Liberty Hall Historic Site — Attraction in Frankfort

Tours begin at the John Brown house at 1:30 p.m. They currently only do one tour daily according to Kate. She stated that they used to do more, but cut back due to interest levels. This seems a shame, since I think it would be great if many more took time to take this tour. Tours are conducted Monday-Saturday mid-March through late November according a brochure I got at the Frankfort Visitor's Center.

I enjoyed taking a guided tour of the Liberty Hall Historic Site on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018. Two tour guides conducted the tour. Since it was apparently Meghan's first tour, she was accompanied by an experienced tour guide (Kate). I felt blessed to get information from two guides.

Kate and Meghan provided much information about the house, its artwork, furniture, and other furnishings, was well as the Brown family history. The guides even discussed a ghost allegedly seen by multiple people, though they apparently hadn't seen it. This interesting and educational tour provided much information.

In addition to the rooms of the house, the tour included the laundry building and kitchen, which were near the house.

I enjoyed each part of the tour, seeing the furnishings of the various rooms and learning about them. But, what most impressed me were the contents of an upstairs room in the John Brown house that at some point had been converted into a library. This room contained numerous shelves of old books that had belonged to the Brown family.

Kate stated that a two-year grant had aided in cataloging/organizing the books. In many books I saw pieces of paper with what appeared to be Dewey Decimal numbers. Maybe they were in all the books. I could read the titles on the spines of some books. But due to their age, etc., I did not ask to remove them from the shelves or to even touch them.

It would be great if a complete listing of the books (title, author, publication date) were posted publicly online. Researchers and many others (at least me!) would enjoy this I think. I saw some volumes from what appeared to be a huge six-volume dictionary; it would be interesting to see what those volumes and others contain.

In addition to the John Brown house, the tour also included the gardens/grounds, as well as the next door Orlando Brown house. Meghan conducted the Orlando Brown house portion of the tour solo. That portion went fairly quickly since it only covered the downstairs, and Meghan noted that the Orlando Brown house and its contents were not as notable as the John Brown house and its contents. Kate came in during the Orlando Brown portion of the tour, and in response to my question, said the upstairs of the former Orlando Brown home was now used for offices, though it originally had been bedrooms.

The guided tour of the Liberty Hall Historic Site costs $6 for adults and $3 for children of certain ages. The site is conveniently located near downtown Frankfort.

I'm not sure how many persons can take the tour at once. About 6-8 people were on the tour I took.

The guides patiently answered all the questions from me and the others on the tour. I asked many questions myself. At least a few times, I interrupted a guide to ask a question and perhaps interrupted her train of thought. I apologize for that!

I recommend persons in the Frankfort area consider taking time for this tour, especially if they are interested in early Frankfort history. My guides provided many interesting facts during a tour that probably lasted only an hour or less, including the questions and answers. Even children of elementary school age would enjoy much of this tour...

I booked the tour online for the day I arrived in the area. I meet Kelly at Orlando Brown home, and we talked for a bit to see if anyone else was going to arrive when no one else did we went ahead and went to Liberty Hall. They still have a doorbell from the time that works which was so cool. The whole house is really interesting and of course has its ghost stories. The family who owned the house was involved in a lot of stuff in the area. Totally worth the trip to go see it and tour it and listen to history of it. The Orlando Brown home is more offices I feel and gift shop but still interesting to see it also. Parking is street parking, and they do have a bathroom in the Orlando Brown home. They also allow you take photos just make...

Our visit to Liberty Hall turned out to be the unexpected gem of our Kentucky trip. We were fortunate to be there when curator John Walker was present, and he provided us with a personalized tour. We thoroughly enjoyed delving into the life of Senator John Brown, his family, and the rich history of early Kentucky. The tour was incredibly comprehensive, covering historical geography, architecture, botany, politics, historic furniture, and even the story of the "Gray Lady Ghost." Though we arrived later in the day and I was mindful not to monopolize Mr. Walker's time, I could have easily spent hours exploring this fascinating Historic Site. If you're in Frankfort, Liberty Hall is an...