Free Republic

The Ark Encounter, a life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark as described in the biblical book of Genesis, has topped a list of the most popular tourist attractions.The website Bet Kentucky recently listed the top 10 “most popular Kentucky attractions in 2023,” with the Williamstown-based, Answers in Genesis-affiliated attraction topping the list.Bet Kentucky organized the list on the basis of rankings on Trip Advisor’s 25 best things to do in Kentucky, then combined it with Google search volume data from AhRefs.com over the last 12 months.The Ark Encounter got first place with around 60,000 searches on Google, followed by Churchill Downs...

Just got back from both, HIGHLY Recommended! See URL for both below.

On the fifth anniversary of the Ark Encounter, which features a 510-foot-long wooden Noah’s ark, founder Ken Ham has announced the expansion of the Bible-themed attraction in Kentucky by building a Tower of Babel attraction on the park’s grounds. “Next year, we will start fundraising for a Tower of Babel attraction that we hope to open in three or four years, where among other things we will help people understand what genetics research and the Bible say about the origin of all the people groups around the world,” Ham, the CEO and founder of the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum,...

The $100 million Ark Encounter biblical theme park with a life-sized Noah's Ark replica, and its sister institution, the Creation Museum, have finished No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in USA Today's 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards for 2020.The Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum received the most readers’ votes from a list of the top religious museums in the nation as selected by a panel of top travel experts.“Both attractions have made Northern Kentucky the leading faith-based destination in America,” the two winners said in a statement Friday.“We are so grateful to USA Today for considering our internationally recognized...

As the account of Noah’s Ark and the Flood continues to capture the imagination of all sectors in America, nearly every culture boasts well-known accounts of a massive flood that has elements very similar to the biblical Flood (going back even to the time of the Babylonians). In November, 2009, a CBS News survey revealed the finding that the remains of Noah’s Ark would be the greatest archaeological discovery of our day. CBS News stated: “CBS’ 60 Minutes news program, in conjunction with Vanity Fair magazine, recently conducted a web survey asking which archaeological discovery people would most want to...

Williamstown -- A life-size replica of Noah's Ark that is being built in Grant County is on track to open July 7, its founder said Saturday. Ken Ham, president and chief executive officer of Answers in Genesis, which is building the tourist attraction, gave a group of journalists a first peek inside the ark Saturday. The massive wooden structure is the centerpiece of a $100 million park called Ark Encounter. It is built according to the measurements given in the Bible -- 560 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high. It sits 15 feet off the ground and...

WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. (AP) — In a story May 24 about property damage at a Noah’s Ark attraction in Kentucky, The Associated Press reported erroneously that flooding caused the damage. The damage was caused by heavy rains over a period of two years.

It may seem a bit ironic but the owners of Kentucky's Noah's ark attraction are suing their insurers over damage caused by flooding. In a federal lawsuit, the owners of the Ark Encounter are asking for a $1 million settlement after the attraction's insurers, Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings of Switzerland and three other insurance companies, refused to cover damage after heavy rains in 2017 and 2018 caused a landslide on its access road, the Courier Journal reports. Opened in 2016, the 510-foot-long wooden ark has been a popular attraction in Williamstown, Kentucky. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages...

The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky bathed in sunset colors. | ANSWERS IN GENESISOne of the nation’s leading atheist legal groups has sent a warning to over 1,000 public school districts telling them not to take field trips to Answers in Genesis' creationist attractions in Kentucky.The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims 31,000 members across the U.S., announced Tuesday that it contacted school districts in five states warning them that field trips to the Ark Encounter or the Creation Museum would be a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.“Public schools and public school staff may not constitutionally organize...

Between 120 and 200 people gathered outside the Ark Encounter on July 7 to protest on the attraction’s second anniversary. Organized by the Tri-State Freethinkers, co-founder Jim G. Helton said he was happy with the turnout — more than double than last year’s protest. “The Ark Encounter has become a symbol of what’s wrong in Kentucky with the war on separation of church and state,” Helton said. “And when equality is under attack, atheists show up.” Several speakers took the stage to kick off the protest, then the group marched up the sidewalk to the entrance of the Ark. Helton...

The president and founder of Kentucky’s Creation Museum in Petersburg and the Ark Encounter in Williamstown has been dropped as a speaker at the University of Central Oklahoma after a LGBT group objected. Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, had been scheduled to speak March 5 at the public university in Edmond, Okla. Stockton Duvall, student body president at the university, took responsibility for the decision to rescind Ham’s invitation after learning of the opposition to his visit. Duvall told The Oklahoman newspaper that a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning group opposed Ham’s visit because of his view...

I’ve posted before about how Williamstown (Kentucky) officials are instituting a “safety fee” for ticket-taking attractions in the city. If implemented, the city would charge Ark Encounter 50 cents per ticket to go towards things like fire trucks and police cars — all the things that make the city a safer place for residents and tourists. Using the estimate of 1.4 million visitors a year, this would amount to approximately $700,000 that Ark Encounter would owe the city annually. The Creationists at Ark Encounter, however, say they should be exempt from that charge because they run a non-profit ministry. You...

Williamstown - Shem’s Snack Shack sits about a mile away from the Ark Encounter on a road that turns into Williamstown’s Main Street. In case you missed the reference to Shem, Noah’s son, it’s also the “Home of the Ark Dog” — two-thirds of a Biblical cubit long — and has swirly blue linoleum floors meant to mimic the ocean and a camel mascot named Humphrey, who declares that the gourmet hot dogs are flooded with flavor. The snack shack is owned by Charleston, W.Va., doctor Brian Plants, a longtime donor to the Answers in Genesis ministry of Australian Ken...

Noah's Ark replica made of 3.1 million board feet of timber Creationist theme park tries, fails to make theology scientific Many Christians don't see conflict between faith, evolution

The developer of a Noah's Ark-based theme park in Kentucky said on Wednesday he would fight for his religious rights after state officials warned he could lose millions in potential tax credits if he hires only people who believe in the biblical flood. Ark Encounter, which is slated to open in 2016 in Williamston, Kentucky, is not hiring anyone yet, but its parent company Answers in Genesis asks employees to sign a faith statement including a belief in creationism and the flood.

Yesterday, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that his state’s Creationism Museum will soon be joined by a creationism theme park named “Ark Encounter,” making Kentucky the unofficial creationism capital of our 6,000-year-old world. Some of the “edutainment” promised by the park include a Walled City, a Tower of Babel, and a “500-foot-long wooden replica of Noah’s Ark” that, as was revealed in the press conference, will feature dinosaurs. A representative from Answers in Genesis, the group that will operate the theme park, stepped in yesterday when Gov. Beshear was asked by a reporter, “Will there be dinosaurs on the Ark?”...