Happy Birthday Kentucky!

At the Kentucky State Fair, we celebrate our home for 11 straight days in August, but today we’re taking a moment to honor the Commonwealth on its 233rd birthday. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane!  

On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union; maybe 15 should be our lucky number! Just a few days later, on June 4, the first General Assembly met and got to work. The representatives of the nine counties in the new Commonwealth of Kentucky chose Frankfort as the permanent capital and adopted the state motto, “United we stand, divided we fall.” They also made the effort to set aside funds for additional improvements to the Wilderness Road to make it easier for settlers to travel here.  

The Wilderness Road cut through the heart of Kentucky across 160 miles. It stretched from the Cumberland Gap to the Falls of the Ohio River. This year, we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of Daniel Boone and his company of men and women blazing a clearer trail along the ancient buffalo trace that crossed the Kentucky wilderness. 

The path brought thousands of settlers to Kentucky and marked the beginning of westward expansion in the United States. According to the Kentucky Historical Society, before getting its iconic name, the route was called many things, including “The Road from the Old settle[ments] thro’ the great Wilderness” on John Filson’s famous 1784 map of “Kentucke.”