Bardstown, Kentucky

Over thirty photographs available. See the URL for the full guide.

 

Named one of the best small towns in America, Bardstown offers impeccable dining options, unique boutiques and long-time shops, charming bed and breakfasts, cultural museums, bourbon heritage and an intact historic downtown and residential district that is unmatched anywhere else in the state.

 

Basilica of St. Joseph Proto Cathedral

This prominent cathedral was constructed from 1816 to 1819 and was the first Catholic Church west of the Allegheny Mountains. Known for its great collection of paintings, it has been designated a national landmark by the United States Congress.

 

Downtown (more will be coming in the future)

 

North 3rd Street boasts a great number of locally owned restaurants, cafes, bookstores, drug stores, antique shops and other stores.

 

Residences

This two-story house was constructed in 1805.

 

Jacob Rizer House. Constructed in 1802, this was the home and shop of noted Kentucky long rifle craftsman. He resided in the log-cabin structure from 1790 to 1830. The owners spotted me and allowed me inside to view their handiwork -- their restoration efforts are amazing to say the least. Kudos :)

 

This ancient, forest-green facade house was built in 1785.

 

This modest brick house was built in 1788.

 

I love this nation, for better and for worse.

 

Enjoy!

Bardstown Historical Museum

Contains numerous photographs with guide.

 

This museum offers a glimpse into the past of a city that has its roots to the 1790s. From civil war documents to Stephen Foster memorabilia, the museum continues to grow and expand, recently adding a new Trappist monks' exhibit. It is located within Spalding Hall and adjacent to the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.

 

Spalding Hall.

 

 

Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History

Contains numerous photographs with guide.

 

This unique museum in the heart of of the Bluegrass distilleries offers a view into a personal endeavor of rare artifacts and documents by Oscar Getz, accumulated over the time frame of 50 years. With items ranging from the pre-Colonial days to the post-Prohibition years, one can step back into time and see what the old liquor stores once resembled and see collections bottles, copper stills and handcrafted barrels.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Really nice!

Drink up  :drunk:

Looks pretty interesting. I'd heard of Bardstown, but didn't realize how beautiful it is; great photos!

The interesting thing about the old cathederal is that it is actually on the edge of the original town plat, not closer-in or facing the square.  Yet it does dominate the old road coming in from Gethsemene and the rural Catholic area to the south.

 

I should say that this is the oldest American diocese west of the mountains, but I think the French or Spanish might have preceded the Americans, perhaps with diocese in New Mexico and Louisiana?

 

@@@@

 

The oldest Catholic parish in Kentucky is nearby, but in another county.

 

Holy Cross 

 

 

...Setteld in the 1780s, first church in 1790, present church 1823.  I think Bardstown, as a settlement predates Holy Cross, as it was supposedly first settled in the 1770s, but by Virginians.

 

The parts of Ohio and Indiana that have rural Catholic populations were mostly settled by Germans.

 

In Kentucky, in this part of the state: Nelson, Marion, and Washington Counties, the Catholic settlers are of English ancestry, pioneers coming from the old Catholic colony of Maryland.  There is a substantial rural Catholic community here, more to the south and east of Bardstown.

 

After Louisville started to attract Germans and Irish and the Catholic population in that city rose, the see was moved there from Bardstown in the 1840s, though Bardstown and environs remained a strong presence in the diocese, later archdiocese.  One of the better know Catholic institutions near Barsdtown is Gethsemene, the Trappist monastary.  This is a particularly strict monastic order.

 

Bardstown is a popular day trip from Louisville, sometimes combined with a visit to Bernheim Forest or (if you have out-of-town guests) a trip to Lincolns Birthplace in Hodgenville (next county seat to the south, more or less).  The "Old Talbot Tavern", on the courthouse square in Bardstown, is somewhat equivilant to the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, as a lunch or dinner stop or destination.