Clark County, Kentucky, A Pictorial History of

The Bluegrass Heritage Museum is pleased to present this new book celebrating the history of Clark County and the many families who have called this area home since the 1780s. A Pictorial History of Clark County, Kentucky includes more than one thousand historic photographs depicting how life in Central Kentucky has changed through the years.

These photographs, many never-before-published, are from the archives of the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, and also feature images from family collections, handed down from generation to generation, capturing the true heritage of our way of life and the people of the Bluegrass.

The images in this book cover all walks of life, including agriculture, athletics, business, churches, downtown Winchester, families, government, historic homes, local history, military, organizations, schools, transportation, and more. The book also features some of the county’s more prominent businesses, churches, organizations and people.

When you read A Pictorial History of Clark County, Kentucky you will appreciate the area’s wonderful legacy, and understand why the people of the Bluegrass will continue to prosper for years and years to come.

The Bluegrass Heritage Museum seeks to bring the story of Central Kentucky to life for young and old by collecting, preserving, interpreting and exhibiting documents, photographs and artifacts valuable to the history of Winchester, Clark County and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.

Housed in the historic Guerrant Clinic building on Main Street in Winchester, the Bluegrass Heritage Museum covers the history of Bluegrass people and places from early Native American settlement to today. The Bluegrass Region was America’s first Western frontier and it attracted colorful adventurers like Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. Later came Captain John Williams, a Clark County resident and hero of the battle of Cerro Gordo during the U.S.-Mexican War and a future Confederate general.

The Bluegrass Region is the burley tobacco capital of the world. The museum tells the storied history of how this crop not only helped shape the American economy but formed a specific culture and way of life that continues to this day. Contrasted against the small family tobacco farms are the vast grasslands and ornate mansions of the region’s thoroughbred horse farms.

The ancestors of these largely agricultural families first came to Kentucky on the Wilderness Trail, which led them straight to Fort Boonesborough a few miles from what would become Winchester, Kentucky. At Lower Howard’s Creek in southwestern Clark County they later created a major riverboat industry with barges and flatboats that transported lumber from the vast virgin forests of Eastern Kentucky and provided a young nation with what seemed like a never-ending supply of wood, tobacco, whiskey, and corn. These tremendous stocks of raw materials and goods were later shipped throughout America by an intricate rail system that spread from the eastern coalfields to the Bluegrass. That history continues to this day with the Interstate Highway system that cuts through the heart of the region.

Today, in addition to coal and lumber, people of the Bluegrass use their central location to ship a wide array of products – from cattle and tobacco to Toyotas to bourbon to chemicals to machinery to Lexmark printers to Ale 8-One soft drinks – all around the world.

But, it’s the lifestyle and culture of the Bluegrass people that charm so many people. It’s part of the reason natives of the region continue to call the Bluegrass home no matter where they live. For natives and non-natives alike, a visit to the Bluegrass Heritage Museum provides a unique glimpse into a past and a heritage that make the Bluegrass Region of Central Kentucky indeed special.