A note from Holmes High School dated October, 1977 requests a parent's attendance at parent-teacher conference night. The note was never signed or returned, and for the past 38 years has remained inside the Boone Block Building, that sprawling structure that has loomed over the corner of 4th Street & Scott Boulevard since a hundred years before that note was sent home.

The Boone Block, after decades of decay, is in the process of becoming nine luxury townhomes, six of which have already been sold.

But as work begins in earnest on the property - a project of downtown Covington developer Tony Kreutzjans - the long vacant upper floors are being discovered again. To walk through the halls of the Boone Block, which historically housed offices, including the law office of Covington's State Senator and assassinated Governor William Goebel, and then apartments in the 20th century, is to peer back in time. It's as though the last residents of the place simply vanished some time in the late 1970's, leaving behind personal artifacts and clues about who once roamed the units.

Old wall paper peels, torn linoleum peeks from underneath piles of dirt and hearkens to the mid-20th century, beer cans and bottles - emptied - litter many of the rooms; newspaper clippings, a picture of Jesus Christ, and an old pair of women's underwear still on the hanger, are among the forgotten, abandoned treasures.

Soon, these items will be cleared out to make way for beautiful, new townhomes that will rise three levels, and likely setting a new standard for downtown Covington real estate.

In February, Covington photographer Thomas DiBello took The River City News readers on a journey through the Boone Block, and now he returns for a second, more personal tour. The first photographic trip through this historic building captured the decay, and this journey captures the spirit of those who lived there earlier.

If you like Dibello's work, be sure to follow him on Facebook.

The River City News thanks rock star real estate agents Rebecca Weber and Joy Amann of Huff Realty for permission to capture these images. Interested in one of these amazing homes? Contact them!

-Michael Monks, editor & publisher