Midway, KY

Midway is a small city in Woodford County where the railroad runs straight through the historic downtown. The first train reached this midpoint between Lexington and Frankfort in 1833, and the Lexington and Ohio Railroad laid out the town soon afterward. A Kentucky historical marker calls Midway the first Kentucky town established by a railroad. The 2020 census counted 1,741 residents. Main Street, Railroad Street, and the Midway Historic District still make that origin visible. The rails are still part of the view on Main Street.

Midway University adds another major layer. Founded in 1847 as the Kentucky Female Orphan School, the institution now occupies a 200-acre campus and working horse farm near downtown. The city sits in the heart of the state's thoroughbred country, with farms and training operations filling the countryside beyond the historic blocks. Restaurants, boutiques, festivals, and the university calendar give Midway a busy local rhythm, while the tracks keep its original railroad-town logic in plain view.