Director

The Society was established as a private organization in 1836. The organization received some support from the state and during the 1950s it became a state agency.&nbsp;The Society's headquarter building is named in honor of&nbsp;former state historian Thomas D. Clark. The building was dedicated in&nbsp;1999 and offers a&nbsp;museum, library and archive, and a gift shop.&nbsp; The Center houses a number of both traveling and permanent exhibitions, including&nbsp;"A Kentucky Journey" which traces the history of Kentucky from prehistoric to modern times. The Clark Center also houses a genealogical research library--the&nbsp;Martin F. Schmidt Research Library--and the&nbsp;Keeneland Changing Exhibits Gallery, which is used to showcase traveling exhibitions.&nbsp;
The Kentucky Military History Museum is housed in the former&nbsp;State Arsenal--a Gothic Revival&nbsp;built in the&nbsp;1850s that&nbsp;served as a munitions factory during the Civil War. The museum was established in 1973 by the KHS and Department of Military Affairs. The museum is operated by the KHS. Collections at the museum&nbsp;highlight the military contributions of Kentuckians.&nbsp;The museum is a member of the Army Museum System.

The Kentucky Historical Society is located inside the Thomas D. Clark Center, which was completed in 1999.

The Kentucky Military History Museum is housed in the former State Arsenal which was built in the 1850s.

The Old State Capitol served as the Commonwealth's capitol grounds from 1830-1910. 


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A Concise History of Kentucky from the University Press of Kentucky 

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Historical Society's Special Collections 

Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State

The Kentucky Historical Society offers a museum and archive that are both open to the public. In addition to the museum and archive, this complex includes the headquarters of the organization, which also operates the nearby Kentucky Military History Museum and Old State Capitol. Together with the Society's publications and programs, the museum and archive and these nearby sites offer tours and work to preserve and interpret the history of the state. 

Kentucky Historical Society 

This short walk through Frankfort begins at the Kentucky Historical Society and the Old State Capitol and winds its way towards the current state capitol complex with stops at historic homes, monuments, and other landmarks along the way. 

Built in 1850, the castle-like Kentucky State Arsenal served the town for more than a century and now operates as Kentucky Military History Museum. Frankfort's arsenal played a role in Civil War, and it served the state and nation during the Spanish-American War, World Wars, and for the Kentucky National Guard. In 1836, a destructive fire severely damaged the state's second arsenal, and it took more than a decade for a new arsenal to emerge. The state legislature appropriated in 1850 the funds necessary to construct the now-historic site. Though initially slated to appear one-half mile from the State Capitol, the building arose on the east side of Frankfort in a location now known as Arsenal Hill.During the first year of the Civil War (1861), women and girls worked in the arsenal. They prepared cartridges (ammunition) for the Union Army by combining Black powder, lead bullets, and paper. However, that work ceased for a time when Confederate troops marched into the border state and took control of Frankfort (and the arsenal) in 1862. They occupied the city for nearly a month until Union forces returned and re-gained possession of Frankfort and Kentucky. The southern forces again moved in on Frankfort in 1864, but cannon fire from the arsenal helped support troops and militia based at nearby Fort Boone to repel the troops; the fight resulted in injuries and casualties for Union and Confederate troops. Weapons stored in the arsenal armed and supplied Kentucky volunteers in the Spanish-American War, those who fought against Mexico, and during the World Wars. Between World War I and II, in 1933, a fire damaged the Kentucky State Arsenal. However, unlike the destructive fire that destroyed the 1934-built arsenal, prisoners from the neighboring Kentucky State Penitentiary helped extinguish the blaze before it ruined the building. After the fire, the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs took control of the building and repaired it. They used the facility to store ammunition as well as a spot to organize and mobilize soldiers of the Kentucky National Guard.After nearly a century and a quarter, the arsenal ceased operating as an official military site in 1974 when it transitioned into the Kentucky Military History Museum. The Kentucky Historical Society administers the museum in partnership with the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs.

After the previous arsenal burnt down in 1836, the state needed a new facility. Though it took nearly fifteen years to construct a new arsenal, the legislature finally financed construction of the castle-like structure in 1850. The Kentucky State Arsenal played a significant role in the Civil War, and then served the military and National Guard into the middle of the twentieth century. In 1974, the building was converted into a military museum, which remains its function today. 

