Welcome

Thanks for joining our mailing list! Here’s what is happening at the Filson:

Current Exhibits

Kentucky Unsettled: The Erasure of Native Homeland explores how competing Native, colonial, and American interests shaped property ownership in the Commonwealth. (Carriage House exhibit)

Bustles To Blue Jeans: Highlights from the Filson’s Fashion Archive (Bingham Gallery) The Filson’s clothing collection contains over 5,000 objects from as early as the 1810s worn for every occasion. This April, we’re opening the closets wide with this new exhibit. We’ll be showing off some of our most unusual, storied, and beautiful garments.

Upcoming Events

Placemaking and Placetaking: Economic Development in Louisville

Date: August 13, 2026

Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Location: Baird, 500 W. Jefferson St., Ste. 700, Louisville (In Person Only)

Free - Register here

OmniTopFloorTour–PEARL+14 — Photo credit: Marty Pearl

Limited tickets available – register today! Join the Filson Historical Society for an important discussion on the role of economic and community development in both revitalizing and deconstructing a population’s identity of place and community. For more than 100 years the rise and fall of businesses both large and small have coincided with historic investment […]

70 Years of Progress and Action: How the St. James Court Art Show Transformed a Neighborhood

Date: August 19, 2026

Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Location: The Filson Historical Society (In Person Only)

Free - Register here

Press conference: 4:00 pm Program: 5:30 pm The Filson is honored to partner with the St. James Court Art Show for a retrospective panel discussing the origins of the Art Show, neighborhood and community impact, and the evolution of this nationally renowned festival. Come hear from neighborhood historians, art show participants, and community partners about […]

Interested in helping the Filson’s mission to collect, preserve, and share

the history and culture of the Ohio Valley Region?

Background is image of museum storage at the Filson Historical Society. Text reads "Become a Member"

Background image of child sitting on small carriage with a goat pull them. Words read "Become a Volunteer"

Visit the Filson

The Filson will be closed to the Public on 8/14/26 & 8/21/26.

Open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30 pm

The Filson is closed to the public the 3rd Friday of every month.

1310 S. 3rd St., Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 635-5083

Plan Your Visit to the Filson! To register or purchase tickets for our events, please visit our Events Page.

The Research Library is open Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30pm; we are closed on the third Friday of each month. Appointments are not required, but feel free to reserve a seat online – learn more here. We also provide remote research services; please complete our research request form online here.

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