Southern Charm
A guide to nature, history, dining, festivals, culture, shopping, and more.
The Road to Henderson, Kentucky
There are plenty of reasons to explore
Evansville’s Southern neighbor
Henderson, Kentucky, basks in a rich personality all its own. Since the 18th century, the seat of Henderson County has made its mark as a destination for quality food, music, and the Great Outdoors. Just this year, the city earned accolades as one of Southern Living magazine’s “Top 20 Friendliest Towns in the South.”
Get a taste of locally sourced food and some of Kentucky’s best barbecue while savoring a variety of flavors from Southern fare to Mexican and Asian cuisine. Partake in regional staples like bourbon and whiskey, and don’t miss locally brewed craft beer and coffee.
Be entertained by the many renowned annual music events –– the long-running is one of the largest free music festivals in the nation –– celebrating rock, bluegrass, blues, jazz, and country. Regional musicians take center stage each June along picturesque Main Street during Henderson’s annual PorchFest.
Mar vel at Western Kentucky’s rugged nature by hiking or birdwatching at John James Audubon State Park and learn more about its namesake naturalist. Stroll along the Ohio Riverfront and visit one of five parks along its shores, plus many more throughout the city. Find charm in Downtown Henderson’s locally owned small businesses and along its historic streets and neighborhoods. W hatever your tastes, there’s an opportunity to find something new in Henderson. Have fun exploring!
HENDERSON RIVERFRONT
Established in 1902, Hercules Manufacturing Company builds custom truck bodies, tailored to our customer’s needs. We specialize in both refrigerated and dry freight truck bodies. Our team is always focusing on our mission to foster an environment of continual success through the greatest asset we have: our people.
HEAR FROM OUR EMPLOYEES
Hercules provides both my husband and I with career opportunities we never thought possible. Hercules embraces the values of safety, learning, and a commitment to the community.”
– Shelby S.
I’ve been at Hercules for almost 17 years. I like working here because it’s a fast-paced working environment and the company thanks you for your hard work in many different ways. It’s a great place to work and take care of your family. I want to thank Hercules for letting me have a good job to take care of my family all these years.”
-Frankie O.
I enjoy working for Hercules because of the family-oriented environment and how all of my superiors have been open minded and helpful with my personal barriers. Hercules has been good to me and I’m grateful for my position.”
– Jayden M.
Historic Henderson
Today’s city grew from a dream of establishing a 14th American colony
BY CHUCK STINNETT
Henderson is the result of a dream. It’s just not exactly what the dreamers had in mind.
W hat a North Carolina judge and land speculator known as Col. Richard Henderson and his investors envisioned in 1774 was buying a vast tract of forested frontier covering much of what is now Kentucky and a portion of Tennessee from Cherokee tribes, then having it declared the 14th American colony, to be called Transylvania (Latin for “across the forest”).
The goal: Become rich selling land in the new colony to settlers.
The Transylvania Company hired a frontiersman to guide settlers through a pass in the Appalachian Mountains called Cumberland Gap, then blaze a trail into Central Kentucky that became known as the Wilderness Road and build a fort. Such deeds helped make an American folk hero of that frontiersman, Daniel Boone.
Alas, the Transylvanians’ hopes were short-lived. The Commonwealth of Virginia declared western lands across the mountains to be its own Kentucky County. Virginia urged the Continental Congress to decline the declaration of a 14th colony and went on to nullify the purchase from the Cherokees.
But the Virginia General Assembly in 1778 made a key concession. In its “special grant of land” approved in October 1778, it acknowledged that “Richard Henderson,
and company, have been at very great expense in making a purchase of the Cherokee Indians,” and though declaring that purchase void, it said Virginia “is likely to receive great advantage there from, by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a barrier against the Indians.”
So, it granted Richard Henderson and Company 200,000 acres where the Green River met the Ohio River – a splendid location because of its access to river transportation, though still hundreds of miles into the wilderness from the “civilized” East.
Because of that remoteness and the presence of hostile Indians and river pirates, it would be nearly two decades before a town – Henderson – would be laid out.
DID YOU KNOW?
>> Richard Henderson never set foot in the city or county that bears his name. He never traveled farther west than Central Kentucky and died 12 years before the town of Henderson was laid out.