Kentucky State Arsenal (Kentucky Military History Museum)

Completed in 1798, the Old Governor's Mansion is arguably the nation's oldest official executive residence still in use. However, in addition to a period from 1914 to 1946 when it was vacant, the home has mainly functioned as a meeting space and guest house for visiting dignitaries.Kentucky became the nation's fifteenth state in 1792, with Frankfort selected as the capital city. In 1794, Kentucky erected its first state capitol building. And then, in 1796, the Kentucky General Assembly appropriated funds to construct a proper home for the state governor. Construction on the historic mansion finished in 1798 and came to be known as "The Palace." The governors also worked in the Old Mansion until 1872, when construction on the Capitol Annex building finished (adjacent to the Old State Capitol). Notable guests to visit the Mansion include Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Jennings Bryan. From 1798 to 1914, thirty-five governors lived in the house, beginning with Kentucky's second governor: James Garrard. From 1914 - 1946, the home largely remained vacant and suffered from neglect. Facing almost certain demolition, Governor Simeon Willis saved the building in 1948 by appropriating money to stabilize the structure, followed by a major renovation project in 1956. The renovated mansion transitioned into the home of Kentucky's Lieutenant Governors until 2002, when yet another renovation project commenced. For the last few decades, Lieutenant Governors have chosen to live in their homes and commute to Frankfort rather than live in the mansion. Today, the Old Governor's Mansion primarily serves as a meeting space and guest house for foreign dignitaries. Regardless of its purpose today, the structure survives as a monument to a time when the Kentucky border once touched France (a few years before the Louisiana Purchase). Indeed, Kentucky became the first state west of the Appalachian Mountains admitted to the Union -- the nation's first "West," which included removal of Native Americans. From those early years through the twenty-first century, the building has remained, mainly serving the state's executive branch and now as a guest house and meeting space.

Built in 1798, shortly after Kentucky entered the Union as the fifteenth state, this Federal-style mansion remains a functional part of the Kentucky government. Thirty-five governors lived in the mansion before 1914. The building was vacant for several decades following the construction of a new governor's mansion, but was saved from demolition and repurposed as the home of the state's lieutenant governors. 1946 to 2002, numerous Lieutenant Governors of Kentucky called the mansion home. The historic home now serves as a meeting space and guest house for visiting dignataries. Several American Presidents and other leading statesmen visited the mansion when it was home to the governor, including Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Jennings Bryan. 

Old Governor's Mansion (Lieutenant Governor's Mansion)

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The architectural style of the building is
significant as it represents the introduction of the Greek Revival style into
Kentucky and the pioneering west. Shryock drew inspiration from the classical
Temple of Minerva Polias at Priene, Ionoa. It is faced in polished Kentucky
River marble, limestone quarried near Frankfort. Six massive Ionic columnns,
each four feet in diameter and 33 feet high, adorn the building's facade. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among the Old Capitals unique
architectural elements is the self-supporting, marble, double staircase which
rises from a large central rotunda. While the building features many original
pieces, the legislative chambers have been furnished with reproduction desks
and chairs. Shryock’s building functioned as Kentucky’s capital until 1909.1 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Controversial Kentucky politician William
Goebel, won a bitter election for Governor in 1899. Goebel had once killed a
former Confederate General in broad daylight in Covington. In a close four-way election,
Goebel’s supporters accused the apparent winner of benefitting from a fraudulent
election. The Republican candidate, &nbsp;&nbsp;William S. Taylor, was declared the winner.
Once the legislature was seated in 1900, Goebel supporters launched an investigation
of the election. Armed Taylor supporters arrived in Frankfort determined to
keep Taylor in office. On January 30, 1900 William Goebel was shot while
walking to the Capital Building. Acting governor Taylor removed Republican
lawmakers to London, while Democrat lawmakers remained in Frankfort. With the
Republicans absent, the remaining Democrats declared Goebel Governor. He died on
February 3, 1900. A statue commemorating Goebel stands on the grounds of the
Old Capital.2

Frankfort was selected as the location for the capital of the new state of Kentucky in 1793. Kentucky's Old State House is the third permanent capitol erected on Frankfort's old public square. On January 12, 1827, the legislature voted to build a new state house as two previous structures on this site had burned. The first structure was destroyed in 1813 and the second in 1824. Constructed between 1827 and 1830, the Old State House was the first major work of Kentucky’s first native trained architect, Gideon Shryock. Through its history, the structure witnessed debates on Kentucky’s loyalty’s during the Civil War, the assassination of a Governor, and the ratification of Kentucky’s current Constitution. 

