My Old Kentucky Home State Park is a state park located in Bardstown, Kentucky. The park's centerpiece is Federal Hill, a former plantation built by United States Senator John Rowan in 1795. During Rowan's life, the mansion became a meeting place for local politicians and hosted several visiting dignitaries. Tradition holds that songwriter Stephen Foster, who was a cousin of Senator Rowan, was inspired to write "My Old Kentucky Home" after a visit to Federal Hill in 1852, although some scholars believe Foster never visited the mansion. My Old Kentucky Home was designated the state song of Kentucky in 1928. The Federal Hill mansion was featured on a U.S.