The Maysville Floodwall Murals at Limestone Landing tell the city’s story in a public setting: their images span the 18th through the 20th centuries. A mural completed in September 2007 honors Rosemary Clooney, who was from Maysville. The city’s history as a stop on the Underground Railroad is also a major focus of cultural heritage tourism in Maysville.
Buildings and Memories
In Washington stands the Old Church Museum, a building constructed in 1848 that houses religious artifacts. It is one of two surviving buildings with stepped gables in Washington. Another trace of the area’s early history leads to Mefford’s Station, founded in 1787. After George Mefford chose the site, he dismantled his flatboat and used its beams to build a house. The Mefford’s Station cabin was moved to Washington in 1969; Washington is now part of Maysville.
The Pioneer Graveyard in Maysville offers another glimpse into early history; burials had taken place there by at least 1800. The cemetery is directly behind the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center and can be reached by a narrow path between the museum and Phillips’ Folly. Historical themes also include hidden slave chambers behind the servants’ quarters and efforts to end slavery in Kentucky, explored through the mementos and artifacts on display. For an episode in 1833, Stowe visited a Georgian-style brick house named for Colonel Marshall Key. She was then taken to the nearby courthouse to watch a slave auction.
Tours and Collections
On a guided tour of Old Washington, costumed guides accompany you along flagstone walkways past authentic frontier-era log cabins and early 19th-century homes. Tours are offered during the season; off-season tours are available by appointment. A local food tradition is also part of the picture: in Old Washington, Beaten Biscuit is presented as a traditional Kentucky way to eat county ham.
Since March 1, 1878, the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center has collected, preserved, and shared the history of Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley. Its Calvert Exhibits Gallery is a 2,000-square-foot space for changing exhibitions. The KSB Miniatures Collection in Maysville offers a very different scale: housed in a 3,300-square-foot gallery, it includes more than 120 furnished miniature houses, room boxes, and vignettes. Those who prefer to follow history through a single theme can explore the Bourbon History Galleries, which trace the story from the 1791 uprising against the Whiskey Tax Act through the heyday of bourbon production in Mason County and Prohibition to the revival of Old Pogue Master’s Select.
Bourbon History and Views
The grounds of the Old Pogue Distillery include the Pogue family home, built in 1845, and a modern distilled-spirits production facility. Visits are available by appointment. The Pogue family produces small-batch rye and bourbon whiskey using the same combinations of ingredients and methods as in their ancestors’ recipes. The site is on a southern ridge above the Ohio River Valley, with views east toward the Simon Kenton Bridge and the Ohio River. Family history, production, and landscape come together here, though the exhibits and actual production are not the same experience.
Another View of the Area
The Russell Theatre is one of the few atmospheric theaters still surviving in the United States. Those who want to focus on time outdoors will find a 15-acre fishing lake, a paved one-mile path for walking and running, and abundant wildlife at Maysville-Mason County Recreation Park. The park also has a swimming pool that opens seasonally; check the current seasonal information as you plan.
These places offer different ways to plan your explorations: Old Washington centers on a guided tour of the historic village, the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center on collections and changing exhibitions, and Recreation Park on its lake, path, and wildlife. You can choose to focus on local history, architecture and exhibitions, or time outdoors.
Explore more destinations: Maysville, Marshall, Nelson, Woodford County, Perry County, Madison County, Christian County, Hopkins County.
For the main travel overview: Kentucky.
