26 Small American Towns With Secret Celebrity Connections

22. Bardstown, Kentucky: Stephen Foster's Melodious Muse

Bardstown's Federal Hill estate is forever immortalized as "My Old Kentucky Home," thanks to Stephen Foster, the "father of American music." Though Foster only visited, his song cemented the plantation (and Bardstown by association) as an iconic symbol of Southern heritage. Today, My Old Kentucky Home State Park draws visitors who listen to Foster’s melodies echo through the historic mansion and grounds. Bardstown celebrates this connection, reminding us how Foster’s simple, enduring tunes captured national sentiment and inextricably linked music to place in the American consciousness.