Kentucky Things to Do Tips by traveldave Top 5 Page for this destination

The State Capitol Building

The Kentucky State Capitol Building that exists today is actually the fourth building that has served as the capitol of Kentucky. The first two burned and the third, the Old State Capitol (which stills exists as a historic attraction in Frankfort), was abandoned for the present building when it became too small to house the state's government.

The State Capitol Building was designed by prominent local architect Frank Mills Andrews in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. The building also has Classical elements. The interior has many French influences, including a staircase that was inspired by that of the Paris Opéra. The rotunda contains statues of famous Kentuckians, as well as other objects and exhibits relating to Kentucky's history and culture. Construction on the building started in 1905 and ended in 1910.

The State Capitol Building houses the three branches of state government: the executive, legislative, and judicial. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Directions: The State Capitol Building is located at 700 Capitol Avenue, just south of downtown Frankfort.

The Louisville Science Center

The mission of the Louisville Science Center is to encourage the public's understanding of science, mathematics, and technology through hands-on exhibits. It is the largest hands-on science center in Kentucky, featuring 150 interactive exhibits and activity stations.

Formerly the Louisville Museum of Natural History and Science, the Louisville Science Center originated in 1871 as a "cabinet of curiosities" that consisted of an Egyptian mummy and a collection of 16,000 rocks and minerals.

One of the main features of the Louisville Science Center is its IMAX Theater, a four-story screen surrounded by speakers which hosts films about science and nature.

Permanent exhibits include The World We Create, which explores the principles of chemistry, physics, engineering, telecommunications, and manufactuing, and their impact on everyday life. The World Within Us teaches about good health, and features a journey through the body's systems. The World Around Us deals with natural and earth sciences. The Discovery Gallery contains many of the science center's older exhibits, including the mummy and a stuffed polar bear. The KidZone is a hands-on exhibit for children under seven years of age that features a miniature airplane, ambulance, mass-transit bus, lunar module, and construction area. Splash! is a water-play area in which children can experiment with pipes and tubing to learn about water flow.

The Louisville Science Center is also an important resource for educational activities that benefit the community. Its Science Education Wing has four science workshop laboratories for student workshops and teacher training.

The science center is housed in a building built in 1878 that was originally used as a warehouse for the storage of dry goods. Like many of the historic buildings in the West Main District, the building still has its original cast-iron façade.

Directions: The Louisville Science Center is located at 727 West Main Street, in downtown Louisville.

Daniel Boone's Grave

Daniel Boone's Grave is situated on a ridge in Frankfort Cemetery overlooking the small city of Frankfort. He died in 1820, but his remains, and those of his wife Rebecca, were interred in Frankfort Cemetery in 1845. His gravesite is one of the most popular attractions in Frankfort.

Daniel Boone was a pioneer, explorer, and hunter whose exploits in the wilderness of Kentucky made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Usually depicted with a coonskin cap, he is also one of the most iconic figures in American history. Among all the things he did, Daniel Boone is most famous for the exploration and settlement of Kentucky.

Born in 1734 in Virginia, Daniel Boone grew to be a hunter, providing meat to the settlements on the eastern slope of the Appalachian Mountains. Never satisfied to stay in one place too long, he blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, which lay beyond the borders of the original Thirteen Colonies. (By the end of the eighteenth century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky via Boone's Wilderness Trail).

While in Kentucky, Daniel Boone explored the Bluegrass Region between 1769 and 1771, and established Fort Boonesborough in 1775. Fort Boonesborough was one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. And during the American Revolutionary War, Daniel Boone fought throughout Kentucky against Indian tribes allied with the British.

Although he later emigrated to Missouri, and died there, his remains were brought back to Kentucky, the state he explored, tamed, and opened up to settlement.

The Locust Grove House

Constructed in about 1790, the Locust Grove House was the home of American Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark. Famous for capturing the Northwest Territory from the British in 1779, and founding the city of Louisville, Clark resided at the Locust Grove House with his sister, Lucy Clark Croghan, and her family in his later years.

Clark's younger brother, William Clark, and his exploring partner Meriwether Lewis spent some time at the Locust Grove House after returning from their epic Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

Nowadays, the historic Georgian home is located on 55 acres (22 hectares) of woods and meadows, along with its outbuildings. The house features outstanding exhibits of early American furniture and art, and provides a unique example of early Kentucky architecture, craftmanship, and history.

The Locust Grove House has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Directions: The Locust Grove House is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane, about six miles (ten kilometers) east of downtown Louisville.

