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Free Independence Day Celebration
Wednesday, July 4 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
FREE TO THE PUBLIC all day! Join the Clark and Croghan families as they celebrate Independence Day 1816. Meet members of the Croghan and Clark families, hear readings of the Declaration of Independence throughout the day, and experience life 200 years ago. Sweet N Savory Food Truck will be on site all day or bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds. We’ll have a small summer-reading book sale, with all books priced at only $2 for hardbacks and $1 for paperbacks.
Sponsored in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati and in memory of Downey M. Gray III and by Independence Bank
Book Arts Workshop for Kids
Saturday, July 7, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Curious kids ages 7 to 12 will learn the basics of books during this fun, one-day workshop celebrating the art and craft of making books. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to create a limited edition of about 10 small linoleum prints inspired by the gardens and landscapes of Locust Grove with Nick Baute of Hound Dog Press, assemble a small notebook popular in the 17th and 18th centuries with bookbinder Brandon Vigliarolo, and will work on writing and illustration with Locust Grove volunteers.
Price is $40.00 or $35.00 for Locust Grove members; all materials are included. Workshop participants should come prepared with some floral and landscape imagery to consider for printmaking. Participants should bring a sack lunch.
A parent or guardian must stay on site for the duration of the workshop. Adults are welcome to assist their child with all activities.
Space is limited; call 502-897-9845 to register by July 5.
Afternoon Lecture Series
Christopher Quirk: Stabilization at Locust Grove
Wednesday, July 11, 1:15 pm
Preservation architect Christopher Quirk will present an overview of the assessment process and design considerations that led to the selected treatment of Locust Grove. The presentation will also include progress photos from the installation of the wall anchors and removal of flooring at the attic level. Last summer’s masonry reinforcement project was the culmination of seven years of assessment and design exploration by architects and engineers who specialize in historic preservation. Concerns about bowing of the gable end walls prompted a survey of the exterior masonry and laser scanning of the exterior walls. The task of stabilizing walls was made particularly challenging as the extensive interior reinterpretation had been completed, and ceiling and wall finishes could not be compromised.
The Locust Grove Afternoon Lecture Series is held the first Wednesday of each month. Dessert and coffee are served at 1:00 pm with the lecture immediately following at 1:15 pm. Admission is $6, $4 for Locust Grove members. Reservations are not required.
The 10th Annual Jane Austen Festival
Friday, July 13, 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Celebrating Persuasion: 200 Years of Piercing Souls
Sponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America—Greater Louisville Region, the largest Jane Austen event in North America returns to Locust Grove. Throughout the weekend, immerse yourself in the Regency world as you attend presentations by featured speakers and a Regency Style Show under the Big Tent, watch demonstrations of Regency past-times, gain new skills to further your Regency education with our Workshops, delight in Four-Course Afternoon Tea, visit and shop our Regency Emporium and Shoppes of Meryton, promenade with “Anne Elliot in Bath,” encounter His Majesty’s Royal Navy, and dine and dance the night away at our Grand Ball (at a different location).
Festival Admission:
Friday, July 13th- Twilight Shopping $6 per person, Children under 12 are admitted FREE with an adult
Saturday and Sunday, July 14th and 15th
One-day pass $15 per person
Two-day pass $25 per person (available online only)
Children under 12 are admitted FREE with an adult
Festival tickets may be purchased online at www.jasnalouisville.com.
Please visit www.jasnalouisville.com for more information.
Sponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America, Greater Louisville Region.
Summer Thursday Concert Series with Kentucky Opera
Cheers! Prost! À Votre Santé!
Thursday, July 19, 6:30 pm
Enjoy a toast…or several, with appropriate libations and your favorite opera drinking songs performed by Kentucky Opera artists. Come early to explore the distilling activities of early small-farm Kentucky with The Farm Distillery Project. Bring your own blankets and chairs. Sweet N Savory food truck and Against the Grain Brewery will provide food and drink.
Admission: $16/$14 for members. Doors open at 6:00 pm; performance begins at 6:30 pm.
Locust Grove is pleased to welcome Kentucky Opera, the State Opera of Kentucky, to the Summer Thursday Concert Series at the historic site. This three-concert series brings the voices of Kentucky Opera to explore the history of Kentucky from its beginnings to the present date through song. Concerts will be held on Thursdays June 14, July 19, and August 30 at 6:30 pm. Each program will focus on a different theme, from traditional regional music, drinking songs, and opera favorites.
Music in the American Wild – Thursday, June 14, 6:30 pm
From the early farm beginnings in the 1790s, to the present day historic site, Kentucky Opera artists will explore the history of Locust Grove through the music of the region, featuring the evolution of spirituals, hymns, American art songs and opera. Featuring Kentucky Opera artists Christina Booker, David George, and Sankara Mitchell Harouna.
