Hunter Wilson/Daily News Nyzaria Ferguson, 4, blows bubbles during the fifth annual Shake Rag Heritage Festival held at Riverfront Park on Saturday.

The Shake Rag Festival, held Saturday at RiverWalk Park, is one of the few times each year when people from throughout Bowling Green can see pictures from the history of the district.

That lack of availability – to look at the large amount of history from the community – is one of the reasons a museum is important, said Wathetta Buford, vice president of the New Era Planning Association, which organizes the festival to increase awareness about Shake Rag.

The Shake Rag District is located along the north end of State Street and developed around Lee Square. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Photographs came from the collections of several people who lived in the community and some date back as far as the late 1800s, Buford said.

A lot of people from all races are interested in the old photos, she said. A museum would provide an opportunity for a lot more people to see memorabilia from the community.

Many of the photographs focus on the former State Street High School, where Bowling Green’s black students were sent prior to integration.

There is a lot of pride in the State Street School, Buford said, and the old yearbooks and school pictures were among the items that everyone wanted to see at Saturday’s festival.

The event is all about honoring those who came before, said Don Offutt, who grew up in Shake Rag. The goal was for children to have a good time and learn about the history of the community.

Those who settled in Shake Rag included a number of former slaves who fought for the North in the Civil War, including Offutt’s great-great-grandfather, he said.

“They decided to settle here and raise their families. These were industrious people,” Offutt said.

They fought because the North had promised if they did, their families would be freed.

“Kentucky has always been an interesting dichotomy. A lot of people supported the Confederacy, yet Kentucky also had the second largest number of slaves who fought (for the North),” Offutt said. “You look around and we’ve got white kids and black kids. Things look a lot better than they used to.”

One of the items being shown Saturday was a picture book that included a history of Shake Rag written by former resident Donnie Thompson. Thompson became sick and died while the book was being put together, said Comelia Hunter, who worked on the book with Thompson; Hunter went to school at the State Street High School, but lived in the Jonesville community.

“He wanted to do this book because there were a lot of misconceptions about the origin of the name Shake Rag,” she said.

The named stemmed from the halls and other places within the community where people danced, Hunter said. Photographs from Thompson’s book came from his uncle, Joseph C. Hampton, she said.

“There are people who are interested in doing another book. (Thompson) wanted to make it bigger, but he got sick,” Hunter said. “He’s got enough pictures stored for another two or three books.”

A lot of people didn’t live in Shake Rag, but all the black students went to school there, Buford said. During the last year, there has been continued development with the Shake Rag District.

“I especially like the new homes,” Buford said. “We’re trying to work with the community residents so they’ll be the Shake Rag residents’ group.”

The success within Shake Rag will help the association begin working with other communities in Bowling Green, she said.

“We have a lot of pride in Shake Rag and will continue to work there, but we’ll be able to help some other communities too,” Buford said.