Kentucky Historical Society — Attraction in Frankfort

This Kentucky Historical Society museum houses an impressive display of Kentucky history artifacts and information. It covers the period from pioneer days (and even earlier) to the 21st century.

The $8 admission price would be a great value for this museum alone, as I see it. But the admission fee also includes a guided tour of the Old State Capitol Building and a self-guided tour of the Kentucky Military History Museum. Both of those buildings are within walking distance of this one.

I devoted two or three of hours to a self-guided tour of this museum and still did not see everything. The displays were interesting and educational. I urge visitors to allow at least three or four hours to tour this museum and the others included in the admission charge. The museum closes at 5 p.m. It includes a gift shop.

Take time to walk down the hallway where pictures of Kentucky governors and brief biographies of them are displayed. I found the biographical information educational and interesting.

I also took the guided tour of the Old State Capitol which takes about an hour and recommend it, too. Just before the 5 p.m. closing time, I then devoted a few minutes to the Kentucky Military History Museum. Although the military weaponry was not as interesting to me (Maybe because I am basically a pacifist.), others might find this two-story display of military weaponry through the years, a few oral histories, and displays related to military medical personnel fascinating.

I strongly urge visitors to Frankfort to seek to take time to tour this history museum and the Old State Capitol, maybe even the Military History Museum. I'm glad I got to enjoy visiting all three during my June 27, 2018 visit. And I rate this history center as the best...

The Kentucky Historical Society is in a modern building on the corner of Broadway and Ann Streets. The very reasonably priced ticket allows you entry to three museums: the modern exhibit of Kentucky history within this building, Kentucky's Old State Capitol Building one block west, and the Kentucky Military Museum one block east. The modern exhibit gives a full picture of Kentucky geology and its history from early peoples to the present. There are many artifacts on display. It is worth a visit, even several since it takes about 3 hours to get through if you do it thoroughly. It has a very good explanation of the indigenous peoples in the area prior to 1000 CE (Adena, Hopewell, etc.) On this visit, my wife and I observed three major weaknesses in the museum. First, upon entering you're confronted with a confusing exhibit about some man and his model of the solar system. I couldn't figure out why this was so important to the history of Kentucky that it was their lead-in exhibit. Second, all of the Indian artifacts have been removed. I understand the sentiment behind this, but it needs a better fix than simply leaving empty display cases. Third and last, it did not present a coherent story about how Kentucky...

The Military Museum is a great walk through Kentucky's past and celebrates the men and women who served to gain and hold the freedoms we enjoy today. The Chinn exhibit is a masterful display of firearms from all over the world and the volunteers obviously love to share the lore of Kentucky history. We also visited the Kentucky History Center which houses a really cool interactive walk through Kentucky's history with examples and artifacts from prehistoric to modern day. Well worth the...