Kentuckiana

Locust Grove, a circa 1792 Georgian mansion near Louisville, Kentucky, embodies a rich tapestry of American history. Built by Irish immigrant William Croghan and his wife, Lucy Clark, sister of General George Rogers Clark, it served as a gentleman’s country estate, a hub of politics and culture, and a symbol of national pride. Constructed and sustained by the labor of enslaved African Americans, the estate reflects the complexities of early 19th-century life.

Locust Grove played a key role in westward expansion, hosting figures like Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and pioneers Lewis and Clark. The estate was a mixed-use farm, producing livestock, crops, and small-scale manufactures, and served as a waystation for ideas and culture on the frontier. The Croghans owned the property until 1878, and after changing hands, it was acquired by Jefferson County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1961 for restoration.

Opened to the public in 1964, the museum now preserves and interprets life between 1790 and 1822, showcasing the stories of its residents, visitors, and enslaved workers. Through tours, events, and dedicated stewardship, Locust Grove continues to educate and inspire as a vital link to America's frontier heritage.

Located on the banks of the Ohio River at 201 West Riverside Drive, Clarksville, Indiana, is Falls of the Ohio State Park. The 390-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world. The park features a spectacular interpretive center overlooking the fossil beds featuring new interactive, immersive exhibits.

While fossil collecting is prohibited on the fossil beds and river bank, the park staff encourages visitors to explore and discover the many different types of fossils that can be found on the ancient sea bottom. Collecting piles (with rock and fossils from quarries) is the only place where rocks may be removed at the Falls of the Ohio. They are located by the parking lot behind the interpretive center.

August through October provides the best accessibility to the 220 acres of fossil beds, as the river is at its lowest level during this period.

Founded in 2004 and located in the West Main District of downtown Louisville, the Frazier History Museum is where the world meets Kentucky. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Frazier documents stories from history using artifacts, exhibitions, and guided tours led by a talented staff of educators. With the opening of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center and the Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition in 2018, the Frazier became the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®. As the host of many weddings, corporate parties, and exclusive events, the Frazier is a beautiful spot with many unique event spaces.

Nonprofit Mission
The Frazier History Museum is a nonprofit that encompasses everything Kentucky. Proceeds from memberships, admissions, group sales, facility rentals, and donations support the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs, including free or reduced admission for Title 1 students; Frazier Weekly, the “Let’s Talk: Bridging the Divide” series; summer, fall, and winter camps; guided tours, guest engagements, and Stories in Mind, which brings the Frazier into long-term care communities. Annual fundraisers include Summer Beer Fest at Frazier and the Owsley Brown Frazier Classic Sporting Clay Tournament.

History of the Museum
Founded in 2004 by local philanthropist Owsley Brown Frazier, the Frazier was originally called the Frazier Historical Arms Museum; it subsequently rebranded with a focus on the state of Kentucky, adopting the slogan “where the world meets Kentucky.” Subjects of permanent exhibitions include the pop culture of Kentucky, the history of Kentucky, Bourbon whiskey, and Lewis and Clark. The Frazier houses of one of the largest collections of toy soldiers and historical miniatures on permanent public display in the world, The Stewart Collection, donated by Charles Stewart of Frankfort. In 2018, the Frazier became the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®.

Permanent Exhibitions
Opened in 2020, the pop culture–themed Cool Kentucky spotlights artists, craftsmen, scientists, chefs, musicians, and other notable figures from the Bluegrass State. On display are objects from such famous Kentuckians as frontiersman Daniel Boone, giant Jim Porter, trendsetter Mona Bismarck, inventor Garrett Morgan, mystery novelist Sue Grafton, explorer Tori Murden McClure, actor George Clooney, Paralympic athlete Oksana Masters, and rapper Jack Harlow.

Opened in 2022, The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall depicts the lives of everyday Kentuckians from the Ice Age to the present. Visitors learn from diverse figures about Shawnee storytellers, Choctaw students, trappers and frontierswomen, freedom seekers and abolitionists, Confederate and Union soldiers, trade unionists and women’s suffragists, Appalachian coal miners, and corn and tobacco farmers. Selected objects include the arrest warrant issued for Mary Todd Lincoln, an original clock face from the Town Clock Church, and the Bloedner Monument, the oldest surviving memorial to the American Civil War.

The Spirit of Kentucky® serves as a visual guide to the history, craft, and culture of Bourbon; its features include a covered bridge, a touch-screen library, and a bottle hall stocked with hundreds of different Bourbons. The Lewis and Clark Experience simulates the journey the US Army’s Corps of Discovery undertook from 1804 to 1806 to learn about the flora, fauna, and geography of the Louisiana Purchase. And, with over 30,000 figurines, vehicles, and accessories representing some 170 different toy soldier and miniature makers, The Stewart Collection at the Frazier constitutes “one of the finest collections of rare historic toy soldiers on permanent public display in the world today,” according to Old Toy Soldier.

