Morgan house, 1866; grew up here. A nephew of John Hunt Morgan, he attended State College of Ky. (Univ. of Ky.). Taught at Columbia Univ. and there, influenced by Mendel's work, left embryology, his main field, for genetics. Headed up research team studying inbreeding of fruit flies. Observing offspring led to discovery of genes. Over.
(Reverse) Genetic Research - Morgan's research team confirmed Mendel's laws, proved reality of gene as part of chromosome, showed sex determined by chromosomes, demonstrated dominant and recessive traits. At 62, Morgan went to Cal. Institute of Technology, Pasadena, as biology dept. head to research cell differentiation. Died there, 1945. University of Kentucky named new school of biological sciences for him.
Thomas Hunt Morgan (UK)
Marker Number 2342
County Fayette
Location UK campus, Thomas Hunt Morgan Biology Building, Lexington
Description Born in Lexington, Ky. on September 25, 1866, Morgan was a nephew of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. He attended the State College of Kentucky(University of Kentucky) during the 1880s. Morgan graduated as valedictorian in 1886 with a B.S. and an M.S. in 1888. He earned a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1890. Class of 2010.
(Reverse) Thomas Hunt Morgan, 1866-1945- Morgan discovered the basic mechanisms of heredity and was a pioneering geneticist, winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933. In 1966, the University named the new Thomas Hunt Morgan School of Biological Sciences for him. Class of 2010.
