My Old Kentucky Home (Federal Hill)

This stately 1818 mansion inspired Stephen Foster's beloved song "My Old Kentucky Home" - now the official state song. Built by Judge John Rowan, the house witnessed tremendous tragedy including the deaths of eight family members and eight enslaved people from cholera in a single 24-hour period.

Federal Hill, better known as "My Old Kentucky Home," stands as both a beloved Kentucky landmark and a place forever haunted by tragedy. This grand estate in Bardstown inspired Stephen Foster's famous 1853 song, but its history holds far darker chapters than any ballad could capture—including a devastating cholera epidemic that claimed sixteen lives in a single day.

Judge John Rowan and his wife Anne settled on this land in 1795, and the magnificent Federal Hill mansion was completed in 1818. Named in honor of the Federalist political party, the 1,300-acre plantation would host distinguished visitors including President Andrew Jackson and the Marquis de Lafayette. But the elegant halls that welcomed such luminaries would soon become a house of death.

In 1833, cholera swept through Bardstown with devastating fury. At Federal Hill, the epidemic struck with particular cruelty. Within just 36 hours, sixteen people died—eight family members and eight enslaved workers. Among the dead were three of Judge Rowan's own children: William, Atkinson, and Mary Jane. The spouses of William and Mary Jane perished as well, along with Mary Jane's young daughter, and Rowan's sister Elizabeth and her husband. All had attended a party where water was served from a contaminated well. Bishop Joseph Flaget and a group of nuns rushed to Federal Hill, and their aid likely saved the life of Rowan's orphaned granddaughter, Eliza Rowan Harney.

The dining room where cholera victims suffered and died has never recovered its peace. Visitors and staff report seeing dark shadows moving through this space, perhaps the restless spirits of those who perished in agony. An apparition has been witnessed ascending the staircase to the second floor, climbing steps they will never complete.

The tragic deaths continued beyond the epidemic. In 1843, John Rowan Jr. took over the estate after his father's death. He lived there until 1855, when he met his own sudden end. While leaning out an upstairs window watching his young daughter play in the gardens below, he lost his balance and fell to his death.

Today, visitors to My Old Kentucky Home State Park report a woman in Victorian clothing gazing out from that same upstairs window—perhaps watching over children long since passed. Disembodied laughter of children echoes through their former rooms, the ghostly play of little ones who died before their time. Footsteps with no visible source walk the hallways. Orbs appear in photographs taken throughout the home.

Even Judge John Rowan himself may haunt the property. According to his wishes, his grave was to remain unmarked. His family, however, placed a marker over his resting place in the Rowan Family Cemetery nearby. Legend holds that this marker frequently tumbles from its base—as if the Judge himself pushes it away, enforcing his final wishes from beyond the grave.

The "Shadows of Federal Hill" ghost tours, held each October, allow visitors to meet the spirits of the mansion's past. Guides dressed as ghosts of former inhabitants lead guests through the home, singing songs as they share stories of hard times, death, and demise. But many visitors don't need a theatrical tour to encounter the supernatural here—Federal Hill's ghosts make themselves known regardless of the season.