America's Best History Spotlight

On this page we're going to Spotlight the lesser known historic sites and attractions that dot the history landscape across the USA and are worth a visit if you're in their area. And while they may be lesser known, some are very unique, and will be that rare find. You'll be, at times, on the ground floor, or maybe even know something others don't. It'll be fun. Visit them.

Fort Boonesborough Recreation

Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky

Daniel Boone had grown up a hardscrabble woodsman in the hills of Pennsylvania, and had gained a reputation as a hunter and explorer by the time he ventured west through the Cumberland Gap toward the land of today's Kentucky. His family were Quakers, but kicked from the church after their first daughter married while pregnant to someone outside their faith and eldest son, Israel, married outside the faith as well. In 1750, they moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. He joined the North Carolina militia during the French and Indian War, then fought against the Cherokee in the Cherokee uprising. By this time, he had married; he and wife Rebecca had ten children of their own.

His life was as hardscrabble as an adult as it was as a child. He hunted, trapped, but was constantly in debt. After selling their home to settle his debts, Boone spent several years in the Kentucky hills and lands to hunt and trap there, although the Shawnee, who had not, like other tribes, agreed in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix to cede the hunting ground in Kentucky to the British. Undeterred, Boone took his family and fifty others through the Cumberland Gap in 1773, only to be savagely attacked, losing his son James, and forced to return east. It was the start of Dunmore's War, which lasted several years.

Boone was hired in 1775 by William Henderson to take a group of thirty-one axemen to cut through the Cumberland Gap and make a Wilderness Trail to Otter Creek along the Kentucky River. This second time, the goal was to create a colony. Boone and Henderson negotiated with the Cherokee and bought their claim to Kentucky after their arrival on April 1 while they started to construct the fort. However, that did not stop the bloodshed. By the time, September 8, 1775, that Boone and his family reached the site of Fort Boonesborough along the Kentucky River, an owner and his slave in the group had been killed by warriors. Throughout this year, the first shots of the American Revolution were also fired at Lexington and Concord.

Photo above: Interior of rebuilt Fort Boonesborough, 2017, Judson McCranie. Courtesy Wikipedia C.C. 3.0.




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Info, What's There Now, History Nearby

Crazy Horse Memorial

Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky

The settlement would be called Fort Boonesborough, the second in the state, and today a reconstruction of the fort can be visited as part of Fort Boonesborough State Park. There are cabins, blockhouses, plus a new addition, the Kentucky River Museum. Living history days are replete with costumed interpretors. Beyond the history, there are hiking trails, campgrounds primitive or full hookup, and swimming pools. Yes, it has a sand beach and water slide. So for those who aren't fort compliant, there's a lot more to do at the State Park to keep them busy while you history hunt.

Image above: Illustration of Siege of Boonesborough, 1919, Edwin L. Sabin. Courtesy Boys Book Of Frontier Fighters via Wikipedia Commons. Below: Only portrait ever done of Daniel Boone, 1820, Chester Harding. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery via Wikipedia Commons.


Daniel Boone

Where Is It

Fort Boonesborough State Park is located at 4375 Boonesborough Road, Richmond, Kentucky 40475-9316. It is near Lexington and east of Louisville.


What is There Now


Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky

Fort Boonesborough, the reconstruction, with many buildings that attempt to recreate the 1775 experience of Daniel Boone, his family, and the other settlers. Of course, there's also a gift shop. The Kentucky River Museum is also now onsite with two restored lockhouses and other buildings to visit.

The swimming pool area includes am activities building that holds one hundred and fifty people, plus a central building with showers and laundry. At the entrance, there is a small grocery store. The campsite has one hundred and sixty-seven hookup, primitive, and tent sites along the Kentucky River. There are no advance reservations.

When Open and How Much

Fort Boonesborough State Park is open year round, but only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays after October 31 until the next season starts on April 1. The Kentucky River Museum is only open from April 1 to October 31 each season. Price, which includes both, is $6 for adults, $3 for children 6-12. Under 6 free.

Fees and hours are subject to change.

Websites
Fort Boonesborough State Park

History Nearby


Although Daniel Boone made this first two attempts at settlement at Kentucky and thus alot of first, the European history of the state is replete with historic sites of all kinds, natural, colonial, and Civil War.



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