Frankfort, Kentucky's Capital

Frankfort, KY

Daniel Boone was already a legend in his own lifetime, and this monument in Frankfort marks the final resting place a grateful Kentucky claimed for him and his wife Rebecca. Born in Pennsylvania in 1734, Boone blazed the Wilderness Trail, founded Fort Boonesborough in 1775, and helped open the trans-Appalachian frontier to settlement even as he served as surveyor, legislator, and sheriff. Though he lost his vast Kentucky land claims and moved on to Missouri, the Commonwealth brought his remains home in 1845 and raised this tribute in 1860.

Frankfort, KY

Daniel Boone (1734–1820) was the frontier's most famous pathfinder: he entered eastern Kentucky in 1767, explored the Bluegrass, and in 1775 blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap and raised Fort Boonesborough, which he helped defend against attack in 1778. Late in life he moved on to Missouri, still chasing the edge of the wilderness. In 1845 he and his wife Rebecca were reinterred here at Frankfort Cemetery, overlooking the river country he opened.

Frankfort, KY

Begun in 1797 on a stone foundation laid by future governor Thomas Metcalfe, this was Kentucky's executive residence for well over a century, home to thirty-three governors and the setting of the young state's political and social life until 1914. After decades of disuse it was renovated in the 1950s to serve as the lieutenant governors' residence.

Frankfort, KY

Frankfort saw the Lewis and Clark story at both its triumph and its tragedy. In November 1806 Meriwether Lewis passed through the capital escorting the Mandan chief Sheheke and his family, along with a delegation of Osage Indians, on their way to meet President Thomas Jefferson in Washington. Three years later, in 1809, William Clark stopped in Frankfort while traveling east and there confirmed and mourned the death of his co-leader Lewis, discussing the loss with Kentucky leaders including Christopher Greenup and Charles Scott.