Cheers! Prost! À Votre Santé! – Thursday, July 19, 6:30 pm
Enjoy a toast…or several, with appropriate libations and your favorite opera drinking songs performed by Kentucky Opera artists. Come early to explore the distilling activities of early small-farm Kentucky with The Farm Distillery Project.
Locust Grove and Opera—A Musical Timeline – Thursday, August 30, 6:30 pm
Enjoy your opera favorites as explored through the history of Locust Grove. Settler William Croghan was calling Louisville home by 1784. That same year, Mozart became a Freemason in Austria, personally adapting ideals that not only influenced the American Founding Fathers, but would later embed themselves in his acclaimed opera, The Magic Flute. When The Magic Flute premiered a few years later in 1792, Italian opera legend Gioacchino Rossini was born in Italy, and back in Kentucky, William and Lucy Clark Croghan were building their home, Locust Grove. The Croghan family sold the land to riverboat captain James Paul in 1878, when productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S Pinafore premiered in the states, inspiring great interest in light opera throughout the country. When the site was purchased by Jefferson County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky and subsequently restored and opened to the public in 1964, Kentucky Opera was producing Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte and Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Guests are encouraged to bring their own blankets and chairs for all concerts. Doors open at 6:00 pm; performance begins at 6:30 pm. Concessions will be available for sale. Tickets: $16/$14 for members.
Historic Locust Grove will hold the 23rd Annual Gardeners’ Fair Friday, May 11, Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13, 2018 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily. This hallmark event will feature over 40 vendors and demonstrators showcasing annuals, perennials, herbs, native plants, garden art, and garden tools.
The Gardeners’ Fair connects Locust Grove’s history as a farm with 21st century gardens, providing an opportunity for guests to learn more about caring for their own green spaces. Gardeners’ Fair celebrates sustainable gardening, green living, heirloom plants, organic gardening, and the good earth that creates beautiful outdoor environments. Vendors will be available to offer gardening tips and tricks for experienced green thumbs or those who are just starting their own gardens. Plants will be available for all garden and budget sizes. In addition to plants and flowers, demonstrators including a basket maker, fiber artist, and blacksmith will demonstrate historic trades that would have been part of daily life on an early 19th century farm like Locust Grove. The ever-popular alpacas will be returning, and they will be joined by a flock of sheep for a shearing and spinning demonstration. Area food trucks including Red’s Comfort Foods, Sweet ‘N Savory, Bellissimo and Chef on Wheels will rotate daily, and Monnik Beer Company will serve beer on Friday and Saturday. The Louisville Dulcimer Society and The Big Four will provide music throughout the fair. In an effort to be more sustainable, guests are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles to fill at water stations provided by the Louisville Water Company. Inside the visitors’ center, guests will have the opportunity to bid on items in the Silent Auction. All proceeds benefit the educational programs at Locust Grove.
The 23rd Annual Gardeners’ Fair and Silent Auction will be held Friday, May 11 through Sunday, May 13, 2018 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-12, free for children under 6. For more information on the Gardeners’ Fair and a complete list of vendors, visit www.locustgrove.org/gardeners-fair.
Locust Grove is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane (between Brownsboro Road and River Road), Louisville, KY 40207. For more information call (502) 897-9845 or visit www.locustgrove.org.
For more information about these events, please contact Hannah Zimmerman, Marketing and Communications Director at marketing@locustgrove.org or call (502) 897-9845 ext. 108.
Historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty will be in residence at Locust Grove May 22 through May 25, 2018 for Africa In Our Kitchens, a series of workshops, presentations, and tastings. Michael Twitty is a dedicated researcher who is committed to preserving and promoting African-American foodways and culture, and linking this influence on Southern food heritage. His research brings an understanding of the cultural heritage of enslaved communities and its relationship to the American South. His book, The Cooking Gene, was released by HarperCollins in 2017.
Twitty’s week-long residency at Locust Grove will explore the influence that African culture had on what has become American food through the enslaved African American experience. “Kentucky has an impressive and important role in the history and heritage of Southern and African American foodways and I hope my visit amplifies that story,” says Twitty of his visit.
Twitty’s residency will involve three formal public events, and focus on the enslaved community at Locust Grove. According to Brian Cushing, Locust Grove’s Program Director, “Michael Twitty’s visit is one of the best opportunities we have had yet to bring the experiences of the enslaved African Americans who worked the Locust Grove farm two centuries ago to life for our visitors. At any given time between 1792-1856, they comprised the majority population on the property that is now our museum and through exploring the food that they brought with them and created here, we are hoping that visitors come closer to understanding them as real, individual human beings.”
