Kentucky History Drive

History is all around us.

Pioneers, Native nations, long hunters, soldiers and distillers. Explore the stories that made Kentucky, on a living map you can travel through time.

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Northern Kentucky: Ice Age to the Roebling Bridge

From the Ice Age salt springs at Big Bone Lick through Boone County's seat and a Dinsmore farm to the 1862 defenses of Cincinnati and Roebling's bridge.

Stops

  1. 1. Big Bone Lick State Historic Site

    PublicLimited hoursFossils sent to Jefferson 1807. State historic site; museum hours vary.

    Ice Age mammoths, mastodons, bison and other animals came to the salt springs here; in 1807 Thomas Jefferson asked George Rogers Clark to have bones collected at the lick shipped east. Sources: Grokipedia: Big Bone Lick State Park

    No story yet for this stop.

  2. 2. Burlington courthouse square

    PublicCounty seat 1799. Public town square.

    Burlington became the seat of Boone County in 1799. Sources: Wikipedia: Burlington, Kentucky

    12.8 mi, about 28 min from stop 1
    No story yet for this stop.

  3. 3. Dinsmore Homestead

    PublicPaid admissionLimited hoursHouse 1842. Historic house; tours seasonal, admission charged.

    The Dinsmore family settled here in 1842 and, with the help of slave labor, raised sheep and grew grapes and willows for a basket business run by German immigrants; the house keeps its original furnishings. Sources: Wikipedia: Dinsmore Homestead

    6.7 mi, about 14 min from stop 2
    No story yet for this stop.

  4. 4. Battery Hooper Park (Fort Wright)

    PublicBuilt 1862. City park at 1402 Highland Pike; open daily.

    Hooper Battery was a hilltop artillery earthwork built in 1862, one of the Union defenses of Cincinnati raised in Northern Kentucky when Confederate forces advanced toward the city. The restored battery is now the centerpiece of a city park. Sources: City of Fort Wright: Battery Hooper Park history; Wikipedia: Hooper Battery

    19 mi, about 32 min from stop 3
    No story yet for this stop.

  5. 5. John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge

    PublicOpened 1866. Open to traffic and pedestrians.

    John A. Roebling's bridge between Covington and Cincinnati; the last cable wire crossed on June 23, 1866. Its main span was briefly the world's longest, before his Brooklyn Bridge. Sources: Grokipedia: John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge

    3.5 mi, about 11 min from stop 4
    Covington at the Point →

Directions cover the public stops only. Access, fees and hours are general; verify before visiting. Context: Older Native American sites around Big Bone Lick are protected; they are context only. The Behringer-Crawford Museum in Devou Park is a possible add-on (its website could not be checked).

Route map