Frankfort, KY Summary

Frankfort lies between Lexington and Louisville and was made Kentucky’s capital in 1792. This historic, well-preserved, and charming town has a multitude of historic attractions. It is located at the intersection of US-127, 421, and 60, in north-central Kentucky among the hills of the Kentucky River Valley. It has a population of 26,000, and its major industry and employer is the state government, although whiskey distilling and manufacturing are also important.

The first white person in the area was Christopher Gist, in 1751. The first land survey was carried out in 1773 and the town was established in 1786 by Revolutionary War general, James Wilkinson, and named for pioneer Stephen Frank.

The town’s oldest district is known as “the Corner of Celebrities” because its residents have included Supreme Court justices, Cabinet officers, ambassadors, politicians, and governors. Its historic homes include the Georgian-style Liberty Hall, built in the 1790s by Kentucky’s first senator, John Brown. Also here is the Greek Revival Orlando-Brown House, built by Brown’s second son in 1835, and designed by Kentucky’s most distinguished architect, Gideon Shryock, who also designed the Old State Capitol. The latter is a Greek Revival building with a cupola and a remarkable self-supporting stone spiral staircase. It was completed in 1831 and used until 1910. Now a museum, it has been restored to its original and most charming antebellum decor.

Next door is the Old Governor’s Mansion. It housed 33 governors and hosted seven presidents until it was replaced in 1914. The oldest official US executive residence still in use, it is now the lieutenant governor’s residence. The New State Capitol (1905-10) overlooks the Kentucky River. It is a limestone and granite Beaux-Arts structure with Ionic columns and a lantern cupola. The interior was modeled for Napoleon’s tomb, with a 402-foot columned nave, murals, stained glass, sculptures, and marble floors. The grand State Reception Room was inspired by the palace at Versailles. Outside is an enormous working clock with a face made of thousands of plants. The hour-hand weighs 420 pounds and the minute-hand is 530 pounds. The present governor’s mansion, built in 1914, is a Beaux- Arts limestone building modeled after the Petit Trianon—Marie Antoinette’s villa at Versailles. Guided tours of both are available.

Also of interest are the early nineteenth-century Vest-Lindsey House, and the Zeigler House, designed in 1910 by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Kentucky Military History Museum is located in the former state arsenal, while the Kentucky History Center features a number of interactive exhibits. Frankfort Cemetery has a large war memorial and the graves of both Daniel and Rebecca Boone. The names of the state’s Vietnam casualties are inscribed in granite beneath a memorial sundial which overlooks the city on Coffee Tree Road. The ingenious gnomon’s (pointer’s) shadow touches each veteran’s name on the anniversary of his death.

There are several historic bourbon distilleries here. The Buffalo Trace Distillery is in Frankfort while Lawrenceburg, to the south, has the Seagram’s and Wild Turkey distilleries. The latter is one of the country’s oldest and largest bourbon distilleries. In Versailles, to the southeast of Frankfort, is the Labrot and Graham Distillery, established in 1812.

Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary has hiking trails, a nature center, and a bird blind. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Game Farm is a 132-acre recreational complex, which features two fishing lakes, a songbird area, a small wetland, picnic areas, and the Salato Wildlife Education Center. The Kentucky River Campground has campsites, a boat ramp, fishing, and a playground while the Old Frankfort Pike, from Frankfort to Lexington, passes through some typical bluegrass countryside.

Capital City Airport is in Frankfort; the area has limited buses.