Six historic places maintained by the Department of Parks are among 23 historic house museums in Kentucky featured in a colorful, new brochure.

    Many of the giants of Kentucky history are associated with the museums highlighted in the brochure, from Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to Henry Clay to George Rogers Clark. Several are architectural gems, from the Georgian-style Liberty Hall in Frankfort to the Federal-style Hunt-Morgan House in Lexington.

     The brochure includes a photo and brief description and contact information for each museum. An ingenious timeline graphically shows when each house was built and in what architectural style.

   The brochure is the first for participating members of the Historic House Network, said Sara Harger, director of Liberty Hall. Each of the 23 museums shared in the cost of producing the brochure.

     The idea for the publication came out of a brainstorming session with her staff, Harger said.

    “People who go to a historic house museum like to go to all of them in the area,” Harger said. “We were thinking ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the information on historic house museums in one piece?’”

      Some 150,000 copies have been printed, with a supply going to each participating museum, local conventions and visitors bureaus, brochure racks in state rest areas, and other outlets.

     “We’re pleased to participate in this brochure,” said Parks Commissioner George Ward. “Our park system preserves some of Kentucky’s most important historic resources. We are always looking at ways to encourage visitation to our historic homes.”

     Participating Parks facilities were the Butler-Turpin House in Carrollton, the Kentucky River Museum at Ft. Boonesborough, Waveland in Lexington, White Hall near Richmond, My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown, and William Whitley House near Stanford.

    Other participants were the Dinsmore Homestead in Burlington; the Brennan House, Conrad-Caldwell House, Farmington, Locust Grove, and Riverside-The Farnsley-Moremen Landing, all in Louisville; Liberty Hall, Orlando Brown House, and Sullivan House, all in Frankfort; Ashland-The Henry Clay Estate, the Hunt-Morgan House, Latrobe’s Pope Villa, and Mary Todd Lincoln House, all in Lexington; the Jack Jouett House in Versailles; the McDowell House in Danville; the Gov. William Owsley House in Lancaster; and Riverview at Hobson Grove in Bowling Green.

     Harger said she hopes the brochure will signal the beginning of a combined marketing effort for the state’s historic house museums.

    A copy of the free brochure may be obtained by calling Liberty Hall toll-free at 1-888-516-5101 or by visiting the web site at http://www.libertyhall.org/.