Welcome to the Glasgow-Barren County’s Tourism Website!

This Site provides only a glimpse of what makes Glasgow and Barren County in South Central Kentucky special and a great place to experience relaxation, fun, arts & culture, history, above-ground and underground adventures, water recreation, events and more.  

While visiting, you will experience our small town hospitality. A visitor commented that her family “took home a feeling that you can’t get anywhere else.” We want you to take that feeling home with you, too (and come back for more).

A note of history:  Barren County was founded in 1798 and shortly after in 1799, Glasgow was named as the county seat. History tells us that a gentleman by the name of John Matthews was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He was an early trustee of our town and is given credit for naming our town after his birthplace.

Following the end of the Revolutionary War, Scottish soldiers were given land grants in parts of Kentucky; therefore many of our early settlers were Scottish.  Scots and the Presbyterian Church go hand-in-hand and in 1802, the First Presbyterian Church, the oldest church in Glasgow, was founded and had the largest body of members in town.