Fort Boonesborough was a frontier fort in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, founded by

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

and his men following their crossing of the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass re ...

on April 1, 1775. The settlement they founded, known as

Boonesborough, Kentucky Boonesborough or Boonesboro is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by famed frontiersman Daniel Boone in 1775 as one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, Boonesb ...

, is Kentucky's second oldest European-American settlement. It served as a major frontier outpost during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and survived into the early 19th century before its eventual abandonment. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

now administered as part of Fort Boonesborough State Park, the site is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites of early westward expansion by British colonists in that period. It is located in

Madison County, Kentucky Madison County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, its population was 92,701. Its county seat is Richmond. The county is named for Virginia statesman James Madison, who later became the f ...

off

Kentucky Route 627 Kentucky Route 627 (KY 627) is a north–south state highway in east-central Kentucky, United States. It traverses portions of northern Madison, Clark, and southern Bourbon counties. Route description KY 627 begins in northern Madison County ...

Description

Fort Boonesborough State Park is located southeast of

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, on the west bank of the

in rural Madison County. It has a reproduction of Fort Boonesborough, rebuilt as a working fort, containing cabins, bunkhouses and furnishings. The park offers history programs in conjunction with the Fort Boonesborough Foundation, During the in-season, the fort houses resident

artisan An artisan (from , ) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...

s such as

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s and

potters A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas * Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

who do open demonstrations to give visitors a taste of what

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

life in Kentucky was like. The

Kentucky River Museum The Kentucky River Museum is located in Boonesborough, Kentucky, in Fort Boonesborough State Park. Established in 2002, the museum occupies the former lock operator's home and storage and maintenance building for Lock 10, one of fourteen lock ...

is located in the park, at the former lock operator's home. The museum focuses on the impact of the river on area families and commerce and tells about the locks and dams in the 1900s.

History

The Fort Boonesborough area was occupied by Native Americans prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonial settlers, with a small village of

Fort Ancient The Fort Ancient culture is a Native American archaeological culture that dates back to . Members of the culture lived along the Ohio River valley, in an area running from modern-day Ohio and western West Virginia through to northern Kentucky ...

residents known to have lived there c. 1400 AD. The area that is now Kentucky had been scouted by

as early as 1769, and became the subject of an illegal colonial settlement attempt orchestrated by Richard Henderson and his

Transylvania Company The Transylvania Colony, also referred to as the Transylvania Purchase or the Henderson Purchase, was a short-lived, extra-legal colony founded in early 1775 by North Carolina land speculator Richard Henderson, who formed and controlled the Tra ...

. Boone was hired by Henderson to cut a road into the territory, which he did, arriving with his expedition near this site at the beginning of April 1775. Henderson followed later in the month, and oversaw the establishment of Boonesborough and construction of its fortifications. The first form of representative government in Kentucky was held here in May 1775. By that summer, Boonesborough consisted of 26 one-story log cabins and four blockhouses. The fort was the scene of much action during the western theater of the

. In September 1778, the fort withstood an attack by American Indians in what would later be called " The Great Siege." After the war, the settlement became a travel stop for westward-bound settlers, and also became involved as a transit point for the flourishing tobacco trade. By 1820, it had ceased to be of significant importance, and it was eventually abandoned. The area did not undergo intensive archaeological investigation until the 1980s, when major elements of the site were identified, including Daniel Boone's initial station, the Fort Boonesborough fortification, several water springs, the foundational remains of tobacco warehouses, and the Fort Ancient village site. Most of the park was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

of archaeological importance in 1994. The site of Fort Boonesborough was designated a

in 1996.

References

External links

Fort Boonesborough State Park
Kentucky State Parks
Fort Boonesborough State Park Map
Kentucky State Parks
Fort Boonesborough Living History
{{authority control American Revolutionary War sites Booneborough Kentucky in the American Revolution State parks of Kentucky State parks of the Appalachians National Historic Landmarks in Kentucky Open-air museums in Kentucky Museums in Madison County, Kentucky History museums in Kentucky Protected areas of Madison County, Kentucky 1775 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Madison County, Kentucky American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places Protected areas established in 1963 1963 establishments in Kentucky Parks established in the 1960s

Description

History

See also

References

External links