Hopkinsville was only a dot on the Kentucky road map for me until my recent trip to Kentucky. Known as “Hop Town” to the local residents, it’s filled with a surprising amount of history. Our first stop was the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park, used as an encampment in 1838 and 1839, during the forcible removal of the Cherokees from the southern states. One of the few sites to have been documented as a encampment, it is the burial site of Chief Whitepath and Fly Smith.
The property has been converted into a charming museum, with original log structures brought in and restored, and a family friendly park with walking trails and free wi-fi. We chatted with museum volunteer, Kristina Scott, who is a descended from Native Americans and has a wealth of knowledge on the subject. She not only showed us the museum’s prize pieces, but discussed the annual PowWow, where Native Americans around the country (and sometimes from around the world!) meet for traditional food, dancing, art and drumming and singing. It’s held on the grounds each year on the first weekend after Labor Day.
From there we traveled to the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville, three structures including the Pennyroyal museum, the Charles Jackson Circus Museum and the Woody-Winfree Fire-Transportation Museum. The first exhibit that caught my eye was the Nightriders, a terrifying threat to local tobacco farmers during the early 20th century. As a protest against farmers who sold their product to the Duke Trust, the Nightriders rode at night, burning crops and forcing farmers to join their organization. Each year, in the fall , the local museum hosts a Nightriders reenactment with a hay ride through town and a staged “burning” of the tobacco warehouses. Hopkinsville is also home to Edgar Cayce, the physic known to many as “the father of holistic medicine.”
Down the street from the Pennyroyal Museum is the Circus and Fire-Transportation Museum. An avid collector of all things circus, Charles Jackson built a private collection to showcase his passion throughout his lifetime. His collection includes Vintage posters, antique toys and more. The circus atmosphere is carried over in the sawdust floor and interactive play area for children, with toys and costumes to dress up in to create their own memories. Also, including in the collection is Crusader, the horse ridden by countless children during his 56 year reign in front of the Cayce-Yost Hardware store. Be sure to check out the photos on the wall for the humorous “men in tights” photo.
The fire-transportation museum is housed in the former Hopkinsville firehouse and includes several types of antique transportation used in the area. The kids will love being able to climb onto the antique firetruck and crank the horn. The original fire pole, used for the firemen to slide down, is still displayed, although it looked rickety. I am not sure that I would slide down the pole myself!
Admission to all three museums is $2.00 per person, with special rates for children and seniors. Museum director, Alissa Keller, a Hopkinsville native , can provide detailed historical information and answer questions with a touch of humor.
Have you been to Hopkinsville, Kentucky?
I’ve never heard of that town before! Sounds like you had a great time!
I’ve never been there but this looks like a neat place! My husband wants to take me to Kentucky, says it’s beautiful. It is definitely one of the places on my “travel bucket list” …. !
Never heard of the town, but looks so rich in history. $2 for 3 museums is a fabulous price
It looks like a really cute place to visit. Really like the old fire truck.
What a fun place to visit! I had never heard of any of these or anything even like them!
What a great rate for the museums!! That mask is creepy but I know we’d love the circus museum!
Those look like great museums! I really love how they’re “not your average” kind of museums, especially the circus one.
The Nightriders reenactment sounds like it would be a bit scary! What a great place to visit.
Those look like such interesting museums. I hadn’t heard of night riders before – scary!
I’ve never been to Kentucky, but from your story it looks like they have a lot of good history museums to go to. That mask is a bit scary!
That’s a really great price. Makes it a nice outings for the kiddo. Never been to Hopkinsville before!
I’ve actually never been to Kentucky, but those museums make it sound really interesting! And at $2 a pop, affordable for the whole family!
Looks like a town out of a movie! So many cool retro things to see 🙂
oh wow, my husband would love that! We’ve never been to Kentucky!
No, I have never been to Kentucky. I would love to visit each of the states as part of my bucket list, just to see all they have to offer. Culture is important to me.
Oh wow what a great sounding place – I would love to visit myself one day 🙂 x
I’ve never been to Kentucky but this looks like a fun place to visit. $2 is a great price for a museum and makes it really affordable to take the family.
What a neat museum! I love visiting places like this and learning about the story behind things.
Wow, only $2 per person to get into the museums? That’s pretty fantastic! They look like neat places to visit!
I like to visit museums. That is a cool firetruck that is on display, love the Dalmation on the side. 😉
This looks like such a blast! Hubby and I would love to visit!
looks like such a cool place, my son would love it, he’s all about museums and history
The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park would have to be my first stop if I ever make it to Hopkinsville, KY! What an incredible place!
I;ve been to most states, but nothing in Kentucky 🙁 Looks like a fun trip!
I have not been to Hopkinsville, KY. Sounds like some great museums to visit.
My family would love this. We like to visit new and interesting places as much as we can!
We love to visit local museums when we travel – it is amazing the great places we have seen. These looks like our kind of places – what fun!
Thanks for the information on the 3 museums in Hopskinsville, KY. It is always nice to have affordable places to visit when traveling.
We’ve never been to Hopskinsville, KY. My family loves visiting museums when we travel so I’m sure we’d check this out if we ever visit the area. Pinned.
My family is huge on going to museums, and this looks like one we would enjoy. $2 seems like a real bargain for admission!
This looks so cool. I love places like this. Exploring historically significant places is really cool.
This looks like a great place to visit. I love visiting historical places like this.
Kentucky has always been on my bucket list and I hope I get there someday.
I love visiting places like this. I love that you can see all these places on a budget too.
Wow, there seems to be a lot of history in this place. I love seeing evidence from the past that brings history to life.
Little dots on the map usually have the best discoveries.
I love the look and feel of the town you show for the Main Street photo
I would love to go and see that! Museums are right up my alley.
I’ve never been there but it looks so cute. my kids would love seeing that.
I have never been there but it looks like a fun place to visit. My kids would love seeing all of the museums.
What an interesting place! I have never heard of this town.
I’ve never been to Kentucky at all but will keep these in mind when we finally get there!
I’ve never been but son and i would love this place. I enjoy museum and history,.
I have not, but it looks nice! I love visiting museums with my family. They are always so interesting!
Nightriders were bullies!! I would love to see that piece of history.
My husband would love that museum . He has a thing for history.
I have never been to the state at all. It looks like a fun place though. Thanks!
This looks like a cool museum! I’ve never visited Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
I have never been there, but I love museums! It looks pretty cool!
Those Nightriders are spooky! I’ll bet even the reenactment is eerie. That’s a neat museum, especially for just $2.
I agree – they are pretty creepy looking. Such a cool museum!
My husband and I would love that. We go to as many museums as we can when we travel.