The historic Cox Building, located in downtown Maysville, seems the perfect place to begin a series on iconic buildings since it it arguable the most iconic structure in the area.
Brothers George L. and William Hopkinson Cox began construction of the Richardsonian Romanesque structure at Third and Market Streets in 1886 and completed construction the following year. The project also included the construction of seven contiguous brick homes extending south along the east side of Market Street to Fourth Street.
The building was designed to accommodate three large storefronts on the ground floor with associated second-story storerooms for each. The remainder of the second floor was originally designed as an upscale professional office space for up to nine tenants. In practice, the nine offices were often joined into larger office suites and were later converted into apartments.
The upper three stories of the Cox Building were designed explicitly for use as a Masonic Temple, specifically for the York Rite Knights Templar which featured a hand painted mural of knights jousting.
The City of Maysville purchased the building in 2006 for $200,000 as a restoration project. The roof, fourth and fifth floors were destroyed by fire on Nov. 9, 2010.
Restoration work continued and the completed $10 million project was dedicated on Sept. 7, 2012. Guest of honor at the event was U.S. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who helped obtain funding for the project.
Today the building is home to the Maysville Tourism office and serves as an event site for weddings, receptions and other events. Maysville Community and Technical College’s Culinary Institute and the College Cafe occupies most of the bottom floor. The third floor features ballrooms, which include the restored Masonic murals and stained glass window.
