A fascinating story lies beneath the feet of all Kentuckians. It is the story of prehistoric Kentucky. Picture in your mind’s eye a cool late summer morning in prehistoric Kentucky. It’s the kind of morning that signals fall is right around the corner. The sun rose just a...
We know that people we call Indians or Native Americans lived in central Kentucky for thousands of years. We know about them because we have found the things they left behind. The men and women described in this story were part of a group we...
A. Gwynn Henderson, PhD Misconceptions about the people who lived in what is now the state of Kentucky before it was settled by Euro-Americans and Afro-Americans take many forms. These incorrect ideas range from the specific (how the native peoples dressed, how their houses appeared, how...
Perspectives from the Joukowsky Institute - Remembering Slack Farm A. Gwynn Henderson, PhD It’s been nearly 28 years since the lives of my husband and myself were irrevocably changed by what has euphemistically been referred to as “the Slack Farm Incident.” Before, during, and – for several years after...
As currently understood, American Indian history in Kentucky is over eleven thousand years long. Events that took place before recorded history are lost to time. With the advent of recorded history, some events played out on an international stage, as in the mid-1700s during the war between the...
TOUR120 SHOWCASES KENTUCKY’S HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE! Preservation Kentucky’s Tour120 is an exciting new statewide heritage tourism program designed to raise awareness of the importance of historic preservation to Kentucky’s communities, and raise funds to help the nonprofits that preserve, manage and showcase them. Tour120 launched during National...
Preservation Kentucky celebrated Archaeology Month in September with a webinar that featured the rich archaeological record of our native inhabitants with ancient Native American archaeologist Gwynn Henderson, PhD, whose research has corrected the mistaken narrative that Native peoples never lived permanently in Kentucky - when, in...
Preservation Kentucky's knowledge base includes a library of toolkits, publications and technical resources on a wide variety of historic preservation topics. Learn details on the federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credits, restoration tips for historic homes and commercial buildings, architectural styles, and inventories of...
2018 Awards Held at Historic Undulata Farm, Shelby County Each year thousands of Kentuckians work tirelessly to preserve Kentucky’s legacy reflected in our historic buildings, structures, landscapes and prehistoric sites. Preservation Kentucky established the Excellence in Preservation Leadership Awards in 2012 to recognize exceptional accomplishments in...
Cemeteries and burial grounds are important places to everyday American life and culture, and present in nearly every community. Improper treatment can cause irreversible damage to historic cemeteries, so it's critical that the right techniques are used to preserve and stabilize the stone and prevent...