My Old Kentucky Home

Composer Stephen Foster, the author of songs such as “Oh, Susannah!” and “Camptown Races,” was born in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, in 1826, but there is perhaps no better place to honor his memory than at My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown. 

The home (also called Federal Hill) was completed in 1818 and named for another of Foster’s well-known tunes. The Rowan family, who were distant relatives to Foster by marriage, owned the place. The composer reportedly visited the home occasionally and perhaps had the stately mansion in mind when he composed the ballad that is now the state song of Kentucky.

A tour of the brick mansion covers two of the three floors and always begins with a guide dressed in period clothing singing a rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home.” About three-quarters of the ornate furnishings and artifacts inside the house belonged to the Rowan family. Highlights include a piano with mother-of-pearl keys, a silver mint julep cup, a dueling pistol and the extensive library of the home’s original owner, Judge John Rowan, Sr. 

Colorful stories enhance the experience, including one about the judge’s deadly duel with another local resident and another detailing the death of 16 people in one 36-hour period at the height of the cholera epidemic in 1833.

The Federal Hill mansion is just one part of My Old Kentucky Home State Park, which also includes an 18-hole golf course and campground. Also located on the grounds is an amphitheater where summertime visitors can see the long-running outdoor musical “The Stephen Foster Story” which includes performances of all or parts of 50 of Foster’s songs, including “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” which Foster wrote for his wife. 501 E. Stephen Foster Ave., Bardstown, Kentucky 40004, 502/348-3502, visitmyoldkyhome.com