Kentucky named one of fifteen places to visit in 2024

Nov. 17—Horses, bourbon, and 'The Derby' all are experiences unique to Kentucky, which is home for many. People come from far and wide to watch the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. Many attend the spring meet at Churchill Downs or Keeneland's spring meet.

Many also choose to experience the Bourbon Trail and the many different distilleries and moreover, bourbon, one of the native drinks of Kentucky.

All of which make Kentucky appealing to Frommer's Travel Guides. According to Frommer's, Kentucky is one of 15 places to visit next year.

In a press release, Kentucky was listed among Seville, Spain, Utqiagvik, Alaska, among other worldwide destinations as far south as Brisbane in Australia.

"I feel like you can cover a lot of what makes Kentucky cool just in central Kentucky," David Jones, the Assistant Director for Richmond, Kentucky Tourism said.

Jones cited attractions like the aforementioned Bourbon Trail which snakes throughout the state and has a handful of stops in Lexington. He also cited the many horse farms that are situated within a stone's throw of the Kentucky Horse Park.

On the surface, the greater community of Madison County is one that houses almost 100,000 people within the county limit. What you might not see is the sheer amount of history that happened within the confines of Richmond, Berea and Madison county.

"We always like to say Kentucky's story starts in Madison county," Jones said.

That's a statement that dates back around 250 years to the time of Daniel Boone. In that time, Boone and his brother Squire along with a party of individuals came through the area in 1770 on a hunting expedition. They came through several more times before deciding to start work on helping settle the what's known as the Transylvania Purchase (also known as the Transylvania Colony).

That's when Daniel and his company blazed 'Boone's Trace,' now known 'Wilderness Road,' which looking on a map closely follows U.S. 25E. According to the History Channel, they started this long meandering walk from Kingsport, TN to the Cumberland Gap then to Boonesborough, the first settlement known in Madison county, sitting on the Kentucky River. The recreation of Fort Boonesborough sits a little ways up from where the old fort and settlement was. The history of the fort dates dates back to the Revolutionary War.

Fast forward about a century and you have the Civil War's 'Battle of Richmond' which is about 15 minutes drivetime from one another.

"If you want to delve into historical stuff, you're tripping over it here," he said.

Along with the Battle of Richmond and Fort Boonesborough, there's a lot of other little known history throughout the immediate area, Jones says.

At what is now Hall's on the River just upstream on the Kentucky from Fort Boonesborough State Park, is the abduction site of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls.

Those familiar with J.F. Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans along with the subsequent 1936 and 1992 film adaptations know that the chase scene in the novel and movies was inspired by that abduction event. That event took place on other side of the Madison/Clark county line, which in that area is the Kentucky River.

"That's one of those hidden gems when you get out and check things out," Jones said.

He continued by saying that it is incredible what you can find out that you had no idea about when you go searching for history.

Jones also touched on the amount of civil rights history that came through Central Kentucky. Though the Underground Railroad just missed Richmond and Berea, there's a lot of civil rights history of its own here in Madison county.

That history focuses mostly on the examples Cassius M. Clay, John G. Fee and John A. R. Rodgers and his wife Elizabeth, all of which promoted anti-slavery activities.

Fee founded Berea College, the first co-ed, integrated college in the south. Berea College's founding goes back to before the Civil War, to the year 1855.

"Their early history was a part of black history more than it is Appalachian history," Jones said.

The advent of Berea College starts with two of Madison County's abolitionist characters in Cassius Clay and John G. Fee. According to Jones, Clay gave Fee the land to start the school down there. The rest, as they say, is history he said.

Today, the city of Berea is part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which has two other stops in Kentucky, Simpsonville and Louisville.

Going along with the Civil War Era was the 'Battle of Richmond,' fought in 1862. The Battle of Richmond concluded with a victory for the Confederates and one of the most decisive of any out of the war Jones said.

While Battlefield Park stands as a monument to that era and there sits a Civil War fort in Clark County on the other side of where Fort Boonesborough originally sat, the field of the battle for Richmond is much more than just the park. The old Richmond Register Office on Big Hill Avenue sits on the land where the battle took place. The third phase of the Battle of Richmond took place right up West Main Street.

It's also the gems put together or refurbished like the Clays Ferry Overlook which was refurbished by Madison county native Jay Webb which has an overlook dating back to 1934. Through times where it was hidden to being seen again, that make the list of local sights for Jones.

There's a lot to find in Kentucky, though horses and bourbon play a big part, that's nigh the truth. The whole truth is, horses, bourbon and a lot of history is out there waiting for you to go explore it, so go explore.