On Tuesday, May 22 at 6:00 pm, Twitty will offer a hearth meal tasting, allowing guests to taste traditional recipes cooked in Locust Grove’s hearth kitchen while hearing how the lived experiences of enslaved African Americans inform our national story and taste buds. Tickets are $18, or $15 for Locust Grove members.
On Thursday, May 24 at 6:00 pm, the public is invited to an open-air barbecue sampler that recreates the practices of enslaved African Americans living in early America. During the day, Twitty will roast a whole sheep over an open pit and prepare other 18th and 19th century recipes for sampling by evening guests. Tickets are $23, or $20 for Locust Grove members.
On both Tuesday, May 22 and Thursday, May 24, the Locust Grove hearth kitchen and grounds will be open for “Cooking Days with Michael Twitty.” Guests are welcome to stop by the hearth kitchen to view preparations, ask questions about recipes and techniques, and gain insight into how daily meals were prepared in the 18th and 19th centuries. Admission to the grounds for Cooking Days will be free. On Thursday, much of the preparations will take place on the grounds as Twitty roasts a whole sheep over an open pit.
Finally, on Friday, May 25 at 6:30 pm, Michael Twitty will present “Africa In Our Kitchens: How Enslaved African American Cooks Shaped American Cuisine.” This lecture will discuss Twitty’s research into the foodways of the enslaved and how their culture and experience shaped the American palate. Tickets for this presentation at $12, or $10 for Locust Grove members.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Michael Twitty at Locust Grove will take place May 22-25, 2018 at Historic Locust Grove. Tickets for all events will be on sale starting April 21 and may be purchased by calling Locust Grove at 502-897-9845.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Hearth Meal Tasting
Tuesday, May 22, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Learn about 18th and 19th-century hearth cooking practices and the African influence on American cooking through enslaved cooks with historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty. During this tasting event, guests will taste traditional recipes cooked by Michael Twitty in Locust Grove’s hearth kitchen and hear how the lived experiences of enslaved African Americans inform our national story and national taste buds, as African culture and food practices became associated with American cooking. Tickets: $18/$15 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
Cooking Tuesday with Michael Twitty
Tuesday, May 22, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Free admission to grounds and hearth kitchen to view preparations for the evening event.
Africa In Our Kitchens: Open Air Barbecue Sampler
Thursday, May 24, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Experience an 18th century barbecue that recreates the practices of enslaved African Americans living in early America as Michael Twitty roasts a whole sheep over an open pit. The foodways of the enslaved have had a profound influence on the flavors that persist in American recipes, intrinsically linking African culture with our present understanding of traditional food. Michael Twitty’s food will give you a taste of the past while offering an understanding of the unique stories and experiences of enslaved African Americans. Tickets: $23/$20 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
Cooking Thursday with Michael Twitty
Thursday, May 24, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Free admission to grounds and hearth kitchen to view preparations for the evening event.
Africa In Our Kitchens: How Enslaved African American Cooks Shaped American Cuisine
Friday, May 25 6:30pm – 8:00pm
In this presentation, historical interpreter and culinary historian Michael Twitty will discuss his research into the foodways of the enslaved and how their culture and experience shaped the American palate. Tickets: $12/$10 for Locust Grove members. Tickets on sale April 21, 2018; call (502) 897-9845.
The Croghan and Clark families and their friends welcome guests from near and far to Locust Grove for a special one-day only celebration of Christmastide, 1816.
On Saturday, December 2, from 12pm to 7pm, Locust Grove will come alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of the season as Locust Grove’s corps of First Person Interpreters bring to life the residents of the historic house, as well as their friends and neighbors.
Visitors will have the opportunity to converse with the Croghans about the news of the day—the recent election of James Monroe as the fifth president, the admission of Indiana to the union as the nineteenth state—and learn about life in the 19th century. Guests can join in the dancing and period games, and will have the opportunity to stop in the hearth kitchen to watch meal preparations for the festive occasion.
“Christmastide is a great opportunity to experience Locust Grove as it was alive with friends and family celebrating the season and being together,” says Program Director Brian Cushing. “The craftspeople we have pulled in to show you how the world around them worked in those days really rounds out the experience!”
The Holiday Crafts Market in the Visitors’ Center will feature vendors selling period wares, including soap, leather goods, textiles, stoneware, wax portraits and more 19th century gifts for a 21st century life. A penman will also be on hand to demonstrate18th and 19th century letter-writing techniques as guests enjoy live music, shop in the museum store, and find gift-quality books for a special holiday edition of Locust Grove’s Used Book Sale. Children will have the opportunity to make period holiday cards and orange and clove pomanders.
