White Hall State Historic Site

White Hall State Historic Site White Hall was the home of Cassius Marcellus Clay: 19th century emancipationist, newspaper publisher, and U.S. ambassador to Russia. Cassius M.
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White Hall State Historic Site was the home of Cassius Marcellus Clay, 19th century emancipationist, politician, newspaper publisher, Ambassador to Russia, and friend to Abraham Lincoln. Clay’s daughter, Laura Clay, lived at White Hall and was politically active for women’s suffrage and state’s rights. In 1920 she became the first woman nominated for President of the United States by a major polit

ical party. The restored Italianate mansion was built in 1798 and remodeled in the 1860s. General Green Clay built the original brick Georgian-style home called Clermont. Clay inherited the house upon his father’s passing. He and his wife Mary Jane Warfield Clay built the new addition that more than doubled the size of the house and added such modern amenities as indoor plumbing and central heating.

It’s almost Fall, and almost Vintage Day at White Hall! There will be music, food trucks, tours of White Hall, antique v...
08/30/2026

It’s almost Fall, and almost Vintage Day at White Hall! There will be music, food trucks, tours of White Hall, antique vendors, and a car show beginning at 1pm.

If anyone is interested in being a vendor (food, antiques) contact site coordinator Mathew Parrish at [email protected]

White Hall will be closed tomorrow for self-guided tours but there will be a guided tour at 3:30pm! Come see a debate be...
08/28/2026

White Hall will be closed tomorrow for self-guided tours but there will be a guided tour at 3:30pm! Come see a debate between Cassius Clay and Rev. John Fee at the Battle of Richmond Reenactment!

White Hall will be closed for tours this Saturday, but don’t worry! You can see Cassius Clay yourself at the Battle of R...
08/24/2026

White Hall will be closed for tours this Saturday, but don’t worry! You can see Cassius Clay yourself at the Battle of Richmond reenactment!

123 years ago today, Cassius Marcellus Clay passed away at the age of 92. Among many accomplishments, Cassius Clay start...
07/22/2026

123 years ago today, Cassius Marcellus Clay passed away at the age of 92.

Among many accomplishments, Cassius Clay started an anti-slavery newspaper in 1845 and helped start Berea College in the 1850s. Abraham Lincoln appointed him Minister to Russia in 1861.

The last years of Clay’s life were not easy. He began to believe there was a group he called “The Vendetta” that were plotting to murder him. In 1901 he shot at a sheriff and a group of deputies that came out to White Hall, and a few weeks before his passing, his children had him declared insane.

A newspaper article written about his passing stated the cause was “general exhaustion,” and many claim that the night he passed away, there was a terrible storm, and a lightning bolt struck Henry Clay’s statue in the Lexington cemetery.

07/16/2026

Come visit White Hall for Pops at the Park!

*UPDATE: there is another big event in the county happening on Sept. 26, so Vintage Day is moving to Sept. 27!Vintage Da...
07/09/2026

*UPDATE: there is another big event in the county happening on Sept. 26, so Vintage Day is moving to Sept. 27!

Vintage Day is happening again at White Hall State Historic Site! We are looking for antique vendors who would like to set up booths on the lawn in front of the beautiful White Hall mansion. There is no fee, just email museum curator Mathew Parrish at [email protected].

Happy Independence Day! Three years after Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Green Clay enlisted in...
07/04/2026

Happy Independence Day! Three years after Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Green Clay enlisted in General Thomas Nelson’s Light Dragoons. After training in Virginia, they left from Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello for Philadelphia.

Green Clay survived the Revolution, and became one of the largest land owners in Kentucky. Years later in 1823, Green Clay wrote to Thomas Jefferson to ask if he had any information about a land treaty with the Cherokee tribe. He mentioned leaving from Monticello during the war, and also mentioned that he served in the war with Jefferson’s brother Randolph Jefferson.

Jefferson replied to Clay’s letter, and wrote, “Your favor of the 4th is just now recieved, and I am sorry it not in my power to give you any information on the subject of your enquiries. Such a length of time has elapsed, so much is my memory impaired by age, and so much other matter has since past through it, unlodging what had preceded, that not a trace remains of any treaty with the Cherokees oncerning the lands you mention.”

White Hall is OPEN 4th of July! Come out to celebrate America 250 and see the museum’s new Veterans of Richmond Exhibit.
07/02/2026

White Hall is OPEN 4th of July! Come out to celebrate America 250 and see the museum’s new Veterans of Richmond Exhibit.

Come by from 2-3:30pm today to see author Perry Hibner and learn about his new book; Centennial Revisited, which discuss...
06/05/2026

Come by from 2-3:30pm today to see author Perry Hibner and learn about his new book; Centennial Revisited, which discusses the show Centennial, which filmed on location at White Hall back in the 70s!

Address

500 White Hall Shrine Road
Richmond, KY
40475

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+18596239178

Website

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