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In 1775, after crossing the Kentucky river along with his followers, Daniel Boone founded Boonesborough, Kentucky. 

As the weekend of June 7th – 8th showed, his legacy and the place he founded are still remembered. 

A 250th anniversary celebration of the settling of Kentucky took place at modern-day Fort Boonesborough State Park, located at 4375 Boonesboro Road in Richmond. 

“Out of the wilderness, grit, and sheer determination, they laid the foundation not only for the community, but for the Commonwealth. Fort Boonesborough was more than a place of defense. It became a symbol of resilience, unity, and boundless potential of the American frontier,” said Nancy Turner, Deputy State Tourism Commissioner. “We gather not only to commemorate those…families and their legacy, but also to celebrate all that has grown from this soil.” 

While the event was in nearby Madison County, Turner – former Executive Director of the Winchester-Clark County Tourism Commission – was far from the only person with Winchester connections attending the event. 

Local magistrate Robert Blanton, historian Harry Enoch, Winchester Art Guild treasurer Elizabeth Chalfant, Bluegrass Heritage Museum Director Sandy Stults, and others were present. 

“We’ve done a lot of programs together,” said Stults. “When I was teaching, I was bringing my students down to Fort Boonesborough, so I’ve been working with Fort Boonesborough and the [Fort Boonesborough] Foundation for a long time.” 

The event officially got underway on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. 

Following an introduction by Barbara Disney – a member of the Board of Directors for the Fort Boonesborough Foundation that’s led by Kristi Heasley – a presentation of flags by Sons of the American Revolution took place followed by the playing of “Taps”, reciting the pledge of allegiance, singing of the national anthem, and more. 

Christy Combs, a Regional Administrator with the Kentucky Department of Parks, spoke. 

“We want to thank the Fort Boonesborough Foundation. They have been a vital partner with this park for over twenty years,” she said, also wishing to thank longtime employee and park manager Jack Winburn. “His relationship is one of the reasons why these events are so successful.” 

Over the next two days, a number of opportunities for visitors of the celebration occurred. 

These included a chance to meet with a local archaeologist at the original fort site to learn what her research found, multiple church services based on how they were held in the fort’s founding days, re-enactors portraying legislative sessions accurate to the 1700s, and more. 

Randell Jones, author and Boone scholar, spoke multiple times about the legacy of Daniel Boone. 

“He was humble, and there were other people doing [some of] what he was doing, but there wasn’t anybody doing all of the things that he did,” said Jones, who noted that Boone was at one time a prisoner of war during the American Revolution. “He had a remarkably adventurous life…he outlived several of his children…he’s interesting as a human being and as an adventurer and explorer.” 

A full list of what took place can be found at the following link:  https://www.fortboonesboroughlivinghistory.org/250.html. 

Several tents were set up for others to explore different organizations dedicated to Fort Boonesborough and Daniel Boone. 

Among them were the Boone Society, DanielBooneTrail.org, Madison County Historical Society, Society of Boonesborough, and more. 

Shawn C. Roberts, author of both “Out of the Mist to Kings Mountain” and “Redskins & Lobsterbacks: A Remembrance of the American Revolution”, was present. 

“The main characters are two of my ancestors, and how I know so much about their lives was [that] in 1832, the federal government gave out pensions for being [in] the war…[documents] still exist,” he said. “I’ve always been a history buff, and a lot of history buffs get into genealogy…the time period is long gone, and their story was just so unique to what we have today.” 

Kathy Cummings, owner of Pioneer Times, showcased several photographs and drawings. 

“These are all things in the public domain that I framed for information, or photographs that my late husband and I took over the years,” she said. “There’s everything here. We really lucked out.” 

Certainly not least, along with Roberts, a number of re-enactors were dressed in garb common to the American frontier days while showing visitors how several tasks were undertaken. 

Such tasks included blacksmithing 18th century tools and weapons, making shoes, cooking, and more. 

Debbie Jenkins, an Ohio native who has frequently come to Fort Boonesborough to teach, showed others fiber arts – particularly weaving, which features the two basic components of warp and weft to transform thread and yarn into textile fabrics. 

“Warp..goes right and left, because over and under is called weft…on most things, you have to see both the warp threads and the weft to get the patterns,” she said. “We’ve got several third generation people here.” 

With plenty of food and drink vendors present at the event as well – such as Cookies and Cream and Momma T’s Cast Iron Cooking – there was ample opportunity for others to be fed as they visited. 

Cummings noted that – as was hoped – the event allowed plenty to explore history. 

“Everybody has shown up,” she said. “Everybody has really embraced the 250 [year anniversary].”