Old State Capitol of Kentucky

Liberty Hall was named after Liberty Hall Academy, the school John Brown's father, Reverend John Brown, oversaw in Virginia. It later became Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Liberty Hall Historic Site is a private museum owned by Liberty Hall, Inc. and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.John Brown, the patriarch of the family, was from Virginia where he had studied law with Thomas Jefferson. In 1783, he settled in Danville and established a law office. By 1784, Brown was representing Kentucky in the Virginia Legislature. He was also a member of the Continental Congress and represented Kentucky in Congress beginning in 1789 and during that time, he presented a petition to Congress to separate the county of Kentucky from the state of Virginia. In June 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state, largely due to Brown’s efforts. Brown served as one of the first U.S. senators from Kentucky and served from 1792-1805.In 1799, John Brown married Margaretta Mason of New York. The Brown family moved into Liberty Hall and the home became a center of hospitality in Frankfort from 1801 to 1835. John Brown is elected president pro tempore (for the first time) and presides over the Senate’s ratification of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. After losing re-election to the Senate, John Brown retires from national politics in 1804. He returned home to Liberty Hall and helps found the Frankfort Water Company. In 1818, Margaretta Van Wyck Varick, Margaretta Brown’s aunt, comes to visit and dies soon after arrival. The Gray Lady ghost said to haunt Liberty Hall is presumed to be her spirit.The house remained in the Brown family until 1955. Over the years certain minor changes were made to the building by the Brown family. The attic stairs were altered in 1833; a bathroom was constructed on the ground floor by enclosing one end of the back porch in 1837. A cornice was added to the present dining room in 1884 and the space under the windows in the two front parlors were decorated with simple panels in 1908 and 1918.Today, Liberty Hall and the adjacent Orlando Brown House are operated as a historic house museums and historic sites. They are open to the public for tours from March to December. The sites also host several special events throughout the year. Liberty Hall Historic Site serves as a learning center that engages the public in exploring the history, politics, social and cultural life of early Kentucky through the homes, gardens, documents, and artifacts of John Brown and his family.

Liberty Hall Museum opened in 1937 and became a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1971. Located in downtown Frankfort, Liberty Hall Historic Site was the home of the Brown family, one of Kentucky’s most notable families. From 1796-1797, American Statesman John Brown began construction of Liberty Hall after purchasing four lots in Frankfort. Thomas Jefferson helped Brown with the home’s design. Four generations of Browns lived at the five-acre site for more than 150 years. The site contains formal and informal gardens and two homes: Liberty Hall (1796) and the adjacent Orlando Brown House (1835). 

Liberty Hall Historic Site

President Chester A. Arthur signed the Congressional appropriation bill authorizing $100,000 to construct the Old Federal Building (Frankfort Post Office and U. S. Court House) on April 20, 1882, eighty-eight years after establishing Frankfort's first U.S. post office in 1794 (two years after Kentucky became a state). Construction on the Second Empire style structure started in 1883, and it opened in 1887. The building served the Post office and courts for roughly almost eighty years. Frankfort grew substantially following the Civil War, from 3,700 people in 1860 to nearly 7,900 in 1890. Indeed, the population grew more than 45% during the 1876s and 29% during the 1870s. Furthermore, by 1880, Kentucky existed as the country's geographical population center (particularly about 70 miles north of Frankfort or slightly south of Cincinnati). Thus, a need for the sizable and well-funded Federal Building proved necessary in the federal government's view. Before building the historic post office, the government had to purchase land in 1883 occupied by a once-successful, nineteenth-century mill site and an adjacent home. Construction began in 1883 after demolishing the previous structures, with the cornerstone laid on February 1884. Three years later, on February 28, 1887, the Frankfort Post Office and U.S. Courthouse opened for business. In 1910, the building underwent an interior renovation project and had a rear wing added. The Frankfort Post Office vacated the building in 1965. The Paul Sawyier Library then occupied it until 2008. When the public library moved into its new facility, The City of Frankfort offered Kentucky State University an opportunity to purchase the building,. In 2009, KSU obtained a one-million-dollar historic preservation grant to renovate the building to use as its downtown campus location.

In 1880, Kentucky was the nation's geographical population center, and its capital city, Frankfort, had grown by more than forty percent during the 1860s and nearly another thirty percent during the following decade. Recognizing these factors, the federal government authorized funding for the construction of a new federal building in Frankfort in 1882. The building featured the Second Empire design and opened two years later, serving as the community's post office and the area's federal courthouse for decades. The building was home to the post office until 1965. At that time, the building became the home of the Paul Sawyier Library until 2008 when Kentucky State University purchased the building and renovated it. 

