Walking Tour of Historic Frankfort

The highways that surround and bisect Kentucky's capitol city means you can live and work here for years without ever driving through its historic downtown. White settlement of Frankfort dates to before the Revolutionary War, and some of it is beautifully preserved.

From the Kentucky Heritage Council:

Liberty Hall Historic Site and the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office are collaborating on a walking tour of downtown Frankfort that will highlight the surviving buildings Sen. John Brown would have seen during his residency at Liberty Hall from 1801-1837.

Liberty Hall Historic Site is a National Historic Landmark featuring two houses: Liberty Hall (1796) built by John Brown, one of Kentucky's first U.S. senators, and the Orlando Brown House (1835), designed by Gideon Shryock and owned by Sen. Brown's second son. The tour will begin with the history of these homes and include background stories of how these buildings have been preserved for nearly two centuries. Other homes on the walking tour will include the Swigert-Taylor-Bradley House, which houses the Kentucky Heritage Council offices, and other buildings in Frankfort’s Corner in Celebrities, a historic district that was home to many residents notable in Kentucky history.

The two-hour tour will be offered twice in May, which is National Historic Preservation Month, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19. Tickets are $10 per person. For an additional $2, participants can also tour the interior of Liberty Hall following the walking tour of the neighborhood. Each tour will originate from the Orlando Brown House, 202 Wilkinson Street, and each will be limited to 25 people per day.

For more information or to purchase a ticket, call Liberty Hall Historic Site at 502-227-2560 or e-mail touradmin@libertyhall.org