Christmastide, 1816 will take place on Saturday, December 2 from 12 pm – 7pm. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children, and free for children 6 and under.
Locust Grove is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane (between Brownsboro Road and River Road), Louisville, KY 40207. For more information about these events, please contact Hannah Zimmerman, Marketing Coordinator at marketing@locustgrove.org or call 502.897.9845 x108.
End of Summer events bring books and music to Locust Grove
Find great reads and enjoy great music this August!
The Summer Used Book Sale
Members-Only Preview: Thursday, August 17,
5:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Open to the Public
Friday, August 18, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday,
August 19 & 20, 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM
All the nooks and crannies of Locust Grove’s Audubon room will be filled with more than 23,000 books — all waiting for you at our Big August Used Book Sale. The books are sorted into 30-some categories, including history, mysteries, art, architecture, literature, cookbooks, humor, and more, and are displayed for easy shopping. Books, donated by readers from across the region, are $1 and $2 — with special titles $3 and up. All books are great bargains! All proceeds from our book sales support Locust Grove’s continued educational and preservation projects.
Watershed Music Festival at Locust Grove
Saturday, August 26, 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Barn Dance 8:00 PM with music by The Kentucky Roundups
This all-day festival sponsored by local non-profit organization Luminary will feature nine bands playing traditional Kentucky music — covering those unique genres that define Kentucky’s rich musical heritage while promoting advocacy that addresses Kentucky’s 21st-century challenges.
Line-up, ticket information, and more can be found at http://www.watershedfestky.com/.
Pre-registration Admission Prices:
- Festival Day Pass $18.00 ($20 at gate)
- Festival Barn Dance Pass $10.00 ($12 at gate)
- Festival Day Pass + Barn Dance $25.00 ($30 at gate)
- Weekend Pass (includes camping) $50.00 ($60 at gate)
Event will be canceled in case of inclement weather. Camping available August 25-August 27, with a special Friday evening concert by The Local Honeys.
Summer Thursday Concert Series: Lance Minnis & Friends
Thursday, August 31,
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
$5/$4 for Locust Grove members
For our final concert of the season, Lance Minnis and Friends will perform a variety of tunes and songs from Kentucky, Appalachia, the Maritime Provinces, and the British Isles. Expect rousing chanteys, wistful lullabies, magical ballads, and fiddle tunes to make your heart race. Enjoy music and camaraderie outdoors in a tranquil, historic setting. Food, beer, and wine will be available for sale beginning at 6 PM. Bring your own blankets and chairs — and let the music speak.
For more information about these events, please contact Hannah Zimmerman, Marketing Coordinator at marketing@locustgrove.org or call 502.897.9845 x108.
Locust Grove is located at 561 Blankenbaker Lane (between Brownsboro Road and River Road), Louisville, KY 40207. For more information call 502.897.9845 or visit http://locustgrove.org/.
In a united effort to promote history and tourism in Jefferson County and beyond, eight National Historic Landmarks representing the most historically significant sites in the area have united to form a new organization, National Historic Landmarks of Louisville.
The group includes Actors Theatre, Belle of Louisville, Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires, Life-Saving Station #10, Locust Grove, Louisville Water Company Pumping Station No.1 and Water Tower, the U.S. Marine Hospital and Zachary Taylor’s Boyhood Home.
“There’s only one Louisville, and Churchill Downs’ Twin Spires, the Water Tower, Actors Theatre and the other national landmarks are synonymous with who we are as a city,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “I’m excited that National Historic Landmarks of Louisville will be promoting these places of culture and history. I encourage every citizen to learn more about the landmarks of Louisville, because their history is our history.”
National Historic Landmarks of Louisville is launching a new program to encourage people to visit six of the eight sites that are currently open to the public. (The U.S. Marine Hospital is closed to the public. Zachary Taylor’s Boyhood Home is a private residence).
“The eight National Historic Landmarks of Louisville will connect you to our nation’s vibrant past in a way that cannot be experienced through images, film or the pages of a book,” says Anna Gibson Holloway, PhD, Maritime Historian, with the Park History Program, National Park Service. “Local preservation efforts are key to keeping these Landmarks accessible to current and future generations of Louisville citizens and to those visitors from around the world who come to experience Louisville’s hospitality and heritage.”
Guests can get a special pass validated at each of the public National Historic Landmark sites when they visit, and then bring the pass to the Louisville Visitor Center at 301 S. Fourth St. to receive a gift. The passes are available at any of the landmarks and the Louisville Visitor Center.
Visitors are encouraged to use the hashtag #LandmarkLover to share their experiences via social media.