A Fantastic Capitol, Fascinating Museums, and Famous Kentucky Bourbon
Kentucky, the Bluegrass state, brings images of horses in Lexington, horse racing in Louisville, and bourbon in Bardstown. Positioned on the shores of the Kentucky River between Louisville and Lexington sits Kentucky’s capital city, Frankfort. While Frankfort lacks the popularity of Lexington or Louisville, it has its own grace and charm. The fourth smallest capital city in the United States, Frankfort offers a natural beauty, a welcoming historic downtown, a beautiful capitol, unique museums and world-renowned bourbon. While Frankfort isn’t our final destination, it is a great stop on our road trip from North Carolina to Colorado . Previously, we visited Frankfort taking a tour at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. A fantastic surprise, we find a welcoming town that offers a variety of activities and is packed with history and spirit. We definitely gain new insight and appreciation for Frankfort.
The New Capitol Building is Fantastic!
We arrive at the Capitol in time for the scheduled tour. Actually we are the only two people on the tour. Our guide Nick is terrific. Nick provides an intriguing history of the New Capitol Building. Constructed between 1904 and 1910, Kentucky’s New Capitol was built to replace the 1830 capitol that was deteriorating. The exterior of the Capitol gleams with the facing of Indiana limestone and Vermont granite.
How did Kentucky pay for a new Capitol Building? Nick explains the intriguing story of how Kentucky received over $1 million from the federal government for damages sustained during the Civil War and for services provided in the Spanish-American War. The legislature provided an additional $1 million to build the new capitol. As we walk through the capitol building, we are impressed with the elegance of the interior. Here the use of white Georgia marble, gray Tennessee marble and dark green Italian marble create an impressive and gleaming structure. Additionally, we admire statues of Kentucky’s historical figures including Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and Jefferson Davis.
Walking into the Capitol Reception Room, Nick shares that the architectural features of the Capitol follow classical French interiors. This definitely has the feel and décor of stepping into a French parlor. Since it is only two of us on the tour, Nick opens the French doors in the Reception Room so we can view the entrance to the Capitol from the second floor. Looking out from the Capitol building to the entrance is gorgeous with the long sweeping walkway and gardens.
The tour takes us to the House of Representatives Chamber, the Senate Chamber, and the Supreme Court. Each chamber has a richness of the original design along with the impact of technology with televisions, cameras, etc. Additionally, Nick shows us special features and symbols blended into the décor. Being budget conscious, builders used classical motifs of the building, incorporating scagliola (faux marble) for their decorative architectural features. These look like real marble but are still a labor intensive process.
Our tour takes on the different floors of the Capitol, where we admire the lunettes over each staircase. Here painted oils by T. Gilbert White, depict frontier scenes of Kentucky. Above is the lunette depicting Daniel Boone and his party catching the first glimpse of the Kentucky Bluegrass Region from atop Pilot Knob.
The Capitol Dome is beautiful as we view it from various floors. It is almost a 100 years of waiting before the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda finally receives the four pendentives. As the picture shows each has allegorical symbolism, as well as, landmarks and symbols representative of the State of Kentucky. Pendentive 1 is Nature: The Bounty of the Land, Pendentive 2 is Industry: The Strength of Commerce, Pendentive 3 is Culture: The Fruits of Knowledge and Pendentive 4 is Civitas: The Light of Progress. So glad we tour this fantastic capitol. Nick’s passion for this amazing building, its magnificent architecture, Kentucky’s history, and legislature provides us with an education on the Capitol and the State of Kentucky. Kentucky’s New Capitol Building is listed in National Register of Historic Places. It is a “must see” for any visit to Frankfort. Of the various state capitols we visit it is the most impressive and our favorite.
Unique and Beautiful Floral Clock
After our exciting tour of the New Capitol Building, we walk over to view the colorful Floral Clock on the West Lawn. The face of the clock is 34 feet across and planted with “thousands of plants.” The plants are changed seasonally. Today, a groundskeeper is carefully watering the clock. He graciously steps away for our picture. After tossing a coin in the fountain for “good luck” we are off to continue exploring Frankfort.
THE FASCINATING MUSEUMS OF FRANKFORT
Awesome! The small admission fee for the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History also includes admission to Kentucky Old State Capitol and Kentucky Military History Museum.
Learn all about Kentucky’s Amazing History!
Walking through the Center for Kentucky History we find a wealth of exciting details on Kentucky’s long and proud history. So much to see, learn and absorb. The museum has taken great efforts to also make the history interesting for children. Our first stop is to inspect and understand the Barlow’s Orrery Work. This engineering marvel demonstrates multiple coordinated motions for the moon to revolve around the earth, while the earth rotates on its tilted axes and the planets move around the sun. It is amazing in detail and accuracy of the moon, sun and planets all line up and move properly. A wonderful teaching tool.