Old Federal Building (Old United States Courthouse and Post Office) 

Constructed during the 1890s, the Queen Anne style Gooch House derives its name from George R. and Sarah Elizabeth Gooch, who purchased the building in 1919. Although George Gooch died shortly after buying the property, his wife and kids owned the home until 1978. Rebecca Gooch lived in the house and helped found the Rebecca-Ruth Candies in 1919, a rare example of two women forming an entrepreneurial relationship during the early twentieth century. After his death, his wife turned the home into a boarding house known as the Green Hedges Tourist Home. The home later served as the Frankfort Visitor's Center and the offices of the Frankfort/Franklin County Tourist &amp; Convention Commission, and then in 2019, the Kentucky Distillers Association purchased the home to use it for its headquarters. Additionally, Rebecca Gooch lived in the historic house and founded during the early twentieth century the popular Rebecca-Ruth Candies in partnership with Ruth Hanly Booe. The two women, who worked as substitute teachers, did what very few women did in 1919: they started a business. The company gained a large following because of its bourbon-flavored confections. Rebecca Gooch ended her partnership with Booe in 1929, but her name remained on the business trademark. While the historic home enjoys exquisite architectural details, the house also stands as a reminder of women who sought ways to gain income in an era where that wasn't common. Sarah turned the house into a boarding house while Rebecca, along with Ruth Booe, formed the candy company in 1919, one year before women had the right to vote in the U.S.

Constructed in 1895, the historic Frankfort home is commonly referred to as the Gooch House in honor of the family that acquired the property in 1919 and lived here until 1978. George R. and Sarah Elizabeth Gooch purchased the house in 1919, and George died one year later, and Sarah operated the home as a boarding house to support herself. Rebecca Gooch also lived in this home and was one of the founders of Rebecca-Ruth Candies in 1919, a company that is still in business today. The candy company gained fame for its bourbon-flavored candy, so it's appropriate that as of 2019, the house is owned by the Kentucky Distillers Association. 

Gooch House (Kentucky Distillers Association)

Born in Nelson County, Kentucky, on July 1, 1802, Charles S. Morehead entered law after graduated college and promptly went into politics,. He was elected first to the Kentucky General Assembly in 1827, followed by serving as Attorney General, Speaker of Kentucky's House of Representatives, and eventually Kentucky Governor governor from 1855 to 1859, as a member of the Know-Nothing Party. Moorhead sympathized with the South but preferred national unity over secession. Nevertheless, his feelings for the South ultimately resulted in his arrest; he eventually fled the country for several years before returning to Frankfort. Morehead proved to be the first of many prominent residents, ranging from religious leaders and Civil War veterans to politicians, judges, poets, and historians. <h3>Governor Charles S. Morehead and the Know-Nothing Party</h3>Morehead attended Transylvania College in Lexington before moving to Christian Count in the southern part of the state and subsequently began practicing law. His law career took him to politics, having first been elected in 1827 to the Kentucky General Assembly (and re-elected in 1829). After his second term, he moved to Frankfort, where he again opened a law office. His time away from politics proved short-lived because one year later, in 1832, the Kentucky governor appointed him Attorney General; he served in the position for five years. While serving as Attorney General, in 1833, Morehead purchased land in Frankfort, south of the Kentucky River. He contracted with Harrison Blanton, a brick contractor, to erect the now-historic house.After leaving the Attorney General's office, he again served in the Kentucky House of Representatives after winning an election in 1838. He continually won re-elections, allowing him to become Kentucky's Speaker of the House in 1844. A few years later, Morehead represented Kentucky in the U.S. Congress, serving two terms from 1847-1851. Before he left for Washington, he sold the historic house to Dr. Stuart Robinson, a prominent Presbyterian minister. In 1853, Morehead returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives and then (in 1855) ran for governor as a member of the Know-Nothing Party, which operated as a type of third party to the Democrats and newly-formed Republican Party. This party gained its name because of its secret-society behavior; when people questioned members of the party about their political affiliation, they would respond, "I don't know." The party arose during the 1850s when the country grew exceptionally divided, stemming from an abundance of new land added to the nation in 1848 after the U.S.-Mexican War. The question of what new territories should allow for slaves (or none at all), a discussion that had remained relatively dormant since the 1820 Missouri Compromise, led to rancorous debate and regional antagonism. The populist, nativist Know-Nothings sought to differentiate themselves from the Republicans and Democrats as a moderate, middle-ground party intent on uniting the country, which included anti-Catholic and anti-immigration ideology. The Kentucky Know-Nothing Party, mainly comprised of former members of the defunct Whig Party, formed in 1854. They held a convention in Louisville in 1855 and nominated Morehead as its candidate for governor; he won the general election and served from 1855 to 1859. During his inauguration speech, he denounced the nullification of the Fugitive Slave Act that had required people to return escaped slaves to their "rightful owner." After leaving office, he served as a delegate to both the Washington Peace Conference (February 1861) and "Border State Convention" (May 1861). Though a Southern sympathizer, his chief goal involved reuniting the South with the North rather than support the Confederacy as a separate nation. Nevertheless, by September 1861, Federal officials arrested Morehead for disloyalty after he openly criticized President Lincoln. He spent seven months as a prisoner of war before returning to Frankfort. But, upon his arrival, he discovered that another arrest seemed imminent because he refused to pledge an oath to the U.S. Constitution. As a result, he fled to Canada. From Canada, he traveled through Europe and then to Mexico before returning to his plantation in Mississippi after the Civil War.In August 1868, Morehead finally returned to Frankfort but died four months later, on December 23, 1868. He was buried in the Frankfort Cemetery and the Legislature erected a monument to his memory.<h3>Dr. Stuart Robinson and Dr. John Norton: Religious Leaders</h3>The home's second owner, a Presbetaryian minister name Dr. Stuart Robinson, used it as a boarding home. Stuart lived in Frankfort for eight years. In addition to his duties as pastor, he served as president of a cotton manufacturing company, president of a turnpike company, director of the Farmers Bank, and established a school for girls. Stuart sold the home to the Rector of the Episcopal Church, Dr. John Norton, who lived in the house for roughly ten years. <h3>J. Stoddard Johnston: Writer, Politician, and Historian</h3>Norton sold the home in 1868 to Yale graduate J. Stoddard Johnston, who served as Confederate officer during the Civil War before moving to Frnakfort in 1867. As a leader of the Kentucky Democratic Party for twenty years, he worked as editor and co-owner of Democrat-friendly Frankfort Yeoman and served as Democratic State Committee Chairman in the 1880s. Johnson moved to Louisville in 1890 and became vice president of the now-historic Filson Club, a historical, biographical, and literary association located in what is now Louisville's "Old Louisville" neighborhood. Johnson also wrote and edited several historical books and articles while in Louisville. He was a candidate for governor at the Democratic state convention in 1911. However, rather than gain the nomination, he served as Attorney General the convention's gubernatorial pick (and election winner), James B. McCreary, but Johnston died two years later in 1913.<h3>Major Henry T. Stanton: Poet Laureate</h3>After Johnston moved to Louisville in 1890, he rented the home to another former Confederate officer, Major Henry T. Stanton, who lived there from 1894 to 1899. Stanton worked as a lawyer, but his real claim to fame came as a poet, known as Kentucky's poet laureate. Stanton's best known and most quoted work is The Moneyless Man (published,1871). He also wrote, while living in the historic house, his celebrated poem Heroic Sleep.  The poem, which proved to be the last poem he composed, was read in Chicago in 1895 while unveiling a monument dedicated to deceased Confederate soldiers. <h3>Judge J. P. Hobson</h3>Judge J. P. Hobson, Judge of the Court of Appeals, bought the house from Johnston in 1899. After graduating from the University of Washington in Virginia, former U.S. and Confederate General Robert E. Lee recommended Hobson for a teaching position in Hardin County, Kentucky; Hobson also worked as a lawyer. In 1898, he was elected to serve on the Court of Appeals, where he served until 1914. After practicing law for ten years, the Court of Appeals appointed him to be its court commissioner (1924); he served in that capacity until he passed away in 1934.