>> The city of Henderson had a railroad bridge across the Ohio River (the Louisville & Nashville Railroad’s original bridge completed in 1885) nearly a half-century before it had a highway bridge across the river (the
But when Re volutionary War Col. Samuel Hopkins was sent to do so in 1797, he chose the highest ground around, at a site known as Red Banks.
It would prove a fortuitous choice. While all the major cities along the Ohio River were submerged beneath cold, muddy waters during the Flood of 1937, Henderson remained dry, leading to a phrase: “Henderson, on the Ohio, but never in it.”
That bec ame a marketing tool that helped lead to the recruitment of new industries and the development of a modern economy for Henderson and Henderson County, helping establish Henderson as one of the most prosperous communities in the state.
RICHARD HENDERSON
Audubon Memorial Bridge opened in 1932 and is now the northbound U.S. 41 Twin Bridge). That first railroad bridge (later replaced) was designed by George Washington Ferris, who would go on to invent the Ferris Wheel.
>> Two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients – the late World World II U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Private First Class Luther Skaggs Jr. and retired Vietnam veteran U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Gary Littrell –hailed from Henderson.
Business & Industry
Ironclad Industry
From farms to factories to downtown boutiques, Henderson is open for business
BY CHUCK STINNETT
Henderson’s economic roots are definitely in the dirt – as in, agriculture.
But while farming remains important in Henderson County, its heavy industrial base is crucial to a diversified economy that ranges from medical services to Main Street shops.
Henderson found its footing and initial wealth during the 19th century by raising and processing tobacco.
Tobacco – especially dark air-cured tobacco used in snuff, chewing, cigar, and pipe blends – was raised on thousands of acres of land in Henderson County. For decades, tarp-covered farm wagons piled high with cured tobacco bound for auction warehouses jammed downtown streets in the late autumn.
By 1899, Henderson County farmers
had produced a staggering 15.4 million pounds of tobacco from 18,410 acres – the greatest amounts on record.
Fortunes were made here, especially among men who owned the warehouses where “leaf” was auctioned or at the factories called stemmeries where tobacco was processed and prepared for shipment aboard steamboats.
Local lore declared Henderson second only to Heidelberg, Germany, as the wealthiest per capita in the world – or, in a slight variation, as home to the world’s second-greatest concentration of millionaires per capita. It was an impossible claim to prove, but it was plausible enough to be claimed today.
The dark-tobacco market relied heavily on exports, and trade disputes and tariffs took a heavy toll in the early 20th century. By 1909, tobacco production in Henderson County had fallen by nearly one-third from a decade earlier. It plunged by more than half again by 1934. Today, the tradition of raising tobacco has essentially vanished.
But agriculture remains vital. Henderson County ranked first in Kentucky in soybean production in 2022 and second in corn output.
After holding tight to agriculture for generations, Henderson County began industrializing. That accelerated in the early 1970s with the recruitment of an aluminum smelter (today operated by Century Aluminum), a commercial truck wheel plant (today’s Accuride Corp.), and a commercial truck axle factory (now operated by Dana Corp.). Other major manufacturers include Audubon Metals, Hercules Manufacturing Co., and Gibbs Die Casting.
A chicken processing plant now operated by Tyson Foods and a Columbia Sportswear distribution center were prominent additions in later years, and locally owned Pittsburg Tank & Tower Group engineers, fabricates, builds, and maintains water storage tanks and communication towers across the country and overseas.
In 2021, Gov. Andy Beshear came to Henderson to make what he called the biggest economic development announcement in Western Kentucky in a quarter-century: the recruitment of Australia-based Pratt Paper, which has opened a 280-employee, $500 million, 1.15 million-square-foot
DOWNTOWN HENDERSON
CENTURY ALUMINUM SCOTT FARMS
complex that recycles used corrugated boxes into new boxes.
In all, more than one in four jobs in Henderson County today is in manufacturing, accounting for fully one-third of all wages paid in the county.
Meanwhile, Main Street is alive and well in Henderson, bursting with both legacy and new stores. Downtown offers boutique shopping at stores such as Beachbum Farms, J’Petals, Olive + Mae, Radiant Sun, Falcon Creek, Victoria’s, LandyLane, The Olive Leaf, and Elite Henderson, along with longtime retailers such as Alles Brothers Furniture, Simon’s Shoes, Wilkerson’s Shoes, and Campbell Jewelers. Deaconess Henderson Hospital remains a leading employer in Henderson, supplemented by numerous Deaconess-affiliated medical providers as well as Owensboro Health Henderson Healthplex. Owensboro-based RiverValley Behavioral Health also has a significant presence in Henderson County, offering the community services related to addiction, mental health, development, physical health, and more.
