Gunpowder Run On Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026
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The Col. James Harrod Chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Friends of Fort Harrod took part in last year’s Gunpowder Run.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
On Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, the Col. James Harrod Chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Friends of Fort Harrod invite you to retrace the trail blazed by George Rogers Clark during his famous Gunpowder Run. The commemorative event starts at 2 p.m. at the George Rogers Clark Monument at Old Fort Harrod State Park (100 South College Street).
Organizers will retrace Clark’s route from the monument to the Big Spring Park (426 East Factory Street) and other relevant sites in town. The total hike is less than one mile, according to a Friends of Fort Harrod Facebook post.
George Rogers Clark was born Nov. 19, 1752, near Charlottesville, Virginia. The older brother William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame, he served as a militia captain in the conflict known as Lord Dunmore’s War—James Harrod, the founder of modern day Harrodsburg, also served—and later joined the Ohio Company of Virginia, which claimed rights to the land that would become the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Among the Ohio Company’s rivals were the Transylvania Company of Richard Henderson. In June 1776, Clark was one of two elected by western settlers to represent them in the last of the Revolutionary Conventions in Williamsburg. By the time Clark arrived, the convention had adjourned. While the Virginia House of Delegates declined to seat Rogers as an elected representative, the General Assembly created Kentucky County.
During the winter of 1776–1777, Clark returned to Kentucky with 500 pounds of gunpowder and a commission as a major. Clark eventually rose to the temporary rank of brigadier general of Virginia troops during the Revolutionary War. His efforts led to the recognition of America’s ownership of the region north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
The Gunpowder Run commemorates Clark’s efforts to protect the settlements that would become Kentucky, including Fort Harrod.
The Gunpowder Run happens Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025, starting at 2 p.m. at the George Rogers Clark Monument at Old Fort Harrod State Park (100 South College Street). The event is hosted by the Col. James Harrod Chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Friends of Fort Harrod, call 859-734-3767, email [email protected] or visit their Facebook page @ friendsoffortharrod.
