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Jefferson County History and Information |
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Jefferson County, one of three
original counties in what is now the state of Kentucky,
is located west of the Outer Bluegrass region along the
Ohio River. Bounded by Bullitt, Spencer, Shelby, and
Oldham counties, it has an area of 386 square miles.
The Virginia General Assembly created Jefferson County
in May 1780 by dividing Kentucky County into three parts
for better administration. The residents at and near
the Falls of the Ohio had petitioned the legislature
for a separate county, complaining that they "were near one hundred miles from the Court House" at
Harrodsburg. LOUISVILLE was designated the seat of justice
of Jefferson County, a territory of more than 7,800 square
miles. The county was named for Thomas Jefferson,
then governor of Virginia.
The County is bordered by Clark County, IN (north), Oldham County (northeast), Shelby County (east), Spencer County (southeast), Bullitt County (south), Hardin County (southwest), Harrison County, IN (west), Floyd County, IN (northwest). Cities, Towns and Communities include Anchorage, Audubon Park, Bancroft, Barbourmeade, Beechwood Village, Bellemeade, Bellewood, Blue Ridge Manor, Briarwood, Broad Fields, Broeck Pointe, Brownsboro Farm, Brownsboro Village, Cambridge, Cherrywood Village, Coldstream, Creekside, Crossgate, Douglass Hills, Druid Hills, Fairmeade, Fincastle, Fisherville, Forest Hills, Glenview Hills, Glenview Manor, Glenview, Goose Creek, Graymoor-Devondale, Green Spring, Hickory Hill, Hills and Dales, Hollow Creek, Hollyvilla, Houston Acres, Hurstbourne Acres, Hurstbourne, Indian Hills, Jeffersontown, Keeneland, Kingsley, Langdon Place, Lincolnshire, Louisville, Lyndon, Lynnview, Manor Creek, Maryhill Estates, Meadow Vale, Meadowbrook Farm, Meadowview Estates, Middletown, Minor Lane Heights, Mockingbird Valley, Moorland, Murray Hill, Norbourne Estates, Northfield, Norwood, Old Brownsboro Place, Parkway Village, Plantation, Plymouth Village, Poplar Hills, Prospect, Richlawn, Riverwood, Rolling Fields, Rolling Hills, Seneca Gardens, Shively, South Park View, Spring Mill, Spring Valley, Springlee, St. Matthews, St. Regis Park, Strathmoor Manor, Strathmoor Village, Sycamore, Ten Broeck, Thornhill, Watterson Park, Wellington, West Buechel, Wildwood, Windy Hills, Woodland Hills, Woodlawn Park, Worthington Hills, Whipps Millgate
The county's population in 1780 was concentrated
almost exclusively around the Falls of the Ohio and nearby
streams that emptied into the Ohio River, notably the Middle
and South forks of ,Beargrass Creek and Goose Creek east
of Louisville. This area, liberally endowed with springs
and at a higher elevation than the site of Louisville,
was especially desirable. In 1780 there were six fortified
stations along the Middle Fork: Spring, Hogland's, Floyd's,
Low Dutch (or New Holland), A'Sturgus, and Linn's. Sullivan's
Station was on the South Fork. Jefferson County, from its
exposed position on the river, was particularly vulnerable
to Indian raids even some years after the interior of the
state was relatively safe. As late as 1789, a raid on the
isolated farm of Richard Chenoweth in present-day eastern
Jefferson County left five settlers dead.
South of Louisville the early discovery of
salt springs (notably Mann's Lick and Bullitt's Lick) prompted
the establishment of fortified points in the 1780s along
Salt River: Mud Garrison, Dowdall's Station, Fort Nonsense,
and Brashear's Station. They offered protection to the
salt makers, who began plying their trade in 1779, and
salt making became Jefferson County's first industry. As
settlers pushed into the farther reaches of Jefferson County,
new counties were carved from its original territory, beginning
with Nelson in 1784. In all, twenty-eight counties and
parts of counties were created from Jefferson, which reached
its present size in 1823.
The early settlers in the county represented
diverse groups, not only Virginians but also many from
North Carolina and the northeastern states, especially
Pennsylvania. Mostly of Scotch-Irish and English ancestry,
the newcomers also included many of German descent, and
a close-knit group of Dutch descent founded the New Holland
Station. Slaves brought to frontier Kentucky were a significant
part of the population from the earliest days.
Well-to-do Virginians owned the best land,
the largest acreages, and the most slaves. They established
plantations on the Virginia model. Their ranks included
Richard Taylor (father of President Zachary Taylor) of
Springfields, Alexander Scott Bullitt of Oxmoor, Richard
Clough Anderson of Soldier's Retreat, John Speed of Farmington,
William Croghan (brother-in-law of George Rogers Clark)
of Locust Grove, and Henry Massie of Ridgeway. The yeoman
farmers, by contrast, mostly performed their own labor
on smaller and often more rugged acreages. Non-Virginians
were hampered in acquiring farms by Virginia's land laws
and had few or no slaves. Some of the landless demanded
that Kentucky be made a separate state, with different
land laws.
