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In his 2024 book Benefactors of Posterity, Daniel Gifford explored the motivations and activities of early history advocates and institution-builders who established the Filson Historical Society in Louisville in 1884.

Sitting on a hillside overlooking the Kentucky River and downtown Frankfort, the Old State Arsenal has been a prominent Frankfort landmark since 1850.

When the popular musical Hamilton showcased the celebrated duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, it reminded twenty-first-century Americans that some honor-bound citizens once used negotiated, formal fights as a way to settle differences.

Craw was a small neighborhood in north Frankfort, Kentucky, on fifty acres of swampy, low-lying land along the Kentucky River. To many neighborhood outsiders, Craw was considered the “bad” part of town, carrying a long list of deeply imbedded historical associations.

Join Dr. Daniel Gifford as he discusses his latest book, Benefactors of Posterity: The Founding Era of the Filson Historical Society, 1884-1899.

One of the most dramatic but little-known episodes in our state history – a seventy-year battle fought nationwide and in every state, finally won with nary a shot fired.

Frankfort occupies a unique place in the annals of the Civil War. In 1862, it became the only loyal state capital to be occupied by Confederate forces during the war. In 1864 the capital was attacked by elements of Morgan's raiders in a sharp action in which Governor Thomas E.

Freddie Johnson shares the life history of a young boy growing up in an environment surrounded by legends in the world of bourbon. Join us as he creates a narrative allowing you to enjoy this journey while leaving footprints in bourbon history!

This presentation will be an overview of the various types of fossils found in Kentucky, discussing specimens from the Late Ordovician (450 million years ago) to the Pleistocene (ending about 12,000 years ago). There will be numerous fossil specimens on display before and after the talk.

After laying to rest the myths that continue to circulate about Kentucky’s ancient Native Peoples, this presentation will discuss Native history prior to the arrival of non-Native people, paying particular attention to information collected from Franklin County’s archaeological sites.

In 2023, the City of Frankfort received a Certified Local Government grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council to complete a National Register nomination for the Green Hill Cemetery.

American Indian communities have been in Kentucky for more than 11,000 years. When Euro-Americans settled here, Shawnee, Cherokee, and Chickasaw, among others, already lived here. Myths and misconceptions about American Indian people permeate many sources of information.

The rocks under our landscape play a critical role in defining the shape and the characteristics of the land we live on. Landforms, streams, resources, and natural hazards are all related to the geology of an area.

Audiences are in for a treat as they sit back and listen to a candid discussion about the discipline of archaeology and what it tells us about our own history.

The first of two short lectures will explore early Frankfort furniture dating from about 1795 to 1820. The second documents decorative inlay in early Kentucky furniture from the same period.