Frankfort

Capital of Kentucky, located in the north-central part of the state, on the Kentucky River, 72 km/45 mi east of Louisville; seat of Franklin County; population (2001 est) 28,000. Industries include the manufacture of bourbon, electronic equipment, air brakes, furniture, footwear, and automobile parts. Frankfort became state capital in 1792 and was incorporated in 1839.

Frankfort was founded in 1786 and was named after Frank's Ford on the Kentucky River, where the frontiersman Stephen Frank was killed by American Indians.

Features include the Old State Capitol, which was built to a Greek Revival design and was used from 1831 to 1910. It is now a history museum. The New State Capitol was built to a Beaux Arts design and opened in 1910. The lieutenant governor's mansion (1798) is the oldest executive residence in the USA still in use. Other historic buildings are the Liberty Hall Historic Site of 1796, Kentucky Military History Museum in the State Arsenal (1850), and the Ziegler-Brackman House, designed in 1910 by US architect Frank Lloyd Wright. US pioneer Daniel Boone is buried in Frankfort Cemetery. The city is the seat of Kentucky State University (1886).