Kentucky Library & Museum
I-65, exit 26. 1906 College Heights Blvd, just off 68/80. Bowling Green
270-745-2592
Museum Galleries Open Monday-Saturday 9AM-4PM; Sunday 1-4PM
Library Open Monday-Friday 8:30AM-4:30pm, Saturday 9:30AM-4PM.
Closed on WKU holidays.
Learn about one of Kentucky's most famous personalities in the Recommended by Duncan Hines exhibit. Take a look at life during Civil War through the simulated scenes including a soldier's campsite, general store and slave cabin. View pictures, stories and artifacts of Kentucky soldiers, slaves, and civilians from this time of conflict. Tour the Felts 1800s log cabin. Visit the new Snell-Franklin Decorative Arts Gallery showcasing social culture in furniture, paintings and many decorative pieces dating from 1300 B.C. to late 1900s. Tours, camps, workshops, lectures, exhibit openings and special events are open to the public.

Civil War Discovery Trail
Fifteen sites are available to the public and include earthworks, a cave, a house museum, monuments and markers. For a free Civil War Discovery Trail brochure, call 800-326-7465.
With Kentuckians divided between North and South, the state adopted a policy of neutrality at the beginning of the Civil War. Bowling Green’s reliable and defensible transportation network and the collection of hills that surrounded the city made it one of the most strategic cities in the state. In November 1861, Bowling Green was declared the Capital of the Confederate State of Kentucky but by mid-February 1862, fell into Union hands. Bowling Green was also the site of a federal government campaign to enlist slaves as Union soldiers.

Lost River Cave and Valley
I-65 exit 22, left at stoplight #9, right on Nashville Road. Bowling Green
270-393-0077 or 866-274-2283
Open seven days a week 9AM-5PM except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Boat tours subject to weather so call ahead.
Kentucky's only Underground Boat Tour and the enchanting Butterfly Habitat await you at Lost River Cave and Valley. Daylight disappears from view as you board the boat on the river that Ripley's Believe It or Not claims is the shortest, deepest in the world. A comfortable 57 degrees year round, the boat tour offers a visit into the timeless world of a Kentucky Natural wonder. The walking tour along the river's edge will bring alive stories of Native Americans, Early European settlers, Civil War troops and the notorious Jesse James. Enjoy Treetop Bridge, nature trails, bird watching stations, picnic area, gemstone sluice, Old Mill Gifts and the rock climbing wall.

Riverview at Hobson Grove
I-65, exit 28. 1100 W. Main Avenue, Bowling Green - 270-843-5565
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10AM-4PM, Sunday 1-4PM. Closed holidays and during January. Last tour starts at 3PM.
Built by Atwood and Juliet VanMeter Hobson on a hill overlooking the Barren River, Bowling Green's historic landmark has been restored to its original splendor. An official site on the Civil War Discovery Trail, as it was used for storage of Confederate munitions when the Rebel forces held Bowling Green, Riverview is an elegant interpretation of a prosperous Victorian home of the 1860 to 1890 period. Come experience the life of a 19th century family and their servants. Seasonal and holiday tours are offered throughout the year to highlight celebrations of the era. Gift Shop features Victorian items.

African American Heritage Center
I-65, exit 2 or 6. 500 W. Jefferson St., Franklin - 270-598-9986
Open 9AM-6PM; Mon; 9AM-4PM Tues-Fri; closed 12-1PM daily
e-mail: africanamericanh@bellsouth.net
Historical artifacts, memorabilia, oral and written histories and other items relating to African Americans. Located in Franklin's Harristown National Register Historic District.

Octagon Hall Museum
I-65, exit 6. 6040 Bowling Green Road. Franklin - 270-586-9343
Open Wednesday-Saturday 8AM-3:30PM; Closed 11:30AM-1PM for lunch
See an architectural style unique to South Central Kentucky. This eight-sided house is rich with history and features Confederate Study Archive and Museum. Octagon Hall is now becoming known for paranormal activities.

