Bluegrass Heritage Museum

Located on South Main Street, in Winchester, I've driven by this place tens times. It's an old hospital building, and they describe it as a signature Romanesque Revival building. It's three levels of bluegrass heritage, history, artifacts, etc.We were exploring the Hemp Fest this weekend and this was a recommended stop. They had a shuttle taking you to and from the fest. They recently added a hemp exhibit here, so this was a great opportunity to bring people in. Today they had a lady spinning hemp fiber and explaining that process and more. There was another volunteer in the hemp exhibit area. She too was super knowledgeable. I was surprised to learn how much hemp farming is part of the Winchester history.Located on the third floor, is the surgery room. As I walked around up there, I literally experienced the cold chills knowing the demise of many people in years past. If you work or are interested in the health field I definitely would recommend checking it out. That's not all on the top floor, but I'll leave the rest for you to discover. The second floor was my favorite. That's where the military history is. Usually I'm not too fascinated by history, but I was pleasantly surprised here. It was astounding to learn about the amount of the people who were drafted and served in several wars. The history that involved Clark Countians, was beyond intriguing to me. I'll post some exhibit photos. Don't miss it though, especially if you're a Kentuckian or if you're intrigued by history.

My wife and I really enjoyed our visit to the BHM this afternoon. It it a very well done display of Kentuckians (especially those from Winchester) and artifacts from the 1700's through the 1970's. The renovated Victorian mansion and ex-Hospital is beautifully restored in periodic fashion. There are interesting displays of: - the Revolutionary War- the War of 1812- the Mexican campaign- WW1- WW2- Homer Ledford- Victorian life- the old hospital rooms and equipment- etc. - etc. We ended with an Ale-8-One from the working refrigerator from 1938, and a leisurely sit on the porch in a rocking chair watching Main St. activity. I recommend this as a good couple hours on a rainy afternoon.

Museum contains early history of Kentucky, from the Eskippakithiki Indians, to Daniel Boone and Boonesboro, up to today. Great place to explore the local history.

THIS ISN'T A MUSIC HISTORY MUSEUM I'm from California and I thought bluegrass was just a type of music but I'm so happy I stopped by- it's a whole region! This museum has historical documents and artifacts that predate the state of Kentucky - the museum is run by former educators and they've put a lot of love and effort into this place- even restored floors and matched paint from its hospital days. I spent practically the whole four hours it was open wandering around with my tour guide and I feel like there was more to talk about. This woman was digging around attics and stuff getting old log books and things that by all reasonable people would have been lost to time and negligence and safeguarding them for the future. She was a fount of information and you can tell she cares a lot about the place and the history of the people that lived in Winchester. There's a whole room dedicated to military members and artifacts from various wars- long rifles and french phrase books, uniforms and captured flags. The whole museum is so well designed. I absolutely suggest you stop here if you're anywhere within a hundred miles, it's well worth it.

The Bluegrass Heritage Museum is a must see during your visit to Winchester! There are lovely displays for your enjoyment and the history behind the building itself and the family history is very interesting. The Guerrant Mountain Mission and its founders story is so interesting itself beyond the historically significant material available on the Eskippakithiki Indian Village and Daniel Boone and Fort Boonesboro~A true gem!