I am a huge history buff. When I learned Old Fort Harrod, located in Harrodsburg, Kentucky was having their annual Settlement and Raid on Father’s Day weekend, I knew I had to attend. This weekend long event brings skilled reenactors and Native Americans from around the country to participate.
The fort has a colorful history. In 1774, James Harrod brought a group of men into the area and established a camp. They briefly left the area and returned in March, 1775 with women, children and supplies to establish a permanent settlement. Fort Harrod soon became a bustling fort. Built on sacred Native American hunting grounds, the Native Americans resented the intrusion and planned a month long siege of the fort. The fort was saved from starvation by the help of Simon Kenton, who sneaked out of the fort at night to hunt for food. He was known to travel as far as twelve miles away to keep his shots muffled so the Native Americans did not know he had left the fort.
We arrived at Old Fort Harrod just as the fort opened and were greeted by settlers cooking breakfast around a campfire inside the fort. After stopping by to feed the sheep, we walked to the outdoor church service being held under a tree near the fort. We were greeted by the Parson and his indentured servant, who gave us our bulletin for the service.
During the day, we were able to tour the buildings and speak to reenactors and historians who demonstrated different skills like soap making, doll making and blacksmith skills. My favorite was a presentation by the reenactor who played Simon Kenton, who explained the importance of women on the frontier and told stories of their bravery and exploits. The Native Americans were more afraid of a woman holding an ax than of the men who had settled in the colony!
After visiting the Native American village in front of the fort for a drum ceremony featuring Native American chants, it was time for the highlight of the day; the siege and raid, which felt like stepping back into the past as the Native Americans besieged the fort.
I highly recommend the Settlement and Raid as it is a great way to sneak in some history for the kids while they think they are having a good time. On an interesting side note, James Harrod , after establishing the fort, disappeared one day in 1792 and was never seen again.
Need a place to stay while in Harrodsburg? The Baymont Inn and Suites features a free continental breakfast, free wi-fi and some rooms are available as suites with hot tubs. If you prefer a bed and breakfast, the Beaumont Inn is a must visit. Formerly a girl’s school and Daughter’s college, there are three buildings, including a beautiful mansion, and two restaurants on the premises.
Traveling to Old Fort Harrod, Kentucky? Check Out:
Pleasant Hill Shaker Village
Old Fort Harrod State Park
Want to know more about Harrodsburg? Check out their website at www.HarrodsburgKY.com.
This looks and sounds like a great place for a summer road trip destination! I’ll have to check it out!
This place looks amazing! I would love to visit Old Ford Harrod. I love history
My husband loves history stuff as well. I bet he would love to bring us to fort Harrod sometime.
There just aren’t reenactments like this where I live, and I know I am missing out. It sounds so fun to be fully immersed in the history of the location.
Ooooo how fun!!! I majored in history in college so these types of things are always a hit with me!
Thanks for recommending this beautiful place! I was wondering where to go to in Kentucky, you’ve certainly grabbed some very nice pictures here, I really love those native and classic american costumes!
I love to learn about history. I would be fun to visit Old Fort Harrodsburg.
Wow, I want to see this place. I like going to historical places and the history makes me interested more.
Looks like such a dun places and a great area to learn about history!
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My son’s family on his dad’s side is 100% native. Some of them live like this, and do the pow wows to make a living.
This looks like it was an awesome place to visit. I love historical visits and would love to take my kids on more.
Old Fort Harrod in Harrodsburg Kentucky sounds like a great place to visit with the family. We love any type of historical place and this sounds like it would be a lot of fun to see. The Baymont Inn and Suites sounds like an awesome place to stay too. Thanks for sharing the information.
What an interesting place full of history to visit!
This looks like an amazing vacation spot. I’ve never visited Kentucky but would love to take the family!
I love historical renactments! My family would enjoy this!
I am a huge history buff so places like this, where you can take a step into a different time in history are my favorite!
This sounds like a wonderful destination to visit with the family. I’d love to stop here for a visit. I always love learning about the history of a location!
Very interesting that Harrod disappeared never to be seen again. I love learning about history!
What a cool historical experience.The grounds look beautiful and learning some of the history of the place must have been fun.
I love these photos. It seems like a place where you can have a lot of fun and learn something (my kind of place).
I would love to visit this place. We go to state parks pretty often year round but I’ve never gone to any that had sheep. The sheep reminds me of my childhood in Beaver, PA.
This looks like a great place to visit for the entire family. I have been wanting to do a road trip to Kentucky.
OH wow. There is a lot to do here, huh?! Glad you were able to go enjoy this location!
This looks like a great place to get away and relax. Never been to Kentucky before.
I’ve never hear of Harrodsburg, but we travel through Kentucky on a regular basis! Will have to see if we can add a stop to Old Fort Harrod. I bet my twins would really enjoy it!
This looks fun and educational for the kiddos.
How fun! I haven’t done something like this since I was a kid. But, it was a lot of fun when I did it and this looks like it was too!
My family would have such a good time there. We’ve always loved to go to rustic, places like this. They’re a slice of living history.
This totally makes me want to go back east again and explore! I would love to go someplace like this would be a lot of fun.
I’ve always enjoyed reenactments like this, especially when I was homeschooling my kids. Things like this really helped bring history alive for them.
Wow, this looks like an amazing place to visit! I would love to take my family!
I love historical reenactments. This looks like a fun and educational trip. I would love to visit Kentucky. Sound like a fun trip.
Pretty interesting! Renactments are a great way to keep history alive. Never heard of heard Harrodsburg before your post! 🙂 I’m always interested in other Native people’s history in North America, being Ojibway myself. Thank you for sharing!