This historic Frankfort home was constructed for the family of Charles Morehead between 1833 and 1834. Morehead was serving as the state's attorney general and went on to become the governor of Kentucky. Numerous prominent figures in Kentucky history have resided in this home. following its sale in 1847 when Morehead left Frankfort to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Morehead eventually returned to Kentucky and was a leader of the Know-Nothing Party, a short-lived national party that called for restrictions against non-Protestant and non-white immigration. Two religious leaders, Dr. Stuart Robinson followed by  Dr. John Norton owned the home before a string of judges, politicians, poets, and military veterans resided in the historic house. 



Governor Charles S. Morehead House

The Zeigler house is the only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Kentucky, coming during the end of his "Prairie Houses" phase. As a quintessential Prairie-Style home, it's an example of one of the many Lloyd developed and hoped could become a model for popular suburban housing. In 1909, as Wright noted in his autobiography, the architect felt exhausted and at a creative dead end, and reported that he even felt that he had lost interest in his work. His solution involved a complete break from his normal life as he decided to spend a year in Europe with the intent of leaving his work behind. While on the voyage across the Atlantic, he met Reverend Jessie R. Zeigler, a young Presbyterian minister from Frankfort, Kentucky. Zeigler asked Wright to design a house for him, and Wright responded by drawing a few preliminary sketches of the home while en route to Europe. Wright continued to Italy to complete his sabbatical while Ziegler returned to Frankfort with Wright's drawings.  Though Wright's direct connection to the house ended with those preliminary designs, he did send the sketches to his office in Oak Park, IL, where they were completed. Zeigler then hired a builder to construct the house using Wright's design. In 1949, Carl Sclarenco presented a paper, "A Prairie House in Kentucky, " to Professor Walter L. Creese of the University of Louisville about the home. In preparing to present the paper, Sclarenco reached out to Wright, who responded in 1948: My dear Mr. Sclarenco: I did build the house, and we have the drawings. The plans were sent to the Zeiglers, and they employed a builder.I never saw the house until my visit to Lexington last spring. It all seems normal except the strange cabinet above the fireplace. Some liberties taken there?Sincerely yours,Frank Lloyd WrightThe house was not only one of Wright's last Praire House designs, it became the architect's first building erected south of the Ohio River. The Zieglers lived in the home for a few years before leaving Frankfort in 1916. The property changed hands several times during the Interwar Period, often used as a rental property. Because of its connection to Wright and its prime location in Frankfort (not far from the Capitol Building), distinguished guests often stayed in the home, including Judge Simeon Willis, who later became the governor of Kentucky. From the late 1940s through today, the home has been privately owned and well-maintained. To see the home today is to see a fine example of Wright's work, but also a monument to a chance meeting between a reverend and a famous architect who, ironically, took a voyage to get a break from his work.

