Clark Historic Homesite- Falls of the Ohio State Park

Photo:  Historic Louisville

Meriwether Lewis was surely anxious on October 15, 1803. Being nervous navigating the keelboat and the pirogues through the long rapids of the Ohio, he hired local pilots to get everything safely to Clarksville in Indiana Territory.

When the boats tied up, he immediately set off to find his old friend and new partner, William Clark, who was living with his brother, George Rogers Clark. Lewis would have likely found both men at a small cabin set above the banks of the Ohio.

Today, the Clark Historic Homesite is within Falls of the Ohio State Park, where you can tour a representation of a cabin similar to that of General Clark. The original homestead was destroyed in 1854; the current cabin was moved to the site in 2001 from near Osgood, Indiana.

Behind the Clark cabin is a small replica cabin of the McGees, African-American indentured servants of George Rogers Clark. The McGee’s lived in a settlement called Guinea Bottoms, located close to the creek on the property, one of the first freed African-American communities in the Northwest Territory.

The park’s Interpretive Center is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. The park grounds are open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fishing, hiking, fossil viewing, bird watching and picnicking are among the most popular activities. The cabin is open from Memorial Day weekend through October on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information: www.fallsoftheohio.org.