Duncan Tavern & John Fox, Jr. Genealogical Library:  323 High Street

Phone: 859-987-1788
     This three-story stone tavern was built in 1788 by Major Joseph Duncan four years before Kentucky became a state.  It served as a gathering place for local citizens and early pioneers such as Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton.  The building is now the headquarters of the Kentucky Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  The 1801 structure next door is the Anne Duncan house and contains an extensive genealogical library.  Both the tavern and the library are open April 1 through mid-December.

The John Fox Jr. Genealogical Library will open April 7, 2009 at 10 am – noon and 1 – 4 pm.  Museum will open April 9, 2009 with tours conducted at 1:30 pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Duncan Tavern is open with business hours beginning April 8 at 10 am – noon and 1 – 4 pm Wed- Sat.
Duncan Tavern will be closed:  May 2, 2009, July 4, 2009 and November 26 – 30, 2009.
Duncan Tavern will close for the winter on December 12, 2009.
Duncan Tavern will be closed the months of January and February.
Duncan Tavern will be open by appointment in March.

Fall Fundraiser will be Saturday, September 12, 2009.

Wallis House & Arboretum:  616 Pleasant Street /Phone: 859-987-6158
     This antebellum house serves as the headquarters of the Garden Club of Kentucky, Inc. and is open to the public for free tours.  The house and the surrounding grounds can be rented for private parties and events.  Native and flowering trees and plants can be viewed in the extensive grounds surrounding the house. 

Hopewell Museum:  800 Pleasant Street /Phone: 859-987-7274
     One block east of Main Street is the Hopewell Museum.  The museum features changing exhibits on local history and fine art topics as well as many special events.  The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 2 – 4 p.m.  There is no admission charge but donations are welcome. 

Cane Ridge Meeting House & Museum:  KY 537 east of Paris / Phone: 859-987-5350
     Built in 1791 of blue ash logs, the meeting house is said to be the largest one-room log structure still standing in the United States.  In 1801, one of the largest camp meetings on the frontier was held here. Barton W. Stone, minister at Cane Ridge during that period, established the Christian Church, which in turn gave birth to the Disciples of Christ, the Independent Christian Church and the Church of Christ.  Adjacent to the meeting house, located on KY 537 east of Paris, is the museum.  The buildings are open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. April through October.  There is no admission charge but donations are welcome. 

Bourbon County Courthouse:  Courthouse Square of downtown Paris

Phone: 859-987-2135
     Located in the center of town is the imposing Bourbon County Courthouse, reputed to be the most beautiful courthouse in the state.  The grandiose beaux-arts building was designed by Frank Milburn of Columbia, South Carolina and was built between 1902 and 1905 at a cost of $160,000.  Worthy of a visit is the beautiful interior.  The dome of the building is one of the most picturesque features of the Courthouse.  It includes four oil paintings which depict the Four Seasons and capture the principal crops of Bourbon Country as they existed over a hundred years ago. Portraits of past judges line the walls of the County Courtroom as well as the Circuit Courtroom.

Colville Covered Bridge:  KY 3118 / 859-987-3205
     Located north of Paris on KY 3118, the Colville covered bridge is one of only 13 covered bridges left in Kentucky.  The bridge measures 124 feet long and 18 feet wide and crosses Hinkston Creek.  It is open to regular traffic so visitors to the county can enjoy a rare drive through a “timbered tunnel”.  KY 3118 is reached via US 68 and KY 1893.

Paris Cemetery:  1603 S. Main Street / 859-987-3205
    The Paris Cemetery’s entrance is a gatehouse, which is an historic structure designed by architect John McMurtry and completed about 1862.  Established in 1847, the cemetery became the resting place of many deceased who had been moved from older cemeteries to the new Paris Cemetery.  The oldest stone identified shows the 1807 death of Elisha Ford.  The county’s war dead are memorialized throughout the cemetery.  Prominent figures include Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton, appointed ambassador to Bolivia,, Garrett Davis, a US Senator who is credited with having kept Kentucky from seceding during the Civil War, Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Trimble, artist Hattie Hutchcraft Hill, Paris attorney and hemp manufacturer Richard Hawes and John Fox, Jr., author of “Trail of the Lonesome Pine”, the first book in American Literature to sell more than a million copies.