The Confederate Monument

The Confederate Monument was erected in 1895 by the Kentucky Women's Confederate Monument Association to honor Confederate soldiers killed during the American Civil War. It was completed to coincide with the 29th annual reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Although Kentucky was officially a Union state, Kentuckians had divided loyalties during the American Civil War and were forced to choose sides. Many Kentuckians were slave owners, and their slaves were not freed until 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution outlawing slavery was adopted in that year.

The granite monument stands 70 feet (21 meters) tall. Its three bronze figures, of an artilleryman, cavalryman, and infantryman, were sculpted in Munich by Ferdinand von Miller the Younger.

The Confederate Monument has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Directions: The Confederate Monument is located on a traffic circle at the intersection of 3rd Street and Brandeis Street, in south Louisville.

The AEGON Center

The 35-story AEGON Center is Louisville's tallest building, and is the tallest building in Kentucky as well. It rises to a height of 549 feet (167 meters).

The building was designed by architect John Burgee with the architectural firm of Philip Johnson. The reinforced concrete building was completed in 1993. Its most distinguishing feature is its 80-foot (24-meter) Romanesque dome that was inspired by the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The dome is illuminated from its interior at night. From late November through December, the usual white lighting is changed to red and green in honor of the Christmas season.

The AEGON Center offers 633,650 square feet (58,868 square meters) for office space and 18,787 square feet (1,745 square meters) for retail space.

Directions: The AEGON Center is located at 400 West Market Street, in downtown Louisville.

The Speed Art Museum

Originally called the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, the Speed Art Museum was established in 1927 by Hattie Bishop Speed in memorial to her husband James Breckenridge Speed, a prominent Louisville businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. It is the oldest, largest, and most important art museum in Kentucky, with over 12,000 pieces in its permanent collection.

The Speed Art Museum's collection spans more than 6,000 years, from ancient Egyptian to contemporary art. The museum has an impressive collection of seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish masterpieces, eighteenth-century French art, Renaissance and Baroque tapestries, and significant holdings of contemporary American painting and sculpture. Other forms of artwork in the museum's collection include furniture and decorative arts by Kentucky artists. African and American Indian works also represent a growing segment of the museum's collection.

Some of the more prominent artists whose works are on display include Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gaugin, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, Peter Paul Rubens, and James Whistler. The museum's most important piece, however, is Rembrandt's Portrait of a Woman.

The art museum also hosts programs for the public that include the Speed Concert Series, the Art Sparks Interactive Family Gallery, and Art After Dark.

Directions: The Speed Art Museum is located at 2035 South 3rd Street, on the University of Louisville's Belknap Campus.

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts

Dedicated in 1983, the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts was the result of a major public/private partnership to bring the performing arts to Louisville. Its gala opening event was attended by such celebrities as Charlton Heston, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lily Tomlin, and Diane Sawyer.

Productions at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts are staged in one of three halls and theaters. The Robert S. Whitney Hall seats 2,406, and was named after the founding conductor of the Louisville Orchestra. The Moritz von Bomhard Theatre seats 619, and was named after the founder of the Kentucky Opera. And finally, the Boyd Martin Theatre seats 139, and was named after a film and theater critic for the Louisville Courrier-Journal.

Resident companies include Stage One, the Kentucky Opera, the Louisville Opera, the Louisville Ballet, and PNC Broadway in Louisville.

Artworks displayed in and around the building include works by Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, John Chamberlain, and Jean Dubuffet.

The performing arts center also sponsors educational programs for children and adults that are conducted in cities and towns throughout Kentucky.

Directions: The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is located at 501 West Main Street, in downtown Louisville.

The Police Memorial

The Police Memorial is located in Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville. It was erected in 1992 to honor the more than 100 Louisville police officers killed in the line of duty. The names of the fallen heroes are etched at its base, and it is topped by an eternal flame. An inscription on the base of the monument reads:

"Dedicated to the memory of those law enforcement officers
who have given their lives in the line of duty."

Directions: Jefferson Square is located on the southeast corner of 6th Street and Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville.

The Firefighters' Memorial

The Firefighters' Memorial is located in Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville. It was erected in 1992 to honor the more than 90 Louisville firefighters killed in the line of duty. The names of the fallen heroes are etched at its base, and it is topped by a bronze sculpture of a firefighter carrying a baby and holding the hand of a small child. An inscription on the base of the monument reads:

"This memorial is dedicated to the firefighters
who have fallen in the line of duty."

Directions: Jefferson Square is located on the southeast corner of 6th Street and Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville.