Ever notice how things look different and you see more detail when you are walking around a downtown area instead of just passing by in a vehicle?
There is certainly a lot to take in when you are in downtown Danville or Perryville, where you can appreciate the architecture of buildings that are 200 years old (and older), discover local shops and eateries, and appreciate some public art.
You can enjoy a stroll on your own in Perryville or Danville and probably come across some new things, even if you are already familiar with these towns.
If you really want to see and learn about some of the finer points of these downtowns, however, a walking tour – guided or self guided – may be the way to go.
The visitors center at Constitution Square – 134 S. 2nd Street – has historic walking tour maps for both Danville and Perryville, a public art map for Danville, as well as information about a guided food and drink tour.
Those tours include:
Downtown Danville Historic Walking Tour
As the birthplace of Kentucky and the “City of Firsts,” Danville certainly has a storied history and several locations you can visit to learn more about important events and people tied to Danville, from Constitution Square and the Ephraim McDowell House Museum to the Willis Russell House and Bellevue Cemetery. Pick up a historic walking tour guide to locate and learn about these and other locations throughout downtown Danville.
Downtown Perryville Historic Walking Tour
Perryville also has a very rich history, one you can discover through an easy self-guided tour that takes you along historic Merchants Row, the Karrick-Parks House, the Ewing Female Institute and 10 more locations tied to people or events that were important to the town’s history. A walking tour guide is available at both the Constitution Square visitors center as well as the Main Street Perryville visitors center at 216 S. Buell St.
Public art tour
If you appreciate art, you’ll certainly want to stop in at the Art Center of the Bluegrass as well as the GLASS National Art Museum at the corner of Main and Fourth Streets. When you are done there, use a Public Art Map available at the Art Center of visitors center at Constitution Square to navigate your way around downtown – from Constitution Square to the Centre College campus – to see the nearly 20 different murals, sculptures and other examples of unique public art on display.
Schedule a Quarry Tour
You’ve visited some distilleries and horse farms, soaked in the charm of a few small towns and maybe even dined on a famous Kentucky Hot Brown. But have you been to a rock quarry yet?
If not, Danville’s Caldwell Stone Company has a unique experience for very small groups who want to get to the bottom (literally) of a 100-year-old pit that has been the source of rock used to build roads, buildings and more. You’ll get to see large dump trucks, front end loaders and other equipment used to extract materials from the ground and see how massive pieces of rock gets transformed into smaller chunks and even into smaller pieces of gravel.
Tours are limited to 3-4 people and must be scheduled in advance by calling Clay Albright at the quarry at 859-236-6829
