Tour The Haunted My Old Kentucky Home, Then Dine With Ghosts At The Old Talbott Tavern In Kentucky
By Sarah McCosham|Published May 10, 2022
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Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
Bardstown might indeed be one of the most charming small towns in Kentucky, but it’s also one of the most notoriously haunted. From historic sites and restaurants to eerie cemeteries and inns, it seems that ghosts adore this beautiful Bluegrass town, too! For the ultimate haunted tour of Bardstown, we recommend the following tour and dinner; and if that doesn’t have you spooked, you can even extend your dinner into an overnight stay at one of the state’s most notoriously haunted inns!
Bardstown is an immensely beautiful town that's known for so many different things: friendliness, walkability, charm, bourbon, and history -- lots and lots of history.
My Old Kentucky Home is perhaps the most iconic spot in town -- and the state. Originally built in 1818 by Judge John Rowan, the spectacular Bluegrass mansion was the unfortunate location of several tragic events throughout the late 1800s.
Among those events were the deaths of eight family members and eight slaves all within a 24-hour period due to cholera, and the accidental death of the judge’s son, who fell out of his bedroom window.
In the nearly 150 years since the tragedies that happened at My Old Kentucky Home, ghost sightings and stories have given the historic home a different kind of legacy. Many visitors claim to have seen ghosts wandering the grounds.
Once you've toured Kentucky's most famous haunted house, break for supper at the state's oldest and most haunted restaurant: the Old Talbott Tavern. Since the late 1700s, the Old Talbott Tavern has provided shelter, sustenance, and spirits to the good folks of Bardstown, Kentucky.
When you stop in to have some fried chicken and a bourbon at the tavern, you'll be in good company... ghostly company, that is. Some of the tavern’s most famous patrons include Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, John Fitch, and Jesse James – who left his mark on the tavern by shooting at an upstairs mural. You can still see the bullet holes today!
But it's not uncommon for diners to hear silverware clattering in the dining room, with glasses and cutlery moving on their own. Guests who check into the inn have also claimed to hear the piano playing on its own in the middle of the night.
