Kentucky Historic Sites & Points of Interest
Historic Sites of Kentucky
The graves of Daniel Boone and his wife, Rebecca,
look out over the capital city of Frankfort, Kentucky.
Boone was a larger than life hero to early settlers.
Civil War in Kentucky
A cannon aims out over the
Cumberland Gap from Fort
McCook. The Civil War fort
protected the key route into
Kentucky through the Gap.
Petroglyphs in Kentucky
Ancient Native American
petroglyphs are among the
points of interest at Daniel
Boone National Forest in
Kentucky.
Kentucky Historic Sites & Points of Interest
Bluegrass, Bourbon & Boone!
Copyright 2017 by Dale Cox
All rights reserved.

Last Updated: June 25, 2017

Some contents Copyright 2012.
Custom Search
Louisville, Kentucky
The booming city of Louisville
is rich in history and culture.
Home to the Kentucky Derby,
Louisville is a national
treasure.
Lewis & Clark in Kentucky
It is a little known fact that
America's most famous
journey of exploration began
on the banks of the Ohio River
in Kentucky.
Kentucky, once called the "dark and bloody
ground," was primarily a hunting ground for
the Shawnee, Iroquois, Delaware, Cherokee
and Chickasaw Indians when the first
European explorers made their way over the
mountains.

Following on the heels of Gabriel Arthur and
Dr. Thomas Walker, Daniel Boone explored
large areas of Kentucky in 1767 and 1769.
Boone and other hunters carried back
glowing stories of the rich and free land
beyond the Blue Ridge.

James Harrod came over the mountains in
1774 and established Harrodstown (later
called Harrodsburg). The planting of this first
European settlement opened the door for
others to follow.

In 1775, Daniel Boone was hired by the
Transylvania Company to open a road from
Virginia through the Cumberland Gap to
Kentucky. Originally known as Boone's Trace,
this path today is remembered as the famed
Wilderness Road.

At the end of the road, Boone established
Fort Boonesborough, which he hoped would
serve as the capital of a new Transylvania
Colony. Virginia intervened, however, and
annexed all of Kentucky as a new county.
Otherwise the Commonwealth might still be
known as Transylvania today.

Despite fierce battles with the Indians who
opposed the expansion of white settlement
into Kentucky, the flood of frontier families
into the new county continued. The British
allied with the Shawnee, Cherokee and other
tribes during the American Revolution and
constant war continued until 1782. One of the
last battles of the Revolutionary War, the
Battle of Blue Licks, was fought in Kentucky
on August 19, 1782.

Although Blue Licks was a victory for the
British and Indian alliance, the United States
won the war. The fighting all but ended, the
flood of emigration across the mountains
grew and on June 1, 1792, Kentucky was
admitted to the Union.

Daniel Boone, sadly, later left Kentucky.
Disputes over the surveys of his land claims
left him impoverished and after briefly
considering a relocation to Florida, he settled
in Missouri.

Kentucky troops played a major role in the
War of 1812. Militia from the Commonwealth
took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe on the
eve of the war and it was Colonel Richard
Johnson who allegedly killed the famed
Shawnee leader Tecumseh at the Battle of
the Thames in 1813. On January 8, 1815,
Kentucky riflemen were part of Andrew
Jackson's army that destroyed the British at
the Battle of New Orleans.

Although the Commonwealth at first tried to
maintain its neutrality, Kentucky played a
major role in the Civil War. The armies of
both sides invaded Kentucky and soldiers
from the Bluegrass fought for both North and
South.

The largest battle in Kentucky took place at
Perryville, now a state historic site, and the
Louisville Wharf is remembered as the place
where thousands of enslaved African
Americans crossed the Ohio River to
freedom.

Kentucky's culture today is distinctly Southern
and the South's most famed event, the
Kentucky Derby, has been run each spring
since 1875. The horse farms in the famed
Bluegrass region are second to none in the
world and also are popular with visitors to the
Commonwealth.

Kentucky, uniquely, also ranks third in the
nation for automobile production. Its modern
cities include Louisville and Lexington, where
old and new combine beautifully.
4th of July Fireworks in Kentucky 2017

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
National Historic Park

Belle of Louisville

Big South Fork National River

Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park

Captain Jack Gilooly (Famous Life Saver)

Chained Rock

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Daniel Boone in Kentucky

Daniel Boone National Forest

D. Boon Hut (Built by Daniel Boone?)

Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site

Evan Williams - Kentucky's First Distiller

Fort Boonesborough State Park

Fort Lyon at Cumberland Gap

Fort McCook at Cumberland Gap

Jefferson Davis State Historic Site

Kentucky's First Whiskey Distillery

Lewis & Clark in Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky
Historic Sites & Points of Interest

Mammoth Cave National Park

Metaphoric Clock Marker (Louisville)

My Old Kentucky Home

National Historic Landmarks of Kentucky

National Natural Landmarks of Kentucky

Nitre Mine (Boone N.F.)

Old Fort Harrod State Park

Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site

Pinnacle Overlook (Cumberland Gap)

Petroglyphs & Rock Shelters (Boone N.F.)

Red River Gorge & Natural Bridge
Historic Sites in the South
Cumberland Falls
One of the most beautiful
waterfalls in the nation, famed
Cumberland Falls is the
centerpiece of a state park.
Photos on this page by Brian Mabelitini & Alan Cox
Learn about Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky!