"The Sun Shines Bright on my Old Kentucky Home"* in Bardstown
Written: Sep 24 '02 (Updated Sep 24 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: An off the beaten path travel adventure
Cons: None at all
The Bottom Line: Bardstown is one of Kentucky’s most Historic and Romantic Travel Destinations
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: Bardstown |
Visit Bardstown and see American history come alive as you follow in the footsteps of an exiled French King, duelist Aaron Burr, Frontiersman Daniel Boone, and outlaw Jesse James. Bardstown’s shady streets are lined with ancient trees, historic buildings, crafts galleries, and a fascinating collection of one of kind Bed and Breakfast Inns. The city is also the Bourbon whiskey capitol of the world.
My Old Kentucky Home
Bardstown is best known as the home of Kentucky’s first state park, the old Rowan family estate at Federal Hill, called “My Old Kentucky Home” by songwriter Stephen Collins Foster. Stephen Foster was related to the Rowan family and visited at Federal Hill. In 1853 he wrote “My Old Kentucky Home” as a tribute to his Kentucky cousins and the enjoyable times he had spent with them. Foster’s song eventually became the Kentucky state song, played every year before the start of the Kentucky Derby.
John Rowan moved to Kentucky in 1795. His father was a Revolutionary War hero and Rowan became a successful lawyer and appellate judge and Kentucky’s first U. S. Senator. Rowan built the stately Georgian mansion on Federal Hill in 1818 and entertained friends like Lexington neighbor Henry Clay and Vice President Aaron Burr. Federal Hill was a social and political landmark during one of the most colorful eras in Kentucky's history. The house and grounds became Kentucky’s first state park in 1923.
The fully restored mansion is open year round (June-Aug. 8:30am-6:30pm and Sept.-May 9:00am-4:45pm) with tours led by docents dressed in period costumes. The tour includes the Rowan family cemetery, a native limestone springhouse, and the log cabin Judge Rowan used as his law office. Kentucky’s longest running outdoor musical drama, “Stephen Foster--The Musical, featuring more than fifty of Foster’s best known songs can be seen at the park’s amphitheater during warm weather evenings. The park has a very special gift shop selling Kentucky crafts, books, souvenirs, and an eclectic collection of products produced in the Bluegrass State (my wife loves the beeswax candles and handmade herbal soaps). There’s also a picnic area, a playground, and meeting facilities. The house is located just off the Bluegrass Parkway, on U. S. Highway 150 East, about thirty-five miles from Louisville.
Bourbon
Bourbon whiskey was developed in Kentucky in the years right after the Revolutionary War. Pioneers couldn’t afford the high prices charged for whiskey freighted down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh or hauled overland from Virginia. With inexhaustible supplies of pure limestone filtered spring water and excess corn they managed to develop a new variety of whiskey that rivaled anything imported from Ireland or Scotland.
During the War of 1812 hundreds of Kentucky volunteers headed south to New Orleans to help Andrew Jackson save the Crescent City from capture by the British. The buckskin clad “Kaintuck” riflemen not only helped Old Hickory's troops and Jean Lafitte’s pirates defeat the British and save New Orleans, they also introduced Bourbon (named for the French Royal family) to appreciative New Orleans drinkers. Within a few years Bourbon Whiskey was one of Kentucky’s most important exports. By law, for a whiskey to be called Bourbon it must be made in Kentucky from a mash that is at least fifty-one per cent corn and be aged in new charred white oak barrels for a minimum of two years.
Bardstown is the "Bourbon Whiskey Capital of the World". Several well-known distilleries are located nearby and many of Kentucky’s famous single-barrel Bourbons are produced in the area. If you’re a Bourbon Aficionado you can learn all about the traditional craft of Bourbon making at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History located in historic Spalding Hall. The museum features a fascinating collection of whiskey advertisements, old whiskey bottles, Bourbon memorabilia, stills, and the McKenna Distillery exhibit. 114 N. 5th St.. Spaulding Hall was built in 1826 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Structures. The building also houses the Bardstown Historical Museum. (May-Oct. 9-5, Sun. 1-5--- Nov.-Apr. Tues.-Sat. 10-4, Sun. 1-4) Admission is Free.
Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral
Irish and Scottish Catholics who traveled overland from Maryland settled Bardstown in the mid 1780’s. The Vatican recognized the little village by naming it the headquarters of a new western diocese that stretched from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from Detroit to New Orleans. In 1811 a French priest named Benedict Joseph Flaget was appointed the first bishop of the west. He arrived in Bardstown after traveling down the Ohio River on a flatboat and then from Louisville by wagon. Bishop Flaget was determined to build a magnificent cathedral in the wilderness, but because his parish was sparsely settled and very poor, it took many years to raise the money to construct his dream church. Almost everyone in town contributed what they could and many villagers worked as laborers, carpenters, and masons to build the cathedral. Native clay bricks were fired on the grounds, and huge old growth oaks cut in the forests surrounding the little town and hauled to the cathedral site were lathed by hand to form the massive columns supporting the building. The Cathedral was consecrated in 1819 and the new church was soon filled with fine art objects and beautiful paintings donated by Pope Leo XII, Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies, and King Louis Phillippe of France. The Saint Joseph’s is the oldest cathedral west of the Appalachian Mountains. The headquarters of the diocese moved to Louisville in 1841 and the beautiful cathedral became a simple parish church. The cathedral is located at 310 W. Stephen Foster Ave.
