Featured Stories
Virgil Earp
Historical marker #2612 commemorates frontier lawman Virgil Earp and his family.
The Earp family settled in Ohio County, Kentucky, in 1827, where they stayed for 20 years. Nicholas Earp and Virginia Cooksey married in Hartford in 1840. While in…
Fort Wright - The Black Brigade
Historical Marker #1917 in Kenton County commemorates Fort Wright, a defensive position that was named in honor of Union General Horatio G. Wright.
In August and September 1862, Confederate generals Edmund Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg invaded…
Steamboat Inventor
Historical Marker #944 in Bardstown (Nelson County) commemorates steamboat innovator John Fitch, whose pioneering work helped set the stage for a transportation revolution.
Fitch was born on January 21, 1743, in Windsor, Connecticut. He first…
Featured Tours
Explore Harrodsburg's 250th Anniversary Marker Tour
29 Locations ~ Curated by the staff of the Kentucky Historical SocietyRandom Stories
Kentucky State University
Historical Marker #1752 in Frankfort notes the 1886 founding of the only public Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in Kentucky.
Before 1887, African American students had little choice in their college education if they wanted to…
Courthouse a Hospital
Historical marker #756, located at the Boyle County Courthouse in Danville, commemorates the occupation of the structure as a field hospital during the Civil War.
When the Battle of Perryville was fought ten miles from Danville on October 8,…
Bellevue Landmark
Historical Marker #1506 in Bellevue details the history of Sacred Heart Church, which was constructed only four years after Bellevue was incorporated in 1870.
The town of Bellevue totaled less than four hundred residents in the early 1870s, yet…
Marker #1530 "Wilderness Revival"
The Wilderness Revival of 1776 was among the first in a series of Baptist awakenings that swept Kentucky during the Revolutionary Era. Daniel Boone’s younger brother, Squire, was reported to have preached Baptist sermons during his exploration in…
Smoketown
Historical marker #1985 notes the history of the Smoketown community of Jefferson County. What became known as "Smoketown" in Louisville got its start in the immediate post-Civil War era as thousands of black Kentuckians moved to Louisville in…
Site of Log Courthouse
Historical Marker #49 at Constitution Square in Danville commemorates the site of Kentucky's earliest district court sessions.
Before 1792, Kentucky was part of Virginia. Therefore, ten years before statehood, Virginia law created the…
ExploreKYHistory
A project by Kentucky Historical SocietyThe Kentucky Historical Society invites you to explore Kentucky history online and on the road with the new "ExploreKYHistory" smartphone app! "ExploreKYHistory" takes the stories behind our community-driven historical markers, adds related items from the KHS collections and combines it into a historical tour of our Commonwealth.
Read more About Us