Documenting Kentucky’s Architectural Heritage: The Work of John David Myles

By VOICE-TRIBUNE Photos By Matt Johnson 

John David Myles is an attorney, former family court judge, historic preservationist, and architectural historian whose writing focuses on the history and built environment of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. Myles earned degrees from Centre College and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, after which he practiced law and later served as a judge in the 53rd Judicial Circuit of Kentucky, covering Anderson, Shelby, and Spencer counties. Alongside his legal career, Myles has developed a reputation as a historian and author, documenting Kentucky’s architectural heritage and regional history. 

Myles’ work is characterized by detailed research, a focus on historical accuracy, and a dedication to preservation. His books largely center on specific buildings, neighborhoods, and architectural figures, combining archival research with photographs, historical documents, and personal narratives. They serve as both reference works and records of cultural history, particularly for communities in central Kentucky. 

One of Myles’s most widely recognized books is Walter H. Kiser’s Neighborhood Sketches Revisited. In this work, Myles retraces the locations documented in Kiser’s original series of sketches, which appeared in the Louisville Times from 1934 to 1942. Kiser’s original sketches depicted 404 buildings and landmarks across Kentucky and southern Indiana. Myles’s book updates these sites, pairing Kiser’s sketches with current photographs and detailed commentary on the structures’ histories. The book highlights which buildings remain, which have been altered, and which have been lost over time, providing both a visual and narrative record of the region’s architectural evolution. Neighborhood Sketches Revisited received the Samuel W. Thomas Book Award from the Louisville Historical League, recognizing its significance to historical scholarship and preservation efforts. 

Myles is also the author of Historic Architecture of Shelby County, his first published book. The work documents notable structures throughout Shelby County, exploring them through historical research, architectural analysis, and photography. In addition to receiving the Samuel W. Thomas Book Award, Historic Architecture of Shelby County, Walter H. Kiser’s Neighborhood Sketches Revisited, and Louisville Classics have each been honored with Publication Awards from the Kentucky Historical Society. 

Most recently, Myles published Louisville Classics: The Architecture of Hugh Lloyd Nevin and Frederic Lindley Morgan, a comprehensive study of two influential architects whose work shaped much of Louisville’s early 20th-century built environment. In Louisville Classics, Myles goes further than examining individual structures to explore how Nevin’s and Morgan’s designs reflected broader trends in architectural movements and local cultural priorities, documenting residential, civic, and institutional projects through photographs, plans, and historical analysis. This book underscores Myles’s ongoing interest in architectural history as a lens for understanding regional identity and cultural change, and it represents his most ambitious effort to date to contextualize Kentucky’s historical architecture within a larger narrative. Readers interested in architectural evolution, preservation, and the individuals who shaped the physical character of communities will find this recent work emblematic of Myles’s detailed, research-driven approach to historical writing. 

MYLES’ BOOKS CAN BE FOUND AT MANY LOCAL LOCATIONS, INCLUDING: 

Carmichael’s Bookstores | Digs Home & Garden | Dolfinger’s | Merridian | Jean Frazier & Steve Tipton-Collecting Kentucky | The Antique Market | Wakefield Scearce Gallery | 6th & Main Coffee House