BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE - If a mall, highway and industrial park are the city's lifeblood, then downtown Main Street is its heart and soul.
The first three explain why the city has become one of the most thriving, urban communities in Northern Kentucky.
But residents say it is downtown Main Street - a tree-lined, curving stretch of homes and small business - that gives the city richness and meaning.
The street epitomizes small-town charm. It's where Florence residents say they're most likely to run into an old friend or schoolmate. "What's unique about it is, the heart of Florence is still the one I grew up in," said Diane E. Whalen, 43, a native and the city's next mayor.
She remembers walking "uptown" to Main Street to get a phosphate - or a fizzy, carbonated drink - from the soda fountain at Denham's Drug Store.
But that was a long time ago. And Florence just keeps changing. In the early 1800s, roads from Burlington to the northwest and Union to the southwest converged upon the north-south Ridge Road, now U.S. 25, near the future sight of Florence.
By 1821, the area was known as Maddentown, in honor of Covington lawyer Thomas Madden. He eventually moved, and settler Jacob Conner assumed responsibility for the town.
Because a Harrison County town already had the name Connersville, the name Florence was chosen in honor of Mr. Conner's wife. The city was incorporated on Jan. 27, 1830.
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The city began growing with the 1836 completion of the Covington to Lexington Turnpike. Several hotels, blacksmiths and carriage-making shops were founded.
After the Civil War and two world wars were waged, Florence still was considered a small, sleepy town with a lot of rural land.
C.M. "Hop" Ewing, Mrs. Whalen's father and mayor of Florence from December 1960 to January 1981, remembers a constable and volunteer fire department provided Florence protection in the mid-1950s. That was about the time trees were cut down so cars could park along Main Street. It was not a popular move. But then development began to roll across the city.
"We were in the right place in the right time," Mr. Ewing said. "Things needed to grow."
What is now the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport had been built in nearby Hebron in 1947. The Northern Kentucky Industrial Park came to Florence in 1959. And Interstate 75 came through in 1963.
The highway was the big impetus for change, Mr. Ewing said.
Ground was broken for the construction of Mall Road on New Year's Eve 1973. The thoroughfare is just west of - and parallel to - I-75. Florence Mall opened in September 1976. It now greets about 115,000 shoppers a week and about six times that number during holiday weeks.
Florence Y'all
Anyone who passes through Florence via expressway has likely wondered about the water tower the city built to serve the mall.
"Florence Mall" was originally painted on it, but regulations said the tower couldn't be an advertisement for a privately owned mall.
Repainting the entire tower would have been expensive, so Mr. Ewing came up with a solution. Both sides of the "M" were painted over to create a "Y" and an apostrophe mark followed the new letter.
The distinctive "Florence Y'all" water tower still can be seen as shoppers visit the mall and the surrounding retail stores that have made Florence a big draw for shoppers.
Florence has all the regular stores. But there is constant turnover in some locations, and some city officials worry about periods when buildings are empty.
Kevin Costello, executive director of the Boone County Planning Commission, said such situations are inevitable. "The community (has) great access to the interstate. The Mall Road area is doing very well."
There's also manufacturing in the city. Automotive Corp.and machine tool builder Mazak Corp. are large employers.
Del Pierson, 44, lives in Florence and works at Mazak. He moved to the city 22 years ago. In that time, he has seen the city grow by leaps and bounds.
The U.S. Census reported Florence had 18,624 residents in 1990. City officials say the population is now about 23,000.
Mr. Pierson likes the changes spurred on by the growth. The mall, good schools, a nearby airport and Main Street - he thinks the city has it all.
"There's thousands and thousands and thousands of homes. But you've still got a lot of farms around. I don't know what you could want that's not here."
All of the retail development has prompted a lot of commercial and residential development. Between 1985 and 1989, new commercial and residential construction exceeded $25 million.
Henry and Nancy Noble bought a one-acre parcel last year. Their house is in a subdivision off Pleasant Valley Road.
The Nobles say they couldn't have paid such a decent price - and benefited from all the nearby conveniences - anywhere else.
"It's still kind of the country to me. It's just real quiet," said Mrs. Noble, 33.
Growing pains
Residents have the advantage of living in a small town that offers many urban luxuries, but they also experience the disadvantages. Some say streets have become too congested. And some could live without noise from planes overhead.
Despite the flaws, Bud Denham, 58, remains positive about Florence and its future. He enjoys all the new restaurants and shopping. But driving down Main Street is difficult for him. His family opened Denham's Drug Store in 1947, but Mr. Denham closed the business four years ago because of encroaching competition.
"The old times are great, but the future is very promising," he said. "That era has passed and another has come in."
Back on Main Street, Joyce Carnahan spends her days making pies and greeting customers at Stringtown Restaurant. She and her husband, Barry, have owned the popular downtown eatery about a year.
The restaurant has had many owners over the years, but still offers home cooking to a clientele largely made up of regulars. They often float from table to table, catching up with one another. Mrs. Carnahan thinks the friendly, small-town environment and the home cooking - which includes country-fried steak, potatoes that come whipped or baked, homemade cream pies and fruit gelatin - is why she isn't losing regular customers to nearby Perkins, Applebee's and Olive Garden franchises.
Mrs. Carnahan has been a Florence resident since 1986.
"It has grown an awful lot," she said. "There's a lot, lot, lot of shopping. I don't like (the traffic) a whole lot. But I like the little, small-town atmosphere" of Main Street.
"You're just right in the center of everything."
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