A bronze sidewalk plaque marks the exact spot on the Old State Capitol grounds where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot on January 30, 1900 — the only U.S. governor assassinated in or approaching office.
300 W Broadway (Old State Capitol grounds), Frankfort, KY 40601
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; publicly accessible outdoor grounds.
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Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalks and grounds around the Old State Capitol; flat terrain
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Photos OK
Only U.S. Governor Assassinated · Kentucky Political Violence · Gilded Age Political History · 1900 Contested Election
William Goebel was a Kentucky state senator who ran for governor in 1899 on the Democratic ticket in one of the most contested elections in the state's history. His opponent was Republican William S. Taylor. The election results were disputed; the Democratic-controlled state legislature convened to resolve the contest and had begun deliberations when Goebel was shot.
On January 30, 1900, Goebel was walking across the grounds of the Old State Capitol toward the building when a single shot from a rifle struck him in the chest. The shot came from a window in the Secretary of State's office in the adjacent state building. He was carried inside and survived for four days. The Kentucky legislature, in the midst of its deliberations, declared Goebel governor; he was sworn in while lying wounded on February 1, 1900. He died on February 3.
The circumstances of the shooting were politically explosive. Kentucky's Republican governor Taylor initially declared martial law and attempted to bar the legislature from meeting. Several men were arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death or life imprisonment for the assassination — including former Secretary of State Caleb Powers — but all were eventually pardoned or had their convictions overturned. The actual shooter was never identified with certainty, and no one served a complete sentence for the crime.
Goebel's grave is in the Frankfort Cemetery nearby; it is marked by a notable obelisk. The Old State Capitol grounds hold three physical markers associated with the assassination: the bronze plaque at the exact location where Goebel fell, a marker on the Old State Capitol building, and a life-size bronze statue of Goebel on the adjacent lawn.
Sources
The bronze sidewalk plaque marking where William Goebel fell is unusual in American political history: an outdoor, publicly accessible marker at the precise location of a political assassination that was never fully resolved. No one served a complete sentence for the crime. The shooter was never definitively identified.
Frankfort ghost tour operators include the Goebel site and the adjacent Old State Capitol in their routes, drawing on both the assassination itself and the broader history of the Capitol complex. Reports associated with the Old State Capitol — which also operated as a Civil War-era military headquarters — include unexplained sounds in the legislative chambers and a sense of presence in the building's upper floors. These reports predate and are not specifically tied to the Goebel shooting.
Goebel's monument in the Frankfort Cemetery — a short distance from the assassination site — is also part of the local ghost tour circuit. His death four days after the shooting, having been briefly sworn in as governor while lying wounded, gives the story an unresolved quality that suits the genre: a man who technically served as governor for two days and died without seeing justice carried out for the crime against him.
Notable Entities
A bronze plaque embedded in the sidewalk marks the exact spot where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot by an unknown sniper on January 30, 1900, as he walked across the Old State Capitol grounds toward the building. A second marker is affixed to the Old State Capitol itself, and a life-size bronze statue of Goebel stands on the adjacent lawn. The Old State Capitol is also open for tours.
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