Bardstown
Old Talbott Tavern
A 1779 stone tavern on Bardstown's Court Square, once the western end of the stagecoach road from Pennsylvania and Virginia, with a bourbon bar.
- Built
- 1779The tavern says it was built in 1779 (NRHP significant year 1779). The stone eastern end came first; a brick western wing and a connecting wing were added in the early 1800s, and a final addition in the 1960s. An electrical fire on March 7, 1998 badly damaged the upstairs; it reopened in November 1999.
- Style
- Flemish-bond stone (late 18th century)
- Type
- Inn
- Rooms
- 6
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
The tavern has been called the oldest western stagecoach stop in America and was the western end of the stagecoach road from Pennsylvania and Virginia in the late 18th century. Guests named by the tavern include Andrew Jackson, George Rogers Clark, who used it as a base, and a five-year-old Abraham Lincoln with his parents during a land dispute. Murals uncovered in 1927 are said to have been painted by Louis Philippe’s party in 1797, and bullet holes in them are attributed by legend to Jesse James. NAACP co-founder Alexander Walters was born in the brick wing.
The ghost story
Staff and guests report a man in a long coat they call Jesse James, who is said to vanish with a laugh at the top of the stairs, and a 'lady in white' in a long 1800s dress. Other reported activity includes orbs of light in the rooms, moving forks and glasses in the dining room and a piano that plays by itself.
Source: talbotttavern.com
Good to know
- No pets
- Address: 107 W Stephen Foster Ave, Bardstown, KY 40004
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.