Lincoln County was named for Benjamin Lincoln, a Revolutionary War hero. It became known for its location along part of the Wilderness Road and later as the home of a noted hydrotherapy resort at Crab Orchard Springs. A Swiss-German community at Ottenheim was also influential in the county’s history.
Alcorn Homestead
Sophia K. Alcorn’s family moved into this house on Danville Avenue in 1885. She invented the Tadoma method of communication with people who were deaf and blind. The Alcorn family lived in the house until 1975. The home is privately owned.
409 Danville Avenue, Stanford, KY 40484
Baughman Mill
Built in the late 1800s with logs from the first steam mill in the county. The building is being restored but is visible from downtown and the L&N Depot.
111 Mill Street, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Buffalo Springs Cemetary
The first courthouse in Kentucky was built on this location in 1783. During the Civil War, it was the site of a Confederate encampment. Today it is one of the oldest cemeteries in Kentucky and contains the graves of many Revolutionary soldiers.
630 KY Hwy 78, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Phone: 606-365-0030
Crab Orchard Cemetery & Civil War Monument
Twenty-one Confederate soldiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas are buried atop Crab Orchard Hill surrounding the marble Confederate Monument.
Half a mile east of Ky 39 and Ky 643 junction, Crab Orchard, Kentucky 40419
Historic Immanuel Luthern Church
Located in the planned settlement of Ottenheim, Kentucky, the Immanuel Lutheran Church was built in 1886 to serve the small Swiss-German population of Ottenheim. Recently restored, the church is open for tours (by appointment) and can be rented for special occasions.
KY Hwy 643
4 miles east of Stanford, KY 40484
Phone: 606-365-0968
Historic L&N Depot & Museum
See where the L&N Railroad once stopped in Stanford and learn about its history at the beautifully restored L&N Depot & Museum.
Tuesday – Friday
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
1866 Depot Street
Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Phone: 606-365-4500
Isaac Shelby Cemetery
Burial site of Isaac Shelby, Kentucky’s first and fifth governor. Upon his death, Shelby was buried in the cemetery on his estate. His home, Traveler’s Rest, was destroyed by fire in 1906. The original detached brick kitchen still stands on private property and can be seen from a distance while visiting the site.
6725 Ky Hwy 300
Junction City, Kentucky 40484
John Logan House
Built in the early 1790s, this stone structure was the home of John Logan, brother of Benjamin Logan. John Logan was Kentucky’s first State Treasurer, an office he held continuously until his death in 1807. The home is privately owned.
65 John Logan Trail, Stanford, KY 40484
Lincoln County Courthouse
The present courthouse was built in 1909 on the same site as the one built in 1832 on land given by Benjamin Logan for that purpose. Built by F. Krueger and Sons, contractors from Mt. Vernon, Kentucky. It is a genealogical goldmine, with records dating back to 1780.
102 East Main Street, Stanford, KY 40484
Logan’s Fort Park
Named after Benjamin Logan, who, along with other early settlers, started Logan’s Fort in 1775. The fort has been partially reconstructed near the original site. Park is open from dawn to dusk and offers self-guided fort tours, a picnic area, a hiking trail, and a museum. Annual reenactments are held in May, and Christmas at the Fort is the first Saturday in December.
500 Martin Luther King Street, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
McCormack Christian Church and Cemetery
Erected in 1819 with brick kilned on the site. McCormack Christian Church was known as “The Church” because everyone, including slaves, was welcome to worship there. Services are held every Sunday.
Moores Lane, off of Ky Hwy 1194, Stanford, KY 40484
Presbyterian Meeting House & Museum
The Presbyterian meeting house was originally built in the 1790s to serve one of the first Presbyterian congregations in Kentucky. It has since been restored and now contains artifacts related to the early settlement of Stanford and life in the 1800s.
Open by appointment only.
315 W. Main Street, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Phone: 606-365-4500
Stanford Female Seminary
The seminary was incorporated by an act of the Kentucky Legislature in 1869. The name changed to Stanford Female College in 1871. Unable to compete with public schools supported by tax money, the school closed in 1907; it then became the Stanford Elementary School In 1939, after extensive remodeling, it was opened as a funeral home and continues to operate in that capacity.
312 W. Main Street, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Welch’s Well
Originally dug by Arch Perrin, it was later called Spraggins Well after the owner, who kept it free to the public even during a drought when others locked their wells. In 1905, the name was changed to Welch’s Well, and Mrs. W.G. Welch had this granite marker placed. The well was dug 12 ft deeper to get a better stream of water in 1936.
302 East Main Street, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
William Whitley House & Sportsman’s Hill
Built about 1785, the first brick house west of the Alleghenies. Home of William Whitley (noted pioneer and Indian fighter) and his wife, Esther. Across the road is Sportsman’s Hill, one of the earliest horse racetracks, which ran counterclockwise. This site offers seasonal house tours, shelter rentals, a playground, hiking trails, and a gift shop.
Open April – October
Thursday ~ Friday ~ Saturday
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
625 William Whitley Road, Stanford, Kentucky 40484
Phone: 606-355-2881