In October 1773, a group of men gathered in Philadelphia at the First Continental Congress and sent a petition to King George III, asking for the Intolerable Acts to be repealed. Five months earlier, and nearly seven hundred miles away, a different…

Born in New York, Benjamin Mills—who usually went by Ben—moved to Kentucky in the early 1840s. Where he learned how to make guns is not known, although there is a possibility that his father was a gunmaker. Mills established a gun shop in…

Historical Marker #964 in Paducah highlights the service of Kentucky’s soldiers during the Mexican-American War. The U.S.-Mexican War began over a boundary dispute. In 1845, the United States annexed the Republic of Texas. Texas had claimed the…

Historical Marker #79 in Richmond, Kentucky, notes the birthplace of western scout and soldier Christopher “Kit” Carson. Carson was born in Madison County, Kentucky, near Richmond, in 1809. His father, a Revolutionary War veteran, moved the…

Historical Marker #1010 in Boyd County notes the location of the Buena Vista Furnace. Established in 1847, it was named for the Mexican-American War battle fought that same year. U.S. and Mexican forces clashed on February 22-23, 1847, a few…

Historical Marker #1 in Lexington notes the location of Ashland, the home and estate of Kentucky statesman Henry Clay. Henry Clay, Sr. was born in 1777 in Virginia. The son of a Baptist minister, Henry was the seventh of nine children. Clay worked…

Historical Marker #823 in Jessamine County commemorates the birthplace of General William O. Butler, a War of 1812 veteran. William O. Butler was born in Jessamine County in 1791, into a notable military family. Butler’s father, along with four…