If you've lived in Hodgenville long enough to remember when Honest Abe's was the only place downtown to grab a beer, you've probably noticed the changes in storefronts on and around the square. Some openings have coincided with events already on the town's calendar.
Top Hat Tavern is one example. When Wesley and Christy Waddle decided to take over the space at 23 Lincoln Square after Honest Abe's shut its doors, they opened officially on June 8, 2024, the day of the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce's kickoff to its Summer Concert Series. The pool tables and dart boards stayed put. The plan for monthly live music and TVs for game nights came later, once the doors were already open and busy.
The Hardware Store's Opening Calendar
Owners Mallory and Warren Grimes quietly opened the doors of Hope & Harvest General Store at 1018 Lincoln Farm Road, in the old Smith's Hardware building, on January 19, 2026. The LaRue County Chamber gave them a proper ribbon cutting on February 26. The store's grand opening celebration is set for the Hope & Harvest Fall Fest on Saturday, September 19, 2026, which the Chamber describes on its own site as, in its words, "our very overdue grand opening."
That's eight months between opening the register and throwing the party.
Here's how the business openings and other events have actually stacked up on and around the square:
When | What happened |
|---|---|
October 2022 | The 16th opens on the square |
February 2024 | The 16th closes unexpectedly |
March 2024 | Top Hat Tavern announced as the replacement for Honest Abe's |
June 8, 2024 | Top Hat Tavern opens on the day of the Chamber's Summer Concert Series kickoff |
September 2024 | Fast Pace Health opens |
November 2024 | Dollar General Market opens on Lincoln Farm Road |
January 19, 2026 | Hope & Harvest General Store opens quietly |
February 26, 2026 | Hope & Harvest gets its Chamber ribbon cutting |
September 19, 2026 | Hope & Harvest's grand opening celebration, tied to its own Fall Fest |
October 3-4, 2026 | Lincoln Days Celebration, 54th year |
The Shared Calendar
The town has a short list of dates that bring people together, run by the Chamber, the Hodgenville Rotary, and the Lincoln Museum. The opening dates alone don't tell us why owners chose them or how much difference an event made to a business.
Those openings are part of a wider calendar of events and local activity.
The town's biggest date on that shared calendar is Lincoln Days, and the sponsor list for this year's 54th annual festival, set for October 3 and 4, reads like a cross-section of businesses around town. The Railsplitter Run is backed by LaRue Carey Insurance, Bank of Buffalo, Central Kentucky Race Management, and Running Soles. Pioneer Games has backing from Magnolia Bank, Thomas Farms, Concrete Coring & Cutting of Louisville, Lewis Auction, Carl's Auto, Magnolia Grain & Stock Farm, and Southern States. The art show, one of the longest continually held in the state, is sponsored by Keith Monument, the Lincoln Museum, and LaRue Carey Insurance again. This year's theme, "Stars, Stripes, and Stories," ties the festival to the country's 250th anniversary, which means the crowd it draws will likely be bigger than usual, and every business that sponsors a piece of it gets its name in front of that crowd.
If you've wondered how Lincoln Square allows drinks in hand outside a single bar's four walls, the city's Entertainment Destination Center is the reason: it lets patrons carry a marked cup between participating businesses, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and walk the block instead of staying planted at one table. It's a small ordinance, but it means a tavern like Top Hat doesn't have to be the only draw on a given night. It just has to be one stop on a walk that already includes the general store and whatever's happening on the square that week.
The 16th's Closure and Return
According to The News-Enterprise, Joe and Angela Carter opened the restaurant on the square in October 2022 with their own savings and a menu built around dishes like the Gettysburger and the Kentucky Hot Brown. The News-Enterprise reported that it closed abruptly in February 2024. The report also said the Carters had put their retirement into the place and that, by their own account, the business wasn't growing fast enough to keep going.
Somewhere in the year or two after that, it reopened. Reviews from late 2025 through early 2026 describe a restaurant back in business and drawing praise, the pork tenderloin and fried green tomatoes coming up again and again, the Manhattan Project mentioned by name. The comeback happened.
The One That's Pausing on Purpose
Not every closed door on the square means trouble. Joel Ray's Lincoln Jamboree, a family show that's been running since 1954, celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2024. As of this writing, the Jamboree and its family style restaurant are listed as temporarily closed for renovations. A show that old doesn't need to prove itself to the square. It has decades of trust to draw on when it reopens.
What's Coming Next
The next addition to the square won't be a restaurant or a general store. Back in 2024, the city of Hodgenville transferred property on Greensburg Street, just off Lincoln Square, to a Utah-based company planning a hotel with 70 to 85 rooms and its own retail, restaurant, and conference space, a roughly $10 million project. According to PMG-KY2, the deed required construction to start by February 2026 and finish by February 2028. That start date has already come and gone as of this writing, and there's no groundbreaking on record yet, which is its own small data point if you're the kind of resident who walks past that lot on your way to the square.
If it does get built, it changes the math on everything above. A hotel with conference space means overnight guests and daytime meetings. It could mean a built-in audience walking over from a hotel lobby, alongside the visitors coming for events.
Watching the Square From Here
None of this requires you to do anything differently this week. But if you're watching the changes on the square, keep an eye on new storefronts and the Chamber's calendar. An opening date is worth noting, even if it can't tell us whether a business is going to stick.
Olive + Oak Realty keeps an eye on these things because we live here too, not because we're trying to sell you on a neighborhood you already call home. If you're ever curious what any of this means for your own place in LaRue County, whether you're thinking about updating it, adding onto it, or just want to know what it's worth these days, request your free Home Strategy Session and we'll talk it through, no pressure attached.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