Old Bardstown Village and Civil War Museum
Old Bardstown Village consists of nine 150-200 year old log cabins relocated to this site to give tourists a feel for what Bardstown was like during the closing years of the eighteenth century. Visitors can walk through the village and visit several of the cabins to see how the pioneers lived. Isolation (Louisville, the nearest town, was forty miles away, a three day journey), poverty, disease, and hostile Indians were a constant threat during the little frontier town’s early years.
The Civil War museum (housed in Bardstown’s old city water plant) has one of the country’s finest collections of artifacts and memorabilia from the Civil War’s Western campaigns, including uniforms, weapons, and battle flags. The museum opened in 1996 and is rapidly becoming one of the premier Civil War museums in the nation, especially for those interested in the history of the War in the West. The collection is comparable in importance to the collections at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond and the Confederate Museum in New Orleans.
One of the most interesting artifacts is the battle flag of the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry captured at New Lisbon, Ohio during Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's lighting raid into the northern heartland. After Morgan and his raiders surrendered they were incarcerated in an Ohio prison as criminals rather than prisoners of war. Morgan and many of his soldiers escaped in one of the largest and most daring prisoner breakouts in military history. The photos, uniforms, flags, medical equipment, weapons, and personal items give visitors a sense of historic connection to America’s darkest, and most divisive era. The museum’s newest exhibit, "Women's Role in the War" shows the role women played in the Civil War. Women worked as nurses, spies, secret couriers, and some disguised themselves as men so they could fight.
310 E. Broadway -- (502) 349-0291 Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.---Sunday 12:00 pm to 5 p.m.-- January and February, weekends only-- www.civil-war-museum.org
Pioneer Cemetery
Bardstown’s Pioneer Cemetery will fascinate amateur genealogists and history buffs alike. The Cemetery is located on Fourth Street behind the old county jail. Headstones date back to the 1780’s and the pioneer cemetery at Harrodsburg is the only burial ground in the state that is older. Photographers will love the worn and weathered native Kentucky limestone grave markers.
My Old Kentucky Dinner Train
Stop by the Bardstown Railway Depot (built in 1860) and board a train with beautifully restored 1940’s vintage passenger cars for the two and half hour round trip to the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven. Tourists can enjoy a gourmet meal as the old train makes its way through the beautiful Rolling Fork Valley. If you’ve ever wished that it was possible to recreate the romance and adventure of train travel seen in old movies like North by Northwest, The Lady Disappears, and The Thirty-nine Steps then you’ll love My Old Kentucky Dinner Train.
The on board ambience is straight out of the classic days of rail travel, the food is good, and the scenery is spectacular---murders and kidnappings are rare these days so you’ll have to improvise that part of the scenario. When the train stops at the recreated depot in New Haven you can buy some souvenirs at the gift shop or pass some top secret papers to one of your fellow spies like Sean Connery did in From Russia With Love. www.kydinnertrain.com--- (502) 348-7300--- Old Bardstown Railroad Depot-- 602 N. 3rd St.
Historic Lodgings
The Old Talbott Tavern
The Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779, is the oldest surviving western stagecoach stop in the United States. The old tavern has been providing shelter, food, and drink for weary travelers for more than two hundred years. Among the Talbott’s most famous guests were King Louis Philippe (the exiled French King and his entourage stayed for an extended period and even painted murals on the upstairs walls), Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Boone, Stephen Foster, Washington Irving, Jesse James (who fired two bullets into the tavern’s wall), George Rogers Clark, and wildlife artist John James Audubon.
The Talbott Tavern has been famous for more than two centuries for its hearty delicious food, Southern hospitality, and friendly public room. The old stagecoach stop is still known for its delicious combination of traditional Southern and regional Kentucky cuisine. Servers dressed in period costumes and the dark woody ambience create an atmosphere that makes diners feel like they’ve stepped back in time a century or two. Southern fried chicken, Kentucky country ham, chess pie, and homemade cobblers will help further the illusion of living, for a time, in the past. There is a gift shop featuring Kentucky cookbooks and an eclectic collection of Bluegrass State souvenirs.
The old native limestone building on Court Square is reputed to be the abode of ghosts and spirits. The floors creak, the corners are dark, and it is easy to believe that the shades of some of the old tavern’s infamous guests may still wander the old stagecoach stop in the dark hours of the night. The seven guest rooms are furnished with period antiques. Free Tours are available from 1pm to 7pm-- Tuesday through Saturday. 107 W. Stephen Foster Ave.--- www.talbotts.com --(502) 348-3494.
