Lebanon - Feel The Beat
www.VisitLebanonKy.com
239 N. Spalding Ave., Lebanon, KY 40033-1518
270-692-0021 | VisitLebanonKy@windstream.net
Lebanon is the geographic center of the state and the true Heart of Kentucky. It’s also the home of Maker’s Mark Distillery and Kentucky Cooperage. Come watch bourbon flow and barrels grow.
Maker’s Mark Distillery is just outside downtown Lebanon, right in the Heart of Bourbon Country. It’s the only operating distillery in America to be designated a National Historic Landmark and it’s the oldest operating distillery in the world on its original site. Tours are available every hour on the half-hour from 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Mon-Sat. Tours are offered at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. each Sun.
Independent Stave Company’s Kentucky Cooperage in historic downtown Lebanon makes the charred oak barrels critical for the production of bourbon. Come see how “charring” is done, how staves are shaped, how hoops are put in place, and how barrels are made leak proof without manmade sealers. It’s educational but also exciting to watch the action. Free tours are given daily, Mon.-Fri. 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Historic Penn’s Store has been designated a Kentucky Historical Landmark. Opened in 1845, this is the oldest country store in America continuously operated by the same family. It remains intact structurally and offers a step back in time as you enter. The store has remained in the Penn family since 1850. It stands today much as it has throughout its past 150 plus years. Penn’s Store is not a restored landmark. It’s an authentic landmark.
The Union dead from the Battle of Perryville were the first to be buried at the Lebanon National Cemetery. The U.S. government obtained the land for the cemetery in 1862, but did not designate it as a national cemetery until 1867. The original interments were the remains of Union soldiers from Lebanon and surrounding areas. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Marion County Country Ham Days is one of the oldest and most successful festivals in Kentucky. Started in 1969 with six hams and a handful of visitors, it now takes more than 6,000 pounds of ham to serve thousands who travel to Lebanon the last full weekend in September. Enjoy breakfast, a PIGasus Parade, contests, a street dance, live entertainment, a carnival, a car show, a marketplace, a 5K run and more.
Lebanon was one of only two cities that felt the wrath of Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his Morgan’s Raiders during all three of their Civil War raids into Kentucky. Follow their exploits on the “Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan in Lebanon, Ky.” self-guided walking/driving tour through five blocks of the historic downtown district. There are wayside exhibits and statues scattered along the route.