Permanent Collection
The permanent collection features a wide array of historically significant arms and artifacts of American, American Indian, Asian, and European origin. Arms of notable provenance include Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big Stick,” Custer’s pistols, and Geronimo’s bow and arrows. Other rare and noteworthy objects include a surplus grave marker from the Battle of Little Bighorn and a first edition copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

A heroic-size bronze statue of York is located on the Louisville Belvedere at Fifth and Main Streets. Accomplished by Louisvillian and nationally known sculptor Ed Hamilton, it was championed by the Falls of the Ohio Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee and commissioned by the city of Louisville in 2002. It was dedicated on October 14, 2003, the 200th anniversary of the meeting of Lewis and Clark in Louisville for the expedition and as part of the opening ceremonies of the Falls of the Ohio Lewis and Clark National Signature

The Filson Historical Society, founded in 1884, is a privately supported historical society dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the significant history and culture of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. We have served the public through our extensive and historic collections of original manuscripts, letters, diaries, photographs, architectural records, rare imprints, books, maps, newspapers, textiles, portraits, and other three dimensional items. Our collections form a regional educational resource that attracts national and international researchers.

We are an organization dedicated to providing continuing adult education in the form of quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal, Ohio Valley History, a quarterly magazine, The Filson, weekly lectures, historical tours, exhibits, reading and discussion groups, weekend-long conferences, a field institute, and excursions.

Located in present George Rogers Clark Park in Louisville, the Clark family homesite served as the residence of William Clark and York from 1785 to 1803. The outbuildings and the remains of the house were razed in 1917. The farm once included over three hundred acres and had two mills on the waters of Beargrass Creek. The family cemetery and a cypress tree dating to the Clarks’ residence are all that remain today.

“Mulberry Hill” was the name of the Clark family home in Jefferson County, and one of the most significant historic structures in Kentucky and the early West due to its association with the Clarks. Now within the city limits of Louisville, at that time it was about three miles southeast of town on the South Fork of Beargrass Creek. John Clark purchased the 256 acre tract from the heirs of George Meriwether on August 29, 1785. The Clarks already were living on the property, so apparently an agreement had been made prior to the actual sale. Additional land was added to the tract so that it totaled 318 acres by 1799. By 1803 it apparently totaled 343 acres.

John (1725-1799) and Ann (Rogers) Clark (1728-1798) and their four youngest children: Lucy (1765-1838), Elizabeth (1768-1795), William (1770-1838), and Frances (1773-1825) arrived in Jefferson County in March 1785. They had begun their move to Kentucky from their home in Caroline County, Virginia, in 1784 and wintered at Redstone Landing on the Monongahela River. Son George Rogers Clark (1752-1818) already had settled in Louisville and may have been living in the house. Tradition states, and there is some evidence to support it, that George, brother Jonathan (1750-1811), and some Clark family slaves built the house in 1784 in preparation for their family’s move there. The estate initially was christened “Ampthill,” possibly in honor of the Chesterfield County, Virginia, home of the same name owned at that time by the Temple family, Clark friends, and relatives. At some point, probably within several years, John Clark changed the name of his estate to “Mulberry Hill.” Information indicates it was christened “Mulberry Hill” due to the presence of those trees on the Poplar Level, as the area was called. One story states that mulberry logs were used to build the house. (James J. Holmberg)

The final resting place of George Rogers Clark and family members as well as Muhammed Ali, Colonel Harlan Sanders, Paul Hornung, and other prominent Louisville residents.

Chartered in 1848 by the General Assembly of Kentucky, the 296-acre cemetery is located on a former farm and quarry site selected for its undulating topography. The cemetery’s name, and that of the farm before it, is derived from the large limestone cave that runs 75 feet into the hillside.

The site’s natural conditions defined how the cemetery was laid out. The ravine that divides the site into eastern and western halves was created by numerous small springs that fed into Beargrass Creek. Chief engineer Edmund Francis Lee developed the western half first, with roads that followed the curving topography and burial plots situated in circular patterns on the flatter promontories. The eastern half of the cemetery was farmed and quarried until 1890, when the quarry was filled with water and enlarged to create a more dramatic focal point. Four additional ponds and lakes were subsequently built, including a lily pond and a lotus pond. Between 1905 and 1951, the Olmsted Brothers firm was consulted on four occasions about the cemetery entrance, the chapel site, and layouts for new grave space. There are over 500 varieties of trees and shrubs on the site, including numerous state champion trees. Cave Hill Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.