Welcome to the Heritage Council
Your State Historic Preservation Office
The last few weeks have been busy at the Heritage Council and it looks like summer continues this trend! Several hands-on preservation skills workshops have taken place and two others are planned this year. Throughout June, Kentucky Main Street Program Downtown Living Tours [Word - 186KB] are in full swing in communities from Ashland to Paducah. If you want to learn  more, read some interesting findings from the Downtown Living Survey [Word - 67KB] that Main Street communities completed earlier this spring.
Several public events took place during May, National Historic Preservation Month. On May 21, the 30th Annual Ida Lee Willis Memorial Foundation Preservation Awards were handed out in a program at the capitol rotunda. Mrs. Willis was the council's first executive director, appointed in 1966 following passage of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Retired Bardstown/Nelson County Historic Preservation Administrator David H. Hall received the highest honor of the day, the Ida Lee Willis Memorial Preservation Award, for his life's work. Other awards were given for service and preservation projects. During the ceremony, winners of the 10th Annual Kentucky Heritage Council / Preservation Kentucky Photo-Essay Competition were also recognized for photographing and writing about a historic building or site in their community using the theme Restore-Reuse-Recycle.
On May 28, individuals representing the Kentucky Legislature, Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, University of Kentucky Office of State Archaeology, Kentucky Archaeological Survey, Kentucky Office of the Attorney General and the Kentucky Heritage Council gathered for a press conference at the capitol rotunda to clarify Kentucky's position [Word - 29KB] on the theft of Indian Head Rock from a registered archaeological site in the Ohio River. Thought to feature a Native American petroglyph, Indian Head Rock is a historic artifact protected under state and federal laws governing the looting of antiquities and archaeological sites.
 Details of the new Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail Passport Program were announced during a public event May 31 on Lincoln Square in Hodgenville, which followed the unveiling of the new Boy Lincoln sculpture. The Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail is a scenic route through central Kentucky with 16 designated passport stamp sites, each of which has a historical connection to our nation’s 16th president. Using the passport, trail travelers have additional incentive to learn first-hand about the Kentucky places important in President Lincoln's life. Visit any site to receive a free window cling, and after accumulating 10 stamps trail travelers qualify for a monthly prize drawing.
The Kentucky Lincoln Heritage Trail [ ] is a project of the Kentucky Heritage Council in partnership with the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Kentucky Department of Travel and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
 Prior to the passport launch, replicas of the two trail markers posted at the Lincoln Boyhood Home at Knob Creek were unveiled by Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Marcheta Sparrow and long-time Kentucky Parks Service employee Brooks Howard and her daughter, Mary Brooks Meador. The Howard family owned the Knob Creek Farm prior to its sale to the National Park Service in 2001. Lincoln was born in LaRue County on February 12, 1809 on the farm which is now the Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site, and he lived with his family at Knob Creek prior to moving to Indiana at age 7.
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Welcome! |
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... to the Kentucky Heritage Council, the State Historic Preservation Office. Our mission is to identify, preserve and protect the cultural resources of Kentucky. Heritage Council staff administer all state and federal historic preservation and incentive programs in Kentucky, including the National Register of Historic Places. Sixteen Kentucky Heritage Council members are appointed by the governor of the state to serve four year terms on the Heritage Council. Chaired by Ms. Gail Melvin, council members live across the state representing the citizens of the Commonwealth and engaging in historic preservation projects.
The Heritage Council is a repository of a priceless assemblage of survey forms, maps, photographs and other images in its unique archival collection of inventories of historic structures and archaeological sites in the state. Our rural heritage is highlighted in a variety of programs including the Kentucky Crossroads Rural Heritage Development Initiative, an rural preservation/economic development partnership with Preservation Kentucky. The Kentucky Archaeological Survey, a partnership with the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology, promotes the preservation of archaeological sites and educates the public about protecting these resources.
The Heritage Council seeks to build a greater awareness of Kentucky's historic places and to encourage the long-term preservation of Kentucky's significant cultural resources. Kentucky leads the nation in the number of Preserve America communities, is fourth in the number of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and offers a statewide income tax credit for rehabilitation projects.
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Recent Kentucky Heritage Council Press Releases |
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