Building History

The Bread Box is located in the historic Northside Neighborhood of Lexington, Kentucky at the corner of Jefferson and West Sixth Street. At over 90,000 square feet, the building served for years as a major bread manufacturer starting with Holsum Bakery in the early 1900s and eventually ending with the Rainbo Bread Factory in the 1990s. Originally built circa 1890 and expanded several times over the years, many Lexington residents fondly remember the smell of baking bread floating through the air and attending tours of the bakery. We’ve heard many stories of people who took school field trips to the factory in the 1980s. In 1995 the factory was sold to a records storage company and served in that capacity until 2008 after which it stood vacant.

 

In August 2011 the building was purchased to reinvigorate the empty building by creating a mixed-use property containing complementary businesses with the goal of making a positive contribution to not only the Northside, but Lexington as a whole. The anchor tenant is West Sixth Brewing Company which opened its doors in the spring of 2012. Being at the corner of West Sixth and the expanding Jefferson Street corridor, the Bread Box is near Transylvania University, the future Bluegrass Community and Technical College campus, and borders the next proposed leg of the Legacy Bike Trail. While the completion of the re-development of the building will take time, the Bread Box is committed to helping to create a positive impact on the community and complement the developments occurring in the Northside of Lexington.