It is truly a walk through Kentucky history from early times, the Indians, white settlers, statehood, war, and life through the ages. What was life like in early Kentucky and what was most important? In a quote from M. B. Morton (b 1859) he states:
“When I was a boy in Kentucky the only equipment necessary for a young farmer was a husky girl wife, a child or two, a pair of mules, a two-horse wagon, a two-horse plow generally made by a local blacksmith, a one-horse turning plow, a jumping coulter, a scythe, a wheat cradle, a baby cradle generally made at home out of a box, a harrow, an axe, a hoe, and a grindstone. The most important of these was the girl wife. Without her and the babies to crawl in bed and play with early in the morning, the farmer was a poor fish.
Probably a good reminder for all of us today, to look at what is most important – family.
From early times to current we learn so much about the history of Kentucky. While Kentucky is known for thoroughbred horses, it has another form of horsepower. Selected as the “Staff’s Favorite” for the museum is the Covette ZR-1994. EVERY Corvette made in the world is produced in Bowling Green, Kentucky. That means “whenever people see, drive or ride in a Corvette, they make a Kentucky connection.”
Good Tour of the Old Capitol
Walking over to Kentucky’s Old Capitol, we admire the beauty of this building that served as the State Capitol from 1830-1910. Using the phone audio tour we visit various rooms, learn their history and see unique features of this historic old capitol building. A National Historic Landmark, today it is restored to the way it looked in the early 1850’s. Definitely a lot of history occurred in this building in the “tumultuous 19th-century.” Here we stand on the spot where Henry Clay rallied his colleagues and learn about the violence in the 1900 governor’s election. Additionally this Greek Revival Kentucky limestone building has marvels in its architecture. A special feature is the self-support stone stairway. A very nice tour of the Historic Capitol Building that served as the third capitol of Kentucky.
Learn Military History
Wow! We get a fantastic education on Military History at the Kentucky Military History Museum. Initially, we are the only visitors so the docent shares some stories and history of various items on the first floor. We see old rifles and he explains that they are HEAVY. There is even a display that allows you to hold a rifle to see how long you can hold it. Additionally, we see the original idea of a multi-firing weapon. Probably the first machine gun.
The museum has a vast collection of military weapons. Amazing to learn how weapons changed and improved over the years. Especially interesting is the history of the machine gun. Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, a Kentuckian and gun expert, had a major impact on several machine guns and weapons. He wrote a book on the history, evolution and development of manual, automatic and airborne repeating rifles. In fact Chinn is the reason the Kentucky Military History Museum exists today. Chinn was asked to be involved with the Smithsonian for a new Smithsonian National Armed Forces Museum. This provided Chinn the opportunity to build a national collection. When the Smithsonian abandoned plans for the museum, Chinn brought the collection of more the 400 weapons to the Kentucky Military History Museum. The Military History Museum provides an excellent education on both military tactics and weapons over the years.
Cheers to the Famous Kentucky Bourbon!
Kentucky’s amazing history also includes its well-known Kentucky Bourbon. Why is Kentucky the Bourbon Capital? When European immigrants settled in Kentucky in the 1700’s, they knew how to distill spirits. It is said this was a match made in whiskey heaven. With Kentucky’s natural environment and weather it was perfect for distilling bourbon. Today nearly 70 distilleries offer the famous Kentucky Bourbon. Only bourbon distilled in Kentucky can be called “bourbon.”
While the Museums and the Capitol in downtown Frankfort are not crowded with visitors, Buffalo Trace Distillery is packed. All tours for the day are already full. Our research shows that other Distilleries have limited tours and tastings with fees. Taking our chances we arrive late afternoon at Buffalo Trace, hoping to get a tour with a cancellation. Wow! The Distillery has grown since our tour years ago. Now it has a massive two-story building with special Tasting Rooms upstairs and their huge Gift Shop on the first floor. At the Welcome Center we are quickly greeted and invited to join a complimentary tasting.
We truly enjoy the tastings of Buffalo Trace Distillery. They distill more than just their famous Kentucky Bourbon. Our tasting begins with the Wheatley Vodka. Then we compare the flavors of three different bourbons of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Eagle Trace and W.L. Weller. All are very smooth with unique differences. A favorite for us is their Bourbon Cream. For a change of pace is the Freddie’s Old Fashioned Root Beer and the finale of a Bourbon Ball. Afterwards, we visit the Gift Shop hoping to buy some Bourbon Cream. Sadly, they are sold out. We highly recommend signing up early to get tours of this amazing facility. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and still offer complimentary tastings and tours.
If you go:
Be sure to stop in the Frankfort Visitor Center at 300 St Clair St Suite 102, Frankfort in downtown for assistance with things to do in Frankfort.
We highly recommend touring the New Capitol Building. Check the schedule to verify times for the complimentary tour as a guide gives so much more depth than just touring on your own.
Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History also includes admission to Kentucky Old State Capitol and Kentucky Military History Museum is a real bargain. Be sure to allow plenty of time for both the Center for Kentucky History and Kentucky Military Museum.
CoVid changed a lot with “bourbon tours and tastings.” Take time to review which distilleries are open and their policies for tours and tastings. Buffalo Trace offers complimentary daily tours and tastings