Ever wonder what that building is and why it’s there? Heather Churchman has answers.
Heather Churchman loves houses in San Francisco even though she’s never been there. She follows an Instagram account that posts architecture photos—sometimes then-and-now photos showing the progress of the city. Churchman would spend hours flipping back and forth between the photos trying to spot the differences. From there, her obsession with old buildings and architecture was born and Churchman was on a mission to further her passion.
After following more local architecture accounts, like Cincinnati Revealed, Churchman wanted to start her own account celebrating the city she loves. In January 2019, Covington Uncovered was born—an Instagram that researches the old, wacky and new architecture in Covington.
The timing, unfortunately, worked out perfectly as Churchman was laid off from her job a few weeks before and suddenly had a lot of free time on her hands. Every day, Churchman would walk around Covington, scouring the streets for a photo opportunity. Eventually, her account grew to over 3,500 loyal followers, many of whom are Covington natives.
Now happily employed as a marketing copywriter for an accounting firm in Cincinnati, Churchman still uses her spare time to explore Covington. No two walks are alike for her, and the process for finding the most Instagram-worthy structure changes daily.
“I’ll find an old picture that I’ve come across, and I want to do like a now-and-then and so then I will seek out an area—like Wallace Woods—I’ll drive over there and park and then walk around. I like to do that and find new neighborhoods,” Churchman says.
Sometimes scouting out locations depends on the weather and trying to get the perfect sun-drenched angle. Other times, Churchman has no plan at all and just wanders throughout the city taking photos here-and-there.
When Churchman started her account, she didn’t take her own photos. She relied mainly on archival photos. Now, she takes her own photos using an iPhone 8—although she says she’s no photography expert.
Picking the location is the easy part. Once Churchman has decided what her next post will be, she buckles down and researches everything she can about the location. For every Instagram post, Churchman writes a story in the caption giving the history of the location, fun facts and whatever else she can get her hands on.
Sometimes her followers will send her tips about locations, making her job easier. Most of the time, however, Churchman spends hours surfing through local library websites, auditor websites and newspaper archives to get the information she needs. From there, she drafts up a compelling story to accompany the photo and posts it for her eager architect followers.
Want to know how dedicated Churchman is to her account? When visiting Highland Cemetery in Fort Mitchell, she knew most of the names on the gravestone from what she’s researched.
Exciting stories—like murder houses—do really well on her account. Other posts flop. Churchman doesn’t mind though. She just loves the sense of community her account brings.
“It’s really gratifying that there’s just this community of people and people that I know now from here—even if it’s just online—I just like learning along with everyone else, too,” Churchman says.
Churchman says she answers the questions people may have about buildings, houses or other locations in Covington but have never found the answer. In late February, Churchman posted about a unicorn statue in Seminary Square. According to Churchman, the 10-foot-tall unicorn statue—named Kellie—was created by Northern Kentucky University art professor Kevin Booher and his students in the late 1970s. The statue was then gifted to the Fort Thomas Public Library until around 1995 when it was then relocated to the Boohers’ house where it sits outside for people to admire.
“It’s something that people have walked by and they thought, ‘Oh, that was pretty’, but they never had any idea why it was there,” Churchman says. “I’m the one who comes along and I’m like, ‘I want to know why it is there, and who put it there and when it was built.’”
Virtually, her audience reaches far beyond the region, with some followers admiring Covington’s beauty all the way in California.
One of Churchman’s favorite stories she’s written for her account is about Henrietta Wood, an American woman from Northern Kentucky who was enslaved—despite being a free woman—by a group of men, including a Covington deputy sheriff, in 1853. Wood eventually sued and won her case, which awarded her the largest verdict ever awarded for slavery reparations in the United States: $2,500.
Churchman tries to show people the good in Covington and make them proud of their city. Last year, a teacher from a local school reached out to Churchman and asked if she could assist her in coming up with topics that she could use in her lessons. The teacher said her students were ashamed to be from Covington and she wanted to show them that there’s plenty to be proud of, so Churchman collaborated with the teacher to help students learn more about Covington.
“I just want people to appreciate their surroundings,” Churchman says. “There’s so much beauty in the everyday.”
Although Churchman can’t cover every Northern Kentucky city, she says she’s happy when people reach out to her wanting to create their own accounts similar to hers. A friend told Churchman she wanted to start a Norwood account—that branched off the Covington account—showing off the architecture where she lives.
“I love hearing from people where they’re like, ‘I went on a walk and I was just looking at this house and I loved it.’ That just makes me so happy to think that I could inspire someone else to go out and look for something or take a walk.”
Churchman isn’t sure if she will branch out her account to other cities. However, she knows one thing for certain: she loves Covington.
“I just appreciate where I live so much more. I always say, I have fallen in love with Covington through all of this,” Churchman says.
