From History to Haunts: A Tour of Augusta, Kentucky

AUGUSTA, KY. — The town of Augusta is a riverside enclave along the Ohio River known for its scenic charm, deep bourbon ties, and Hollywood legacy.

The Benchmark Coffee is a newer downtown café. From there, Augusta Tourism Director Janet Hunt led a walking tour of the town’s historic core and waterfront, which once played a significant role in river trade and settlement in Bracken County. Augusta, with a population of just over 1,000, was founded in 1786 and incorporated in 1850.  

“You might argue with your buddy one day, but by the next, you’re friends again. If anything happened in your family, the town came together,” Hunt said, describing Augusta’s welcoming spirit.

Mid-morning, the group headed to Augusta Distillery for the “River Proof Barrel Experience.” Founded in 2018, Augusta Distillery evolved from independent bottling into full-scale distilling, and today emphasizes small-batch bourbon and an immersive guest experience. Under the guidance of Tracie Inskeep, visitors sampled from three barrels, “popping the bung,” pouring with a thief, and hand-labeling a bottle to take home. The distillery touts its position on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and highlights the Ohio River’s influence in shaping Kentucky’s bourbon industry. 

Over lunch at TableTop Traditions, guests fueled up before the afternoon visit to the Rosemary Clooney House. Clooney, the beloved singer and actress, as well as aunt to actor George Clooney, lived at 106 East Riverside Drive in Augusta for more than 20 years, making the home a treasured museum of her life and career. The museum’s collections include memorabilia from White Christmas and other performances and personal artifacts that reflect Clooney’s long ties to the region. After Clooney’s death in 2002, the home was purchased by Augusta native Heather French Henry and her husband, former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry, and was opened as a museum in 2005.

Augusta also offered a look toward its future. Nicole and Kenny Gahn, weekend residents of the town, purchased a vintage 1917 Ford dealership building with intentions to convert it into a classic car museum. Nicole Gahn explained the move came from a wish to deepen their roots in Augusta. “We’ve had a weekend place here for 14 years, and when this building became available, we thought, why not bring the cars here and open a little museum?” Gahn said.

Later in the afternoon, the tour continued north to Newport.  The evening ended across the river in Covington with dinner at Pompilio’s, a local Italian restaurant established in 1933 and best known as a filming location for Rain Man (1988). Afterward, attendees braved the USS Nightmare, a massive steamboat turned haunted attraction docked on the Ohio River, where winding corridors and ghostly theatrics lived up to its ominous name.

With three days complete, the Kentucky media tour had already traced a broad arc of the state’s identity: exotic animals and bourbon fireside tales in Lawrenceburg, haunted opera houses and small-batch whiskey in Cynthiana, and now Augusta’s blend of river heritage, Hollywood nostalgia, and ghostly thrills along the riverbed. From small towns to storied distilleries, Kentucky revealed itself as a place where its love of horror,  history, and imagination meet.

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