The first Sunday in May, the Residents of MainStrasse Association (ROMA) volunteers, capped off two months of work beautifying an alley in their Covington neighborhood. The unnamed alley parallels Main Street behind a row of homes and stores between West 7th and 8th streets. Leading up to the party, volunteers cleared trash, pulled weeds, ground stumps, and power washed the brick-paved alley.

Covington has some spectacular historic architecture. There’s lots to choose from for fans of Victorian houses, stylish commercial buildings, and historic cemeteries. Plus, there’s a John A. Roebling suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River. But it’s the city’s alleys that many architectural historians, preservationists, and urban planners find alluring. Once hidden and utilitarian, Covington’s ancient alleys are becoming relevant as new generations of residents and planners discover them.

There is a flooded parking garage beneath this surface parking lot at the intersection of Scott and Pike streets in Covington. The Pure Oil Company built the concrete block service station in 1941. Photo by David Rotenstein. Each fall, Jill Morenz leads two-hour walking tours of downtown Covington, Kentucky, highlighting some of the city’s best- and least-known ghost stories. As she walks by the surface parking lot at the intersection of Pike and Scott streets, she casually mentions that the property — prime downtown real estate — has been vacant for a long time, partly because of a hidden and flooded space beneath the asphalt.

Aaron Meyerowitz. The Kentucky Post, Feb. 23, 1946. Via newspapers.com. Aaron Meyerowitz, a.k.a., Danny Meyers, came to Newport, Kentucky, from Kansas City, Missouri, in 1945. He found work in casinos run by Jewish racketeers from Cleveland and New York who had muscled into Northern Kentucky's vice economy. Meyerowitz blasted his way into Northern Kentucky mob history in 1946 when he took a job delivering payback for an ill-conceived Newport casino robbery.

Roadhouse owner Joe Stevie. Courtesy Bob and Joe Stevie. Covington, Kentucky, may be one of the few places in the country where an ordinary conversation about a vacant downtown parking lot seamlessly segues into a discussion about bootlegging and gambling. That’s what happened earlier this year when developer Joe Stevie was describing the history of a lot at the corner of Scott and Pike streets.

By David Rotenstein NKyTribune staff writer Each fall, Jill Morenz leads two-hour walking tours of downtown Covington highlighting some of the city’s best- and least-known ghost stories. As she walks ...

Sister Janet Bucher, July 2025. Photo by David Rotenstein. Sister Janet Bucher was one of the first people I met after moving to Covington, Kentucky, last summer. Before the move, I had subscribed to City of Covington email lists promoting future events in our new home. A historical marker dedication caught my eye. I attended the event at Covington's Church of Our Savior and quickly switched from new resident mode into journalist and historian mode.

“805 was a burner. where the hell is Jakie Lerner?” That was former racketeer Sam Solomon’s recollection of Aug. 5, 1930, the day when seemingly all of Pittsburgh bet on a single number: 805. When 805...

As you get to know COVertNKY, you can either blame or thank Hank Messick for its arrival.