Kentucky Historical Society
KHS, Signature Kentucky Lincoln Sites See Increase in Visitation

Frankfort, KY - Nine signature Kentucky Lincoln museums and historic sites throughout the commonwealth, including the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS), report over 159,000 visitors for the first six months of 2008, an 18.1% increase from 2007.

According to data collected directly from each of the nine sites, visitation from January to June 2008 was up at eight of the nine sites. Visitation to the Kentucky Historical Society increased from 23,342 from January to June 2007 to 27, 102 from January to June 2008, an increase of 16.1%.

Other visitation numbers at signature Kentucky Lincoln museums and historic sites were:

• Lincoln Birthplace/Boyhood Home, Hodgenville - 89,235 January-June 07 to 105,665 January-June 08
• Mary Todd Lincoln House, Lexington - 3,143 January-June 07 to 4,340 January-June 08
• Farmington Historic Plantation, Louisville - 1,276 January-June 07 to 1,720 January-June 08
• Lincoln Museum, Hodgenville - 5,551 January- June 07 to 7,237 January-June 08
• White Hall, Richmond - 2,116 January-June 07 to 2,284 January-June 08
• Camp Nelson, Nicholasville - 3,251 January-June 07 to 3,903 January-June 08
• Hardin County Museum, Elizabethtown - 1,270 January-June 07 to 1,169 January-June 08
• Ashland, Lexington - 5,437 January-June 07 to 5,596 January-June 08

During the six month period in 2007 and 2008, visitation increases were highest during the months of June and March. In June 2007, total visitation to signature Kentucky Lincoln museums and historic sites was 36,799 compared to 46,958 in June 2008, an increase of 27.6%. In March 2007, total visitation to signature Kentucky Lincoln museums and historic sites was 17,664 compared to 21,814, an increase of 23.4%.

"We're extremely pleased that the efforts to promote Abraham Lincoln's legacy in Kentucky have resulted in increased visitation to the sites around the state," says Kent Whitworth, executive director of KHS. "As we continue to commemorate the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in Kentucky, I'm encouraged to see so many Kentuckians learning about Lincoln's many Kentucky connections."

The Kentucky Historical Society is one of the signature Kentucky Lincoln sites that are commemorating the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial. KHS is also administrator of the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. For more information about the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, visit the Web site.

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An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Historical Society, since 1836, has provided connections to the past, perspective on the present, and inspiration for the future. KHS operates the Old State Capitol, the Kentucky Military History Museum, and its headquarters, the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History. Since 1999, the thirty-million-dollar Center has welcomed more than one million visitors. For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit the Web site.