DID YOU KNOW?
>> Total wages paid in Henderson County exceeded $1 billion in 2023 for the first time ever.
>> Simon’s Shoes became regionally famed for stocking a wider variety of sizes than most shoe stores.
PHOTOS BY AUDRA STRAW
THE OLIVE LEAF
Find Your Inspiration
Henderson’s recreation options encourage exploration BY
DONNA B. STINNETT
D“ iscover Your Nature.” It’s what Henderson County’s community brand suggests. Although that can mean different things to different people, even in a literal sense, there’s plenty of nature to discover here.
CITY PARKS
Henderson has five parks along the Ohio River – Audubon Mill, Sunset, Red Banks, Atkinson, and Hays – stretching approximately 2.5 miles. There’s the RiverWalk, a paved, lighted walking path stretching between Riverview School and ending at a plaza near Park Field, home of the Henderson Flash collegiate wooden bat team of the Ohio Valley League.
Along the way, there are two boat ramps, two playgrounds, the riverfront water feature, an open field for playing pitch and catch or flying a kite, barbecue pits and picnic shelters, a disc golf course, and a sand volleyball court.
Audubon Mill regularly hosts outdoor music and other events. Newman Park on Sand Lane has
fields for softball and soccer and an accessible playground (as does downtown’s Central Park). The trailhead for the 3.1-mile Canoe Creek Nature Trail is in Newman Park. Dog parks are located in Community Park and Red Banks Park. East End Park has a spray park, and there’s a new sports complex for youth sports under construction to replace aging facilities. In all, the city maintains 26 public spaces.
PARKS IN THE COUNTY
Freedom Park, adjacent to the farmers market at the Henderson County Fairgrounds, has a playground and hosts summer reading programs.
Sandy Lee Watkins Park, in eastern Henderson County, has a playground, picnic shelters, a paved 3-mile walking trail, four fishing lakes (one with a boat ramp and kayak/canoe launch), and plans for future amenities.
Sloughs Wildlife Management Area is a mecca for hunters, birdwatchers, canoeists and kayakers. It includes wetlands, woodlands, ridges, open fields, and observation platforms to survey it all.
Green River National Wildlife Refuge is in development by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
HIKING AND MORE
Audubon State Park, which has overnight camping and six cabins, contains a 6-mile trail system with paths for beginners to advanced hikers. One of the easiest is the Audubon Wetlands Trail that takes you along a boardwalk over a slough and might give you a look at a bald eagle’s nest or a heron rookery. The most difficult is the Eagle Glen Pet Trail. The longest is the Back Country Trail (1.6 miles) that takes you by Wilderness Lake. The park has a nature center, educational programs, bird watching, picnic shelters, a fishing lake, seasonal pedal boat rental, and playgrounds.
BOATING ON THE OHIO RIVER
NEWMAN PARK
AUDUBON
AUDUBON STATE PARK
GAME ON
If pickleball is your sport, you can play inside at the Henderson County Family YMCA or outside at Community Park, the Bridges of Henderson Golf Course, and Audubon State Park.
If you prefer golf, Henderson offers The Bridges (18 holes), Henderson Country
Club (18 holes), Audubon State Park (nine holes), and Bent Creek (nine holes).
Horse racing takes place at the historic Ellis Park Race Course, which offers free admission into the grandstand for the summer live meet from July to August.
Bowling is available at the newly renovated retro Diamond Lanes Echo.
DID YOU KNOW?
>> There are markers in the road at the Second and Third street boat ramps noting the river levels during different historic floods.
>> Henderson Farmers Market is open three days a week (Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday) from the first Saturday of May through the last Saturday in October.
>> Three historic truss bridges in Sandy Lee Watkins Park on the walking trail were “rescued and repurposed” after roads in other communities were rerouted and new bridges built.
>> The Brain Injury Adventure Camp provides outdoor education and activities for all ages and abilities and activities including low-ropes and highropes courses, team building challenges, zip-lining, and more.
Bon Appetit!