Constructed in 1910, this home is the result of a chance meeting between Reverend Jesse Ziegler and Frank Lloyd Wright on a voyage to Europe. The home is one of Wright's final Prairie Style homes and represents his only work in the state of Kentucky.  The home was constructed during a trip abroad when Wright felt he had hit a creative wall that might require the kind of inspiration that often comes from travel. The primary sketches were drawn by Wright while traveling and then sent back to Wright's Illinois office. As a result, Wright did not oversee the construction but the house exemplifies his famous Prairie Style design. 

Jesse R. Zeigler House

Emma Guy Cromwell (1869-1952) was born in 1869 in Scottsville, KY. She lost her father, Ashley Guy, while an infant, and was raised by her mother Alice Quisenberry Guy. During early adolescence, Emma’s mother passed away, and she continued her education with the support and care of the Masonic Lodge of Scottsville. Her father had played an important role in founding and supporting the Masonic institution.Emma showed an immense dedication to learning, and at the age of 14 she taught school throughout Allen County. She attended Bowling Green Normal College, followed by Howard Female College in Gallatin, TN. She continued on to study parliamentary law at the University of Michigan.Moving to Frankfort, KY in 1896 at the age of 27l, Emma established her career and future in politics. She then acquired the position of state librarian, and as her obituary reads, “The Kentucky Senate elected the state librarian in those days and her tenacity won her the place.” Within in a year of residing in Frankfort, she married William F. Cromwell, a Frankfort attorney who later served as clerk of the Kentucky Senate. They raised one son together, William Foree Cromwell, who died in early adulthood.Only three years after women gained the right to vote, Emma was elected Secretary of State in 1923, when she was the first woman to hold a statewide office. She was 55 years old at the time. Sadly, her husband William F. Cromwell never witnessed her swearing in, as he passed away years prior in 1909. Historians wonder what would have become of Emma if her son and husband had not passed away; she once stated marriage “held the only true contentment I have ever known…had it continued I would never have chosen a public career.” Although she saw marriage as a personal joy and source of contentment, she supported the opportunities that opened up for women. She was a member of the Frankfort Board of Education, and was active in the plans for a new high school.In 1927 at the age of 58, Emma ran for state Treasurer, and she won the position, defeating two men in the primary and one in the general election. She held the position from 1927-1931. Following a loss campaigning to return as Secretary of State, Emma was appointed as State Park Director in 1932. She met controversy in the form of accusations that federal funds relating to join federal-state parks projects were mismanaged. She resigned as Federal Procurement Officer, but maintained her Park Director position. Later on in 1937, Governor Albert B. Chandler appointed Emma as the State Librarian and Director of the Department of library and Archives, created under the Governor’s 1936 Reorganization Act. She was 68 at the time. Over the course of her career she published Woman in Politics, and A Manual for Voters.On July 19, 1952 at the age of 83 Emma Guy Cromwell passed away. She is buried in Frankfort Cemetery. In talking to her friends Emma stated, “I am merely a plain, matter-of-fact woman, doing the best I can, always. As voters, we women are just as responsible for good government as are the men.”

Dedicated by the Kentucky Historical Society in 2005, this historical marker commemorates the life of Emma Guy Cromwell (1869-1952). Cromwell became the first woman in Kentucky to hold a statewide office in 1923 when she served as Secretary of State. Over the course of her career, Cromwell held the positions of State Treasurer, State Park Director, State Librarian and Director of the Department of Library and Archives.

