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 Kentucky Governor's Mansion is both a private residence and public building. It is open for public tours.

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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

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Beginning at Leslie Morris Park and ending at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial, this tour features statues and historic buildings scattered around central Frankfort Kentucky.

The Army abandoned the site following the Civil War and it
sat dormant until 1999 when it was developed and reopened as a park. The city
of Frankfort purchased the proper from Leslie Morris, thus the park’s name. The
park now preserves the remains of two Civil War forts. Surrounding the forts
are 124 acres of forest. 

Visitors to the park will notice dry-laid stone fences and a
wide range of wildlife. There is a 19th century trail that leads
from downtown Frankfort to the park that is virtually unchanged. A dog trot
style log house built in northern Franklin County around 1810 has been moved to
the park. It is being renovated to house exhibits about Fort Hill. Interpretive markers are scattered throughout the park.

On top of a hill overlooking downtown Frankfort is Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill. The park features a pair of Civil War forts, a picnic pavilion, hiking trails and more. Once known as Blanton’s Hill for the family that owned the property, it was the site where local militia held off an attack on Frankfort by the Confederate cavalry raiders in 1864. 

Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill

&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

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 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 

Whether or not it is Boone’s remains buried there has long
been a mystery. A number of newspapers, historians and family reports as well
as forensics indicate that the wrong body may have been brought back to
Kentucky. Rebecca Boone died in 1813 and it was rumored that years later when
gravediggers were preparing to bury Daniel beside her, they found the remains
of someone else. Some historians were quoted as saying he was buried near
Rebecca’s feet instead of at her side and this may have led to confusion and
bringing the wrong body back to Kentucky. A gravesite remains in Marthasville,
Missouri as well. 

Daniel Boone was born in Pennsylvania in 1734. He spent many
years exploring and settling the wilderness of Kentucky. He built Fort
Boonesborough near Winchester, Kentucky in 1775. It was the state’s first
non-Indian settlement. When he believed Kentucky had become too crowded, he continued
on to Missouri and was living there at the time of his death. 

Other notable people buried in the Frankfort Cemetery
include Paul Sawyer, Joel T. Hart, Theodore O’Hara, Vice President Richard M.
Johnson and 17 Kentucky Governors.

The gravesite of well-known frontiersman Daniel Boone overlooks the city of Frankfort from the Frankfort Cemetery. It is also the gravesite of Boone’s wife Rebecca Boone. Boone died in Missouri in 1820 and was originally buried there. The remains of Daniel and Rebecca were brought back to Kentucky in 1845.

Daniel Boone Gravesite at Frankfort Cemetery 

The school began with the sole purpose of training Black
teachers for the Black schools of Kentucky. It has since grown into a
land-grant institution with a diverse student population. When it was chartered
in 1886, it was known as the State Normal School for Colored Persons. There was
competition for where the institution would be located, but the city of
Frankfort donated money and land in an effort to win it. 

The first building was Recitation Hall, what is now Jackson
Hall. It was built in 1887. The school officially opened in October of 1887
with three teachers and 55 students. It became a land-grant college in 1890 and
new curriculum was added. A high school was formed in 1893. In 1902, the
college became the Kentucky Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Persons.
It went through a couple other name changes including Kentucky State Industrial
College for Colored Persons and the Kentucky State College for Negroes before
settling on Kentucky State College. It became a full university in 1972 and
thus Kentucky State University. 

KSU has a student-faculty ratio of 12:1 with the majority of
classes having fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors are Registered
Nursing; Psychology; Liberal Arts and Sciences/ Criminal Justice/Safety
Studies; and Business/Commerce. The current president is Raymond Burse.

This statue honors Kentucky State University alumni Whitney Young, a civil rights leaders who led the National Urban League. The statue was commissioned in 1990 by the KSU Alumni Association and was designed by KSU alumn Ed Hamilton who also designed the Spirit of Freedom monument in Washington D.C. Kentucky State University was chartered in May of 1886. It has an 882-acre campus that includes a 204-acre agricultural research farm and a 306-acre environmental education center. KSU averages about 1,600 students and maintains more than 135 full-time faculty members. Jackson Hall is the oldest building at Kentucky State University. When it was built as the institution's first building in 1887, it was named Recitation Hall. 

