Cynthiana mourns the loss of Herbie Moore

Cynthiana lost a beloved figure on March 19. Local artist Herbert Allen Moore passed away at the age of 93, and with him goes a great deal of history. He loved sharing his memories of growing up in the county, both through stories and paintings.

Whether or not you ever met Herbie Moore, you’ve probably seen him walking from his house on East Pleasant to the grocery or the United Methodist Church, where he was a lifetime member.

You’ve definitely seen his artwork. Prints of his iconic painting of the covered bridge that once spanned the Licking River at the foot of Bridge Street hang in many homes and offices in town; his large mural of Cynthiana greets you as you enter the Save a Lot grocery.

You may also have heard his stories. As a frequent guest on WCYN’s “Coffee Break,” Moore told story after story of growing up in Sunrise, the old Adams and Moore store in Cynthiana, his aspirations to be a comic book artist, and of the many people who influenced and helped him along the way.

Friendly and quaintly old-fashioned in manner, Herbie Moore was happy to share his memories in conversation; and he brought those memories of a simpler time to life on canvas.

The talented gentleman continued to produce paintings while in his early 90s, and he taught many young people in the community through private lessons and classes at the Licking Valley Campus. Moore could sometimes be spotted about town with his young students, sitting on the sidewalk sketching an old house.

As prolific an artist as he was, however, he never managed to get wealthy off his work and struggled at times.

Many people may not realize this, but in the 1970s he created the Mammoth Cave Wax Museum and a charming 1880’s theme park called Wandering Woods and Tranquil Valley Village in Cave City.

Though both businesses remained open for a long time, they were not successful for Moore and wound up in the hands of someone else.

More recently, he watched the health of his wife Mary decline slowly before she passed away in 2016.

Moore, a Korean War veteran, spent his last days in the Thomson-Hood Veterans Center in Wilmore.

He leaves behind a legacy of paintings depicting life in Cynthiana and Harrison County as it was in the late 1800s and early decades of the 1900s. Those works will be treasured all the more now that he’s gone.