History in Harrodsburg

Harrodsburg Kentucky may be small, but it’s loaded with character. In fact, it lays claim to being the ‘Oldest Town in Kentucky’. Their tourist board (yes, this little town of 8,000 people has it’s own tourist board) describes Harrodsburg as ‘bursting with historic charm’. They are absolutely right.

Main St.

The town itself has self-guided historic walks , an old Fort, civil war history, a nearby Shaker village. One of my favorite things about the pristine town was the old Southern style homes that had been preserved so well. The 8,000+ residents of Harrodsburg were proud of it’s history.

After spending the afternoon at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill on a photographic journey back in time, we drove into Harrodsburg to find a place to stay. With all of these old historic homes, we were looking to stay in a place that embodied that Southern architecture and spirit. We found the perfect match at the Beaumont Inn.

I had first heard of the Beaumont Inn from doing a Google search. After spending a few minutes on their website, I was won over immediately. After all, since much of my time is spent online in the blogsphere and social networking worlds, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this old Inn was modern in their technology. They are on Facebook, they have a blog, and their website is chock full of tourist information about Harrodsburg and the surrounding towns. In fact, it was their website that made me want to go to Harrodsburg.

Frankly my dear...

Intricate Lace

The Inn, circa 1845, was perched atop a rolling hill cradled by old trees which undoubtedly had seen many changes during their lifetime. The big white pillars and front porch won me over immediately. Nothing embodies the South like a front porch. I can’t help but have flashes of Scarlett O’Hara standing on the porch of Tara. As you walk inside you are transported further into history through the décor. The home was decorated with all of the old antique furniture even down to the detail of the lace curtains and the antique Cleopatra clock from the World’s Fair in 1893.

Going Up

The main hall is dominated by twin staircases leading to the rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The rooms were spacious for an old home and had all been upgraded to accommodate the modern needs of travelers; air conditioning and wireless internet. They were all decorated in the antiques from the family’s collection. Of course the Inn served breakfast (included) every morning southern style. I enjoyed my cheese grits and corn griddlecakes immensely; after all, it was vacation – right?

On the main floor next to portraits of Robert. E. Lee were pamplets containing the complete history of the Inn. We grabbed one as we walked to the Old Owl Tavern which was connected to the Inn. They had happy hour drinks and appetizers so we sat on the outside porch, enjoyed our view, and read up on the history of the Inn.

Sitting Room

The Inn started it’s existence as a college for women. In fact, over the course of time, it changed hands many times, however from 1845 to 1914 it was utilized as a school. In 1918, it was turned into an Inn as it’s used today. The classrooms were converted into the dining room and the old carriage house was converted into the Tavern. Now that’s a lot of history to sleep in. It actually dubs itself as the oldest family owned and operated Inn in Kentucky; it was handed down for generations.

If you find yourself traveling through Bluegrass area of Kentucky, Harrodsburg and the Beaumont Inn should be your stopping place for the night. You can sleep in a little bit of history.