The Jailer’s Inn
The Nelson County jail complex housed local lawbreakers for almost two hundred years, from 1797 until 1987. The old jail’s stonewalls are two and a half feet thick and iron bars cover the windows. The complex consists of two buildings and an exercise yard. The main building, (referred to as the Old Jail) was constructed in 1819. The second floor of this native Kentucky limestone building contains two small cells and a larger common cell. The stone building at the back of the complex (referred to as the New Jail) was built in 1874. After the new jail was built the old jail became the jailer’s home and office. Both buildings were used to house inmates until 1987. The historic Jailer’s Inn offers guests the opportunity to spend a few days behind bars, in what is probably the most unique and different Bed and Breakfast in the United States.
The Jailer’s Inn has six guest rooms, all located in the old jail building. The rooms are luxuriously furnished with antiques have private baths (2 with Jacuzzis) and bear little evidence of their former purpose. Best of all, guests may come and go as they please. The new jail building has been left pretty much as it was, and guests can tour the jail and speculate about life in the big house. On warm days during the spring and summer months, guests enjoy coffee and a full breakfast al fresco in the former exercise yard. The “yard” is now referred to as the courtyard, but was once the site of the Nelson County gallows. The complex was the oldest operating jail in the state of Kentucky until 1987 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. 111 W. Stephen Foster Ave----www.jailersinn.com---1-800-948-5551 or (502) 348-5551. Closed during January.
Nearby Attractions
The Kentucky Railway Museum
The museum at 136 S. Main St. in New Haven (about 15 minutes south of Bardstown on U.S. 31E) has 17 miles of old Louisville and Nashville Railroad track and a 1905 L&N steam locomotive. The museum also has eight diesel locomotives, more than 60 pieces of rolling stock, and a recreated small town depot. www.kyrail.org 1-800-272-0152 or (502) 549-5470.
Jim Beam’s American Outpost
The Beam family has been making Bourbon whiskey since 1790. Tourists can visit the Jim Beam Outpost in Clermont for a closer look at how whiskey is made. The Tourist Center is housed in a replica of an old tobacco barn. Visitors can see what is purportedly the oldest still in America, the old Beam family home, and sample bourbon flavored chocolates in the gift shop. The Jim Beam’s American Outpost is on the Grounds of the Beam Distillery about twenty five miles south of Louisville (I-65 South @ exit 112). Free--open daily except major holidays. (502) 543-9877--- www.jimbeam.com The Jim Beam Distillery is about 15 miles west of Bardstown on KY 245.
Just down the road from Jim Beam is Bernheim Forest, the official Arboretum of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The forest is a combined nature preserve and Biological/Ecological/Environmental research station. Bernheim Forest was a gift to the people of Kentucky from the late Isaac W. Bernheim, a German immigrant who came to Kentucky just after the civil war, a poor young man with few prospects. He worked hard (as an itinerant peddler selling small items door to door) until he had saved enough money to start his own business. He founded the firm that makes I. W. Harper Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey and became very wealthy. In 1929 he purchased 14,000 acres of logged over land in Bullitt County and gave it to the people of Kentucky as a place to enjoy nature. Mr. Bernheim and his wife are buried on the grounds. Bernheim Forest is a wonderful place for a picnic by the lake or an afternoon hike in the woods. Admission is free Monday through Friday, but there is a $5.00 per carload fee for Saturday and Sunday visits.
Maker’s Mark Distillery
Maker’s Mark Distillery is the only distillery in America that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Maker’s Mark is one of the smallest Bourbon Whiskey Production facilities in the country, employing only about fifty people. Visitors are encouraged to dip their fingers in a vat of fermenting sour mash to see what whiskey tastes like before the distilling/aging process. The old gristmill distillery was built in 1805. The Master distiller’s house (built in the 1840’s) houses the visitors center. The Maker’s Mark grounds are gorgeous and the buildings are all beautifully maintained, the site is a photographers dream setting.
My Mother in Law absolutely loved the Gift Shop, which sells delicious chocolates filled with (you guessed it) Marker’s Mark Bourbon. Maker's Mark Distillery is located near Loretto, Kentucky 15 miles south of Bardstown on KY 49. Free distillery tours are conducted Monday through Saturday (closed major holidays) Maker’s Mark was the bourbon of choice for Willem Dafoe’s character in the hit movie “Spiderman” (502) 865-2099
Off the beaten path----roadside America Attractions
Rooster Run General Store
For dedicated road trippers there is nothing like discovering a new roadside America attraction--- a nifty fifty’s style diner, an oversized monument to cultural kitsch, or an old fashioned General Store will make dedicated adventure travelers feel like they’ve connected with the “On the Road” spirit of Jack Kerouac. The Rooster Run General Store is located at 6515 New Shepherdsville Road in Rooster Run, Kentucky.
*from “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Collins Foster
If you enjoyed reading this Kentucky Travel Review, you may find my other Kentucky Travel Reviews entertaining:
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Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Howard_Creech
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 333
Trusted by: 1273 members
About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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