Whitney Young Statue, Kentucky State University

Kentucky State University was established as the State Normal School for Colored Persons in 1886. The land and money to start the school came from the citizens of Frankfort during their Centennial celebration. The citizens donated $1500 dollars to the school along with sitting on a bluff overlooking Frankfort. The school opened October 11, 1887, with three teachers, fifty-five students, one building and John H. Jackson as its president. The original mission of the school was to train and educate Black teachers for all the segregated schools of Kentucky. The school has gone through many changes over the years. The school grew thanks to the Second Morrill Act and the name was changed in 1902 to Kentucky Normal and Industrial College for Colored Persons. In 1926 name changed to Kentucky State College for Colored Persons. 1938 name changed to Kentucky State College for Negros. In 1952, the name changed to Kentucky State College and after achieving university status in 1972, the name changed to Kentucky State University. Constructed in 1887, Jackson Hall was the first building and was originally called Recitation Hall. The name was changed in honor of John H. Jackson. Jackson earned a degree from Berea College in 1874 and became the first African American to graduate from College as well as the first graduate in the entire state of Kentucky. The State Association of Colored Teachers elected John Jackson to be its first president. First African American to be elected to the Republican National Convention in 1880. He served as president of Kentucky State College from 1887 to 1898 and then again from 1907 to 1910. Recitation Hall was built as a brick building using the German Castle style design. The Hall looked very ominous on the bluff overlooking Frankfort. It was changed to Jackson Hall from Recitation Hall, added to the Historical Database with the Reference number of 73000802 and Historical Marker #1752. Jackson Hall is a two-story building and its appearance demands your attention as one walks on campus.

Jackson Hall was the first building constructed at Kentucky State University in 1887. The Hall was named after John H. Jackson, who was one of the founders of the school and its first president. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973. The school grew to become Kentucky State University largely thanks to the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1890 that provided resources for state-operated Black colleges. The institution expanded to include subjects such as economics and liberal arts alongside its initial focus on agriculture and mechanics. The Campus has grown to 882 acres including 306 acres for Environment Education Center and 311 acres for Agricultural Research. 

Jackson Hall, Kentucky State University

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

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 Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial, designed by Helm Roberts, overlooks the state capitol and honors each of the 1,103 Kentuckians who gave their lives during the Vietnam War. &nbsp;Hailed as both a masterpiece in both design and mathematics, the memorial is designed as a granite sundial. The sundial is designed so that each day the shadow of the gnomon falls upon the name of a soldier on the anniversary of his death so that each soldier is individually honored for his sacrifice. The names of the fallen are etched upon 327 4-inch thick granite slabs supported by 800 hidden concrete piers. &nbsp;Rainwater never pools because the memorial is designed so that the water drains between the slabs or down the plaza's 2% slope. &nbsp;The memorial is one of the largest granite memorials in the United States and weighs over 215 tons. The hours on the sundial represent the years 1962-1975. &nbsp;As the sun passes across the sundial, the shadows are representative of how many Kentuckian lives were lost as the war ebbed and flowed. Architect Helm Roberts dedicated two years of his life to the design and construction of the memorial which was unanimously accepted by the memorial foundation, &nbsp;Roberts served in the US Navy during the 1950s as a fighter pilot. &nbsp;After leaving the military he had a distinguished career as architect and city planner. &nbsp;Mr. Roberts passed away in 2011 following a 3-year battle with prostate cancer at the age of 80.

The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial overlooks the state capitol and honors the 125,000 Kentuckians who served their nation between the years 1962-1975. Shaped as a giant sundial, the monument honors each of the 1,103 Kentuckians who lost their lives in the war and includes each name listed on the day they were killed. The shadow of the gnomon falls upon each soldiers name on the anniversary of his death.

Historic Monuments driving tour of Frankfort KY

Kentucky Governor's Mansion

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information