Old Stone Jail
I-65, exit 2 and 6 N. College St. Franklin - 270-586-4228
Open Mon-Fri 9AM-4PM; Sat 10AM-2PM
Tours of the old jail and jailer's quarters, ca. 1830s, include graffiti drawn by Confederate prisoners, museum and archives. The archives contain historical and genealogical materials for the county and surrounding area.

Fort Williams
Traveling Hwy. 31E North or South, turn onto Cross Street across from Lowe's. Turn right onto Fort Williams Way. Can also be reached by traveling through the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery.
www.trailsrus.com
During the Civil War, Glasgow's railway and depot made it an important communication and supply post for Union troops in south central Kentucky. In December 1862, Confederate John Hunt Morgan took control of Glasgow for three days, just long enough to destroy Union rail and communication lines. Fort Williams was built in 1863 to deter future attacks of this kind. However, it didn't work as planned. On October 6, 1863, the 25th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A., attacked Fort Williams with 120 men commanded by Col. John M. Hughes. As a result of this attack, CSA Col. Hughes reported 9 KIA, 26 wounded and 226 were taken prisoner.

South Central Kentucky Cultural Center
200 West Water, Glasgow - 270-651-9792
The Center, also known as the Museum of the Barrens, is dedicated to telling the story of the people, places and events that make up the geographic area known as the "Barrens" of south central Kentucky. Housed in the old Kentucky Pants Factory (circa 1928) near downtown Glasgow, visitors travel all the way back to 12,000 BC, view tools and firearms, log cabins, and a gristmill from the mid-1800's. Other attractions include an extensive military exhibit starting with the Civil War, a doll collection, a one-room schoolhouse, Victorian parlor and a town square as it looked at the turn of the century. An extensive genealogical library is also maintained at the Center.

Battle for the Bridge Historic Preserve
I-65 exit 58 and exit 65 - 270-524-0101
The national significance of the events at Munfordville/Woodsonville was recognized in 1993 by the congressional Civil War Sites Advisory Commission when it classified the battlefield as a class "B" -- a principal strategic operation of the war, having "strategic character and national significance” and “having a direct influence on [its] campaign." The Battle of Munfordville was the first stroke of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's 1862 Kentucky campaign.

Hart County Historical Museum
I-65, exit 65, 109 Main Street - 270-524-0101
Open Mon-Fri 9AM-4PM, Sat 8AM-4PM.
The history Munfordville and its county involves much more than the Civil War.
Exhibits and collections of historical artifacts and records are housed in the old Chaplin Building on Main Street, two doors down from the Munfordville Welcome Center. The Museum also houses the Mary Willia Bransetter Genealogical Library, one of the area's most comprehensive collections of archives and genealogical materials. The museum store offers books, apparel, and many other history-related items for all ages.

1817 Saddle Factory Museum
Russellville - 270-726-4181 - Call for hours.
The 1817 Saddle Factory Museum owned and operated by Historic Russellville, Inc. is a four-story brick building that may be Kentucky's oldest industrial building. Exhibits include early saddles and leather goods which demonstrate the use of natural resources to produce goods which were sold regionally and as far away as New Orleans. One focus of the Museum is the indentured servants who provided much of the skilled labor and who lived on-site. The fourth-floor living quarters are available for touring and display preserved pre-1835 writings on the walls. Other exhibits include the original fish weather vane from Logan County's 1820 Courthouse on which three bullet holes are easily seen, photographs and artifcacts from Russellville's rich educational heritage, and the works of local artist Roberta McClean (1882 - 1975).

Also on the property are the Alice Dunnigan Museum and the Cooksey House Museum. Both buildings are filled with artifacts from the slavery era before and during the Civil War era. They are staged to show the difficulties faced by the slaves.

Civil War
Numerous skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces took places in Monroe County, and as in much of Kentucky, loyalties of residents were divided. Monroe was the site of Col. John Hunt Morgan's first raid into Kentucky, and the county courthouse at Tompkinsville was later burned by Confederates.