The dining scene is booming in Downtown Henderson and beyond
BY CHUCK STINNETT
You don’t have to take longtime residents’ word for it when they say Henderson’s restaurant scene has never been brighter. All you must do is take note of all the cars parked on First, Second, Main, and Water streets most evenings.
One resident, borrowing a famous phrase from Yogi Berra, jokes, “Nobody goes to Downtown Henderson to eat anymore. It’s too crowded!”
In truth, the eight restaurants serving dinner in the central business district can seat hundreds of people.
And more than ever before, Henderson restaurants are collaborating, using one another’s ingredients for special dishes as well as incorporating locally grown produce. They sometimes even promote each other’s special events.
The cooperation between restaurants astonished Aaron Nelson, a partner in the new Cap & Cork restaurant Downtown.
For example, Cap & Cork uses cold brew coffee and coffee grounds from the Antler Specialty Goods coffee shop for its espresso martini cocktails.
“ We’re using Thomason’s (Barbecue) baked beans this week and use their barbecue sauce in our aioli,” Nelson’s wife, Heather, said in June.
And when their restaurant was having difficulties with its point-of-sale software system, Quinn Thomas from around the corner at Rookies Sports Bar & Restaurant hustled over to help.
“Every Downtown restaurant owner has been to our place to eat,” Aaron Nelson says, “and we eat at theirs, too.”
“I knew that Henderson was close-knit, and Downtown was close-knit,” he says. “I love the camaraderie.”
The anchor of Downtown dining is Rookies, renowned for specialties such as Arabian salad, flat iron steak, and Southern-style catfish filets. It’s been owned and operated by three generations of the Thomas family since 1991 and today occupies three adjacent buildings.
But in just the past several years, the evening dining options Downtown have, well, mushroomed with the openings of the seasonal On Deck Riverside Bar & Grill as well as Tacoholics, Rockhouse on the River, Hometown Roots, Homer’s Barbecue, Cap & Cork, and Olea Bar & Grill
All operate full-service bars, and some offer hometown craft beers from Henderson Brewing Co. Bourbon fans will particularly appreciate Hometown Roots and Cap & Cork, which each stock 200 or
more brands of whiskey and also prepare specialty cocktails.
Six Downtown eateries have outdoor dining options in good weather, and three periodically offer live music at night.
Of course, folks don’t just eat in the evening. At least six Downtown restaurants and sandwich shops serve lunch, and a couple are popular breakfast spots.
Coffee lovers gravitate to Roast Coffee Bar , Antler Specialty Goods, and Coffee + Cream.
Bar becue reigns in Henderson. Southern Living magazine in April 2024 ranked Thomason’s Barbecue as No. 2 on a list of the state’s “Best BBQ Joints.”
HOMETOWN ROOTS
CAP & CORK
THOMASON’S BARBECUE
Residential Life
Right At Home
Henderson residents enjoy the city’s varied neighborhoods – and national accolades BY
DONNA B. STINNETT
No doubt about it, Henderson is a friendly town.
W hen a riverboat tourist visited in 2021 and started meeting local folks, she immediately bought a house and moved here.
S he apparently wasn’t imagining things. A Southern Living magazine poll published in June 2024 named Henderson No. 19 on a list of “Top 20 Friendliest Towns in the South.” A separate list of superlatives titled “The South’s Best” published in the magazine’s April 2024 issue ranked Henderson No. 8 in its “Best Small Towns” in Kentucky.
A lot of the city’s charm comes through the large number of buildings accented with Evansville-rooted Mesker Steel architectural details and Victorian-era homes concentrated in and around the central business district.
Downtown is a mixture of professional offices, locally owned restaurants – there are now 10 concentrated near Second and Main streets at the primary downtown crossroads – and a vibrant collection of boutique shops.
A new events center called The Vault takes up residence in a renovated former bank building and hosts weddings, receptions, community banquets, and other events.
Downtown is the seat of both municipal and county government, as well as judicial proceedings. The Elks and Moose lodges are perched Downtown. There’s also an abundance of green spaces.
The Henderson Tourist Commission offers a self-guided walking tour allowing folks to stroll the historic streets and learn community history, including stories about ghosts that may still be loitering. (Find it at hendersonky.org.) Architectural
styles include Georgian, Queen Anne, Victorian, Châteauesque, Federalist, and Italianate.
