Frazier Museum’s “120: Cool KY Counties” exhibit
120: Cool KY Counties is a new exhibit housed in the Cool Kentucky exhibition on the first floor of the museum. It consists of two touch screen maps of Kentucky: when you touch a county, you’re shown content—an interesting text story, a video, and a song by a local artist—from that county. The content will continue to be expanded.
“The 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit is collecting hundreds of stories from across the Commonwealth—including histories, legends, and oral traditions curated at the local level,” senior director of engagement Casey Harden said.
Stories featured in the exhibit span a range of subjects, including the birthplace of Dollar General (Allen County), the first iron ore furnace west of the Alleghanies (Bath County), the only US city built inside a meteorite crate (Bell County), the 2023 Softball Pitcher of the Year (Carter County), the world’s largest apple pie (Casey County), a famed NASCAR mechanic (Edmonson County), the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872 (Hardin County), a Hungarian mining co-op (Martin County), a Top Chef contestant (McCracken County), the town of Whoopflarea (Owsley County), the lost town of Creelsboro (Russell County), and Kentucky’s first woman State Bacteriologist (Warren County).
The exhibit was made possible by support from the James Graham Brown Foundation and Team Kentucky.
“With generous support from the James Graham Brown Foundation and Team Kentucky, we look forward to celebrating and empowering communities via opportunities for cross-promotion and tourism—especially those who often go overlooked in small, rural counties,” president and CEO Andy Treinen said. “By sharing these “hidden stories,” we want to promote exploration, cultivate respect, and bridge urban and rural divides on the basis of Kentucky’s extraordinary history and heritage.”
The exhibit also includes cases in which a handful of real objects from different counties will be displayed on rotation. When the exhibit opens Friday, the case will feature a wool coat (Adair County), a Mammoth Cave Hotel image (Barren County), minerals (Crittenden County), a Lincoln image (Fayette County), a WPA model (Henderson County), a miners image (Letcher County), a dress (Marion County), a tobacco artifact (Nicholas County), and woodcarvings (Wolfe County).
The Frazier is also announcing a new membership campaign. The five counties who get the most Frazier Weekly subscribers (per capita) win free membership for everyone in that county! Frazier Weekly is the Frazier’s free Monday morning newsletter that goes out to 35,000 subscribers. “Moving forward, we’ll be sharing content from the 120 exhibit in Frazier Weekly,” communications and research specialist Simon Meiners said. “So we know the content will appeal to residents in all 120 counties.” The Frazier is encouraging its members, readers, visitors, and partners to spread the word about this campaign. The campaign will end June 1, Kentucky’s birthday. The winners will be announced in Frazier Weekly.
120: Cool KY Counties Exhibit Opening
- Friday, March 15, 1–5 p.m.
- Frazier History Museum
- General Admission: $14
