Frankfort Greenhouses

The Frankfort Greenhouses, established in 1870, is significant as one of the first commercial greenhouses Frankfort, having survived in continuous operation under the proprietorship of the same family for more than a century. In 1956, the family purchased the last building used for the business complex that today comprises 210, 212, and 216 East Main Street. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the flower business in Frankfort existed as a thriving industry, with Frankfort Greenhouses operating as one of the industry leaders. Though founded by Irish immigrant Edmond Power, most of its growth and success can be attributed to his wife, daughter, and granddaughter, who took over the business in succeeding years.

An abundance of private and public greenhouses appeared during the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolution allowed greenhouses to become more accessible to the middle class, notably in England. The cost of glass production significantly dropped, and the government halted its substantial tax on glass and windows. Greenhouses such as England's Chatsworth Conservatory, Palm House at Kew, New York's Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the Botanical Gardens, and the Crystal Places of New York and London opened during the nineteenth century. While the Frankfort Greenhouses may not have ascended to the level of extravagance seen in London and New York, its development speaks to the popularity of elaborate greenhouses that developed during the era. 

In addition to the growing popularity of greenhouses found in the U.S., Britain, and Europe, Frankfort enjoyed a bustling flower-growing industry, which included the Frankfort Greenhouses. Indeed, Kentucky supported more than seventy-five flower farms by the turn of the twentieth century. Unlike typical crop-growing farms, flower-growing operations could be found in urban areas and required less land but more buildings; they were more compact than the sprawling farms of the Midwest and Great Plains. Still, the expansive, family-run Frankfort Greenhouses involved multiple buildings on two acres of urban property. 

The Frankfort Greenhouses began humbly when Edmond Power, an Irish immigrant, dug a rose pit alongside his house at 216 East Main Street, a location that proved to be advantageous (located directly across from the historic Frankfort Cemetery). He later constructed the first greenhouse, in roughly 1870, on top of the rose pit. Power, who sold stoves and tin, and manufactured galvanized iron cornices, emphasized climate control over aesthetics when building the first greenhouse. Power relied on terraced greenhouses to better receive light, with sunlight coming through on three sides of the building; only the north side had an enclosed wall. He designed raised beds with hot pipes routed underneath along with vents near the top to keep the roots warm but the leaves and flowers cool. Power partnered with a German immigrant who possessed a knowledge of growing flowers, which, when combined with the excellent location and Power's mechanical and engineering skills, allowed the business to thrive. 

Edmond lived at 216 E. Main Street with his first wife, Norah, whom he married in 1870. He also purchased land from her family, where the family built more greenhouses as the business grew. Norah Welch Power later died in childbirth, but Power remarried in 1882 to Frances "Fannie" Ryan. By the early twentieth century, Fannie emerged as the central business figure for the greenhouses following Edmond's death somewhere between 1910 and 1912. She, along with their three children, became fully invested in the flower business, unlike Edmond, who operated Frankfort Greenhouses as a secondary job to his stoves, tin, and galvanized iron company. 

After Fannie died in 1921, her daughter, Mary, assumed management of the business. That same year, Mary married John Canty (a treasurer for Collins Hardware) and then gave birth to Frances Canty in 1922. John Canty died three years later but Mary and her brothers, skilled at business and accounting, turned Edmond's once secondary career into a place of local prominence. Aided by her brothers, Mary (in 1934) rebuilt the family residence at 216 Main Street. Mary also purchased the house at 210 E. Main Street that evolved into the business office and showroom. In the 1960s, Frances (Mary's daughter and Edmond's granddaughter) became the third woman in the family to manage the greenhouse. She helped modernize it and link it to such delivery services as FTD (Florists' Transworld Delivery). 

So, while the Frankfort Greenhouses began in 1870 by two male Irish and German immigrants, it flourished while run by three women. Edmond turned his rose pit into a flower business that benefited from its location across from a cemetery, as well as his engineering skills and his business partners flower-growing knowledge. But, when his wife and children took over the business, they made it their primary focus. At a time when more than seventy-five flower businesses were in operation, the Power's flower operation grew to become a leader in the industry. Edmond Power's daughter and granddaughter continued to expand the business until the middle twentieth century.

Lamb, Melissa. "Registration Form: Frankfort Greenhouses." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. 1997. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/6f04411d-20b7-4b86-8599-6a40f4c811cc/.

Valen, Dustin. "On the Horticultural Origins of Victorian Glasshouse Culture." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 75, no. 4 (2016): 403-23.