Our History
Promoting commerce in Boyle County for over 100 years.
The Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce traces its roots to 1919, when local business & civic leaders organized a new chamber to succeed Danville’s earlier Commercial Club & give the community a more formal voice for commerce & growth.
In 1919, Danville business owners & community leaders replaced the old Commercial Club with a formally structured chamber of commerce, aligning Danville & Boyle County with a national movement toward organized, business-led civic leadership. The new Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce focused on coordinating local merchants, promoting the town as a regional trading center, & working with public officials on infrastructure & essential services that supported business growth & community development.
Over the next century, the Chamber helped nurture entrepreneurship, elevate civic leadership, & connect employers of all sizes to resources, advocacy, & a unified business voice. These early efforts laid the foundation for today’s business climate in Danville & Boyle County, where collaboration between private enterprise & public partners continues to drive economic development.
In 2019, the Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 100th anniversary with the “Historically Bold — 100 Year Bash” awards event at Centre College, explicitly recognizing its 1919 founding. The centennial programming highlighted long-standing member businesses & emerging leaders, underscoring the Chamber’s ongoing role in nurturing entrepreneurship, recognizing civic leadership, & supporting both small businesses & major employers.
Around this time, the Chamber increasingly aligned its story with the broader “Historically Bold” community brand, emphasizing the area’s blend of deep history & forward-looking economic development. By tying its 100-year legacy to a modern brand narrative, the Chamber positioned Danville & Boyle County as a historically significant, yet innovative, place to live, work, & invest.
A look back from the Advocate-Messenger & other local sources further illustrates how Chamber-led initiatives, awards galas, & community partnerships have celebrated business success & civic leadership for more than a century. These stories reinforce the Chamber’s identity as a Historically Bold champion for Danville-Boyle County’s business community.
A Historically Bold Black Business Story
More than 200 years ago, Dennis and Diademia (often spelled Diadamia) Doram began building businesses, buying land, and investing in community life right here in Danville. Born enslaved around 1796 at the Indian Queen Tavern in Danville, Dennis gained his freedom in 1827 and quickly proved himself to be an ambitious entrepreneur. He founded a rope and hemp factory, conducted trade as early as the 1810s, and within a decade of emancipation began purchasing town lots on “the Main” street in Danville. Diademia, born enslaved but later freed with her family, married Dennis in 1830 and became his partner in building a life of uncommon economic security and social influence for African Americans in a slave state.
By the 1840s, the Dorams had accumulated several thousand dollars in bank assets and more than 300 acres of land, much of it along the Dix River in Boyle County. Their portraits, painted around 1839, capture a rare image of a prosperous free Black couple at a time when nearly every social and legal structure worked against them. Local historians note that Dennis became a recognized community leader, helping to establish educational opportunities for African Americans and later serving as a delegate to the First Convention of Colored Men of Kentucky in 1866.
How the Dorams Shaped Danville’s Growth
The Dorams did more than secure their own prosperity — they helped shape the physical and economic landscape of Danville’s Black community. By purchasing lots and acreage in and around town, Dennis and Diademia created space where Black families could live, worship, and build businesses in the decades before and after the Civil War. As Dr. Bethany Rogers has observed, the land they bought in east Danville ultimately became home to many of the community’s African American residences and institutions, including the heart of the historic Black business district.
Their story also connects to later local leaders, such as educator Dr. John Bate and poet Frank X Walker, whose work further expanded educational and cultural opportunities for African Americans from Danville to the wider region. Seen together, these legacies show that Black innovation, property ownership, and civic leadership have been embedded in Danville’s story from the very beginning — even when official records and mainstream narratives tried to erase or minimize that contribution.
Why Their Legacy Matters to Today’s Business Community
For the Danville-Boyle County Chamber of Commerce, the Dorams’ lives are more than a compelling historical footnote; they are a roadmap for the kind of community we aspire to be. Dennis and Diademia built businesses, created jobs, invested in real estate, and used their influence to support education and civil rights, all under conditions that were explicitly hostile to their success. Their persistence, strategic investments, and commitment to lifting others up mirror the values we celebrate in our member businesses today.
As our community continues to promote Danville and Boyle County as a place where entrepreneurs can thrive, the Dorams remind us that inclusive economic development is not a new idea here — it is part of our DNA. Honoring their legacy means making sure that Black-owned businesses, emerging entrepreneurs of color, and historically marginalized residents have a clear path to opportunity, resources, and recognition in the modern economy.
Continuing the Work: How We Honor the Dorams Now
Across Danville and Boyle County, partners are working together to preserve and share stories like the Dorams’. Projects such as African American heritage trails, public art, local history exhibits, and oral history initiatives are elevating the contributions of Black residents and business owners, especially in and around the former Second Street business district. The Kentucky Historical Society and local historians continue to research the Doram-Rowe Family Collection, adding new detail to how the Dorams lived, worked, and led.
The Chamber is committed to being part of that work — partnering on storytelling projects, supporting Black-owned businesses, and ensuring that our economic development narrative reflects the full richness of our community’s past. When we talk about being “Historically Bold,” we’re talking about people like Dennis and Diademia Doram: neighbors who dared to build, invest, and lead in ways that still shape Danville’s business landscape today.