On North Main Street is the home that stood in as the boarding house for the Rockford Peaches in the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna. It can be found at 612 N. Main. Downtown’s former Soaper Hotel also served as a filming location for the movie.
On the opposite side of Downtown at 232 S. Main stands the residence of an originator of Mother’s Day. While teaching at Center Street School in 1887, Mary Towles Sasseen Wilson organized a Mother’s Day celebration and in the early 1890s published a pamphlet used to promote the holiday as a national observance.
DID YOU KNOW?
>> Central Park is believed to be the oldest municipal park east of the Allegheny Mountains. A 27-foot-tall replica of the original 1892 fountain was installed in 2003.
>> Opened in 1904, Henderson County Public Library is the oldest public building in the city and has gone through three major renovations, including a 2020 expansion that added community meeting rooms overlooking the Ohio River. The library collection includes 10 original Audubon prints. In Classical style, the name engraved in the original building’s stone is “PVBLIC.”
>> Henderson’s other distinctive neighborhood – once called Audubon and now known as the East End, about a mile southeast of Downtown – currently is the focus of revitalization through a targeted project by city government and community partners.
Perhaps the oldest home in town, built around 1820 by Wyatt Ingram, is found at 124 S. Elm St. Ingram was a tobacco merchant who transported his goods to New Orleans, Louisiana, by flatboat, then walked home. Local lore says he made that circuit 13 times.
>> Jagoe Homes, a large Owensboro, Kentucky-based housing developer, announced plans to construct up to 300 single-family homes in a new $35 million, 86-acre housing community off U.S. 60-East. Jagoe intends to build the homes over the next seven to 10 years, with prices ranging from $200,000 to $400,000, averaging around $250,000. It is the largest residential development in decades and perhaps ever in Henderson.
NEWLY RENOVATED HENDERSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
CENTRAL PARK FOUNTAIN
THE HOME USED AS THE ROCKFORD PEACHES’ BOARDING HOUSE IN THE 1992 FILM “A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Henderson Advertiser Resource Guide
AUDUBON METALS
270-830-6622
Audubonmetals.com
BAKER FAMILY
CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS
270-212-0388
Bakerfamilychiroky.com
CABINETS BY DESIGN
270-826-2244
cabinetsbydesignky.com
CENTURY ALUMINUM
270-521-7812
Centuryaluminum.com
CITY OF HENDERSON
Office of the Mayor Municipal Center 222 First St. 270-831-1200
Hendersonky.gov
DRIVER LICENSING
REGIONAL OFFICE
374 Borax Dr. 270-854-2428
Drive.ky.gov
ERA FIRST ADVANTAGE REALTY/MELINDA LUNTSFORD
270-860-7740
Melinda.luntsford@erafirst.com
FIELD & MAIN BANK
888-831-1500
Fieldandmain.com
GIBBS
270-827-1801 Gibbsdc.com
HENDERSON AREA ARTS ALLIANCE
270-826-5916 haaa.org
HENDERSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
270-826-7505
Hendersonkychamber.com
HENDERSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE 270-827-1867 henderson.kctcs.edu
HENDERSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
101 S. Main St. 270-826-3712 hcpl.org
HENDERSON COUNTY RIVERPORT AUTHORITY 270-826-1636 hendersonport.com
HENDERSON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
270-854-9455 Choosehendersonky.com
HENDERSON TOURIST COMMISSION
270-826-3128 Hendersonky.org
HERCULES
MANUFACTURING CO.
270-826-9501
Herculesvanbodies.com
METZGER’S TAVERN 270-826-9461 Metzgerstavernky.com
POST OFFICE
100 First St.
270-827-9874
PRATT INDUSTRIES Innovations.prattindustries.com
REDBANKS
270-826-6436
Redbanks.org
RIVERVALLEY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
270-689-6879
Rvbh.com/careers
ROOKIES RESTAURANT
270-826-1106
Rookiesrestaurant.com
SQUARE YARD CARPET
270-827-1138
Squareyardcarpet.com
THOMASON’S BARBECUE
270-826-0654
Thomasonsbbq.com
Home is where the Heart is. The East End is the Heart of Henderson.
“Henderson is a great place to grow up, live or come back to visit every now and then. We are proud to have been a small part of your family functions, church gatherings, graduation parties and birthdays since 1960.”
Kevin Gibson
Second generation owner of Thomason’s