Emma Guy Cromwell Historical Marker

Kentucky's Governor’s Mansion attracts thousands of visitors each year who tour the state dining room, ballroom, reception room, and formal salon. Tour highlights include antique furniture and a number of valuable artworks. The Governor’s Mansion is located on the East Lawn of the Capitol Complex. Twenty-six governors have lived in the house. The Mansion is 18,428 square feet.It was designed by architects C.C. and E.A. Weber. Though it wasn’t complete, Governor James B. McCreary was the first resident. He moved into the mansion in January of 2014. It wasn’t until 1982 with Governor and First Lady John Y. and Phillis Brown living in the mansion that renovation became imperative. The First Lady spearheaded the fundraising efforts and included historians on the project which took about a year and was completed in 1983.In 2007 another renovation was needed. This time is was Governor Ernie Fletcher and First Lady Glenna Fletcher. Once again it was the First Lady who took over preservation and restoration efforts. Nearly all of the interior was upgraded including new windows, doors, heating and cooling, hardwood restored, new painting, and new upholstery. The rear terrace was also completely remodeled at this time.

The Governor’s Mansion has been the official residence of the Kentucky Governor since 1914. The historic building is also known as the People’s House. It is both a private home and a public building. Built from Kentucky’s native limestone, the Beaux-Arts style mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is one of just a few executive residences in the United States that is open for public tours.

Kentucky Governor's Mansion

Architect Frank Mills designed the building. The interior, including furniture, reflects Mills’ love of classical French styles. The interior consists of copious amounts of Georgia marble, gray Tennessee marble and dark green Italian marble. Spinning off from the rotunda are grand corridors that feature 36 columnns of Vermont granite and art glass skylights.The exterior of the building features Indiana limestone and Vermont granite. The sculptured pediment of the front portico was designed by Charles Henry Niehaus and carved by Australian sculptor Peter Rossack. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Visitors to the Capitol should be sure to check out the First Lady Doll Collection, the murals depicting Daniel Boone as well as the Lincoln statue in the rotunda, which is one of the stops along Kentucky’s Lincoln Heritage Trail. Also in the rotunda are murals that were completed in 2009 and unveiled in 2010. They are trimmed with a shimmering gilded border. They were created to reflect the diverse social fabric and unique landscapes of Kentucky.

The Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort is the hub of the Commonwealth’s government. The building is in the Beaux Arts style and was completed in 1910. The final cost for the building, landscaping, furniture, power plant and architect fees was $1,820,000. The current building is the fourth Capitol building since Kentucky became a state in 1792. Kentucky's House, Senate and Supreme Court are all housed in the Capitol.

Kentucky State Capitol

History
and Context The removal of the Jefferson Davis
statue in the Kentucky State Capitol was called for in 2015 by both Senator
Mitch McConnell and gubernatorial candidate (now Governor) Matt Bevin. Debate
within the Historic Properties Advisory Commission, as well as the public,
resulted in the statue remaining; the Commission compromised by handing out
educational materials to visitors to place Davis in historical context,
particularly in light of the fact that both he and Lincoln were born in
Kentucky. Since then, Bevin has reversed his stance as the NAACP and others in
the state have argued for removal of the Davis Statue following the events in
Charlottesville and, earlier in 2017, the shooting at an African-American
church in South Carolina. Nationwide, there are over 700
Confederate monuments and statues on public property such as courthouses and
other official buildings, as well as parks. Though some were erected
immediately following the American Civil War, there was a sharp increase in
public art dedicated to the Confederacy in the first decades of the twentieth
century, particularly in the South. During this time, states were enacting
oppressive, segregationist Jim Crow laws while the Ku Klux Klan (formed
immediately after the Civil War) revived dramatically. Kentucky's Jim Crow era
resulted in 205 recorded lynchings of African Americans between 1882 and 1968. The
statue of Jefferson Davis was erected in 1936, funded by the State of Kentucky
and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). The Daughters of the Confederacy,
formed in 1894, in fact funded many of the public monuments of the Jim Crow
era. The organization, composed of white women of the South, grew to 100,000
members by 1915, and was committed both to aiding veteran Confederates and
their families, and to preserving the "Lost Cause" interpretation of
Civil War history. The UDC lobbied for high school and college textbooks which
celebrated the Confederacy and defended slavery, reinforcing white supremacy
while reframing the cause of the South's attempt to secede, and referring to
African Americans as, "savages...Christianized under [slavery's]
influence," [6]. One of these textbooks even posited that the Ku Klux Klan
was a "necessary protection" against former slaves, and later some
claimed that slaveholders were actually "anxious for the slaves to be
free," [6]. Such textbooks were used in Southern schools as late the
1970s. Today's UDC is only open to women related to veterans of the
Confederacy, and has issued a statement expressing the members' rejection of
Confederate symbols being used by hate groups. Still, as late as 1989 the UDC
was publishing articles arguing that the true victims of the slavery economy
were the white crews of slave ships and slave owners, minimizing or ignoring
the suffering of the African American slaves themselves. There has also been
public UDC support for racist groups such as the Council of Conservative
Citizens and the League of the South, as well as neo-Confederate and white
supremacist leaders in recent years. Jefferson Finis Davis himself
considered whites a "superior race," praising slavery in his 1861
address to the Confederate Congress and elsewhere stating that U.S. slavery was
"a moral, a social, and a political blessing," [5; 9]. Though Davis
was born in (and attended college in) Kentucky, he grew up in Mississippi, the
son of a Revolutionary War veteran, Samuel Davis. Jefferson Davis was a planter
who graduated from West Point in 1824 and served briefly in the Black Hawk War.
He became a Mississippi Congressman, but left to lead troops in the Mexican
War. He turned down a military promotion when he was elected U.S. Senator in
1847 and was appointed U.S. Secretary of War from 1853-1857. Politically, he
championed the spread of slavery into new territories and states, opposing the
admission of California as a free state in 1850. In 1861, when Mississippi seceded
from the Union, Davis formally withdrew from the Senate. He was elected
President of the Confederacy the following year. Though initially popular with
his constituency, a combination of factors led to his unpopularity with the
people of the South, as well as with the Confederate Congress and military. He
had a reputation for being contentious and a poor judge of character; he neglected
domestic politics, which led to hunger riots Richmond, the Confederate capital;
and he allowed his personal feelings toward Confederate military and political personnel
to affect strategic decisions. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard disliked
Davis so deeply, he wrote of the President, "If he were to die to-day, the
whole country would rejoice at it," and Davis publicly feuded with General
Joe Johnston, whose "hatred of Jeff Davis amount[ed] to a religion,"
[9]. Davis was also heavily criticized in the Confederate press, though he did maintain
good relationships with some of his generals and with some of the press. As the
defeats mounted up in the war, Davis's popularity plummeted, and he fled
Richmond by train shortly before the city fell to the Union in 1865. He was
captured in Georgia and imprisoned in Virginia for two years on charges of
treason. However, he was never tried, and was released on bond. Refusing to ask
for a pardon from the U.S. Government or take an oath to regain his U.S.
citizenship, he was forced to live primarily off the charity of others for the
rest of his life. He became a driving force in the movement to erect
Confederate monuments, and complained that "yankees and negros" [sic]
had taken over the South.

The rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort houses five statues, including one of United States President Abraham Lincoln and one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis  (1808-1889), both of whom were born in Kentucky. The presence of Davis' statue in the Capitol building has been contested for at least two years, with Republican and Democratic politicians alike calling for its removal. As Confederate statues have been increasingly scrutinized nationwide, the Davis statue in the Capitol has invited fresh debate.

Jefferson Davis Statue at the Kentucky State Capitol

George Franklin Berry was born in Indiana and was brought to Kentucky when he was only six weeks old. Berry’s father and uncle were into the bourbon business. They owned a company known as W. A. Gaines and Company that distilled Old Crow Bourbon and E.H Taylor bourbon – which are still around today. George Berry also got into the family business later in his adult life. The Berry’s sold their portion of the company in the later 1930s and retired at the Berry Mansion.The Berry Mansion most notable feature is an elaborate music room built in Gothic Revival style by architect William Dodd, estimated to be built for around $65,000. It has a massive cathedral organ on the north wall. It took two years for a pair of European wood carvers to carve the details of the room. The room also features large bay windows, stained glass, and a library balcony. The music room was completed in 1912.&nbsp;There is a main part of the mansion and also a service quarters. There is a ‘period room’ named for the vast amount of history for the house found within this one room.it has the original tapestry, furniture, bills, and photographs.&nbsp;It became known as Berry Hill Estate after it was acquired by the Commonwealth in 1957. For a while, it housed the State Department for Libraries and Archives. Some state offices are still located there. However, it is primarily used for meetings and special events. It is open weekdays for self-guided tours.&nbsp;The property was soon purchased by the state in the 50s and some of the 200 acres were used for other things such as a golf course and a park. The names are historically significant the land as well. The golf course is named Jupiter hill golf course after the old name of the Berry Mansion. The park is named Jennifer Hill after Berry’s wife.The Berry Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The mansion hosts events from meetings to weddings now and can hold up to two hundred and fifty guests.&nbsp;

The George Franklin Berry Estate was previously called Juniper Hill. Today it is simply Berry Mansion and overlooks the Kentucky State Capitol and the town of Frankfort. Berry was a successful distiller. He hired the architectural firm of McDonald and Dodd to build the mansion in 1900. It was built in the Colonial Revival style with stones that came from the property. Today it is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Frankfort Kentucky Walking Tour

Kentucky Historical Society

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information