Jeffersontown was founded in 1797 by Abraham
Bruner, one of the Pennsylvania German immigrants, and
was known informally for a number of years as Brunerstown.
It was also in 1797 that Philip Buckner founded Middletown.
Both settlements were in the eastern section of the county;
not until the early years of the nineteenth century did
the fertile but low-lying and flood-prone river plains
in southwestern Jefferson County see any substantial number
of farms.
The most important political entity until the
early years of the nineteenth century was the county court,
made up of all the justices of the peace (twenty-two in
1815), who exercised legislative, executive, and judicial
powers, and selected their own successors. The two most
powerful political offices were those of the sheriff (normally
the senior justice of the peace) and the county clerk,
appointed by the court. The rapid growth of Louisville
in the nineteenth century shifted the focus of political
power from the courthouse to city hall in the same way
that the mercantile interests of the city overshadowed
the county's agrarian economy.
While relations between city and county were
usually amicable, there were exceptions. In 1835 there
was a move to make Louisville a separate county, in part
because Whig politicians, who dominated the city, had largely
been shut out of membership on the county court. Another
factor was a disagreement between city and county over
financing the construction of a new courthouse, to be occupied
also by city offices-a proposal that originated in the
city government. The legislative act to make Louisville
a county passed the state House of Representatives, but
failed in the Senate. After this, city and county reached
agreement on construction, sharing costs, and ownership.
Although offers to present the courthouse to the state
for a capitol building failed, the General Assembly met
there for a month during the 1862 Confederate invasion
of Kentucky.
By 1850 there were 5,000 voters in Louisville,
more than double the number in the rest of Jefferson County.
As Louisville outstripped it in population and political
muscle, rural Jefferson County became one of Kentucky's
leading agricultural producers. In 1860 it was first among
counties in value of animals slaughtered, production of
hay, market gardening, and orchards; and second in production
of barley and butter. The county both supplied city markets
and provisioned steamboats.
Jefferson County also led in the number of
slaves in 1860 with 10,304, although only about half this
number were in the rural precincts. Small farms predominated.
There was only one farm of more than 1,000 acres in 1860,
but there were 1,100 of three acres and more, and most
were twenty to ninety-nine acres. Many farms were owned
by the Germans who came in the wave of immigration in the
1840s and 1850s. A number of agricultural associations
were formed, and in 1853 the Southwestern Agricultural
and Mechanical Association established a thirty-eight-acre
fairground in what is now the Crescent Hill neighborhood
in Louisville's East End. Annual agricultural fairs were
held there until about 1872. In 1877 the Fern Creek Farmers'
and Fruit Growers' Association began a long span of annual
fairs at Fern Creek on the Bardstown Road. This area was
noted for strawberry production, just as St. Matthews,
east of Louisville, became a potato-growing area. At the
turn of the century, an onion farm on the Bardstown Road
near Doup's Point was among the world's largest.
The county remained important agriculturally
until the post-World War II spread of urbanization consumed
much prime farm acreage. In the agricultural setting a
number of smaller unincorporated communities developed.
They included St. Matthews (originally Gilman's Point)
east of Louisville on the Shelbyville Road, Buechel and
Fern Creek south of Louisville on the Bardstown Road, OkoIona
south of Louisville on the Preston Street Road (now Preston
Highway), and Valley Station and Pleasure Ridge Park (originally
a picnic ground) on the Valley Pike (now Dixie Highway).
Typically home to a general store, a blacksmith, a saloon,
post office, and perhaps a railroad station, the communities
emphasized the rural character of the county. All have
since become bedroom suburbs in an urban county.
In the prosperous years after the Civil War,
many affluent city residents built impressive country homes,
sometimes buying large acreages and becoming gentlemen
farmers. Bashford Manor, built in 1871-72 near Buechel,
was a typical example. In the 1880s it became a thoroughbred
farm, which produced three Kentucky Derby winners. The
home was demolished in 1972 and the farm converted to a
shopping center as automobile-age strip development engulfed
the area. Continued Below..........
Jefferson County, which in the nineteenth century
was one of Kentucky's leading agricultural counties, has
become in the twentieth century its most highly urbanized.
The population was 695,055 in 1970; 685,004 in 1980; and
664,937 in 1990. The Official County Website is located at http://www.louisvilleky.gov/ .
See Extended History for More information.
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See Also Kentucky Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records
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PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. |
Jefferson County Clerk has Marriage
Records from 1780 and Land Records from 1783 and is located at Ste
105, 527 W Jefferson
Str, Louisville, KY
40202-2850; (502)
574-5680, FAX: (502)
574-5566, [EMAIL] .
The duties of the county clerk are numerous and varied, falling into the general categories of clerical duties of the fiscal court, issuing and registering, recording and keeping records of various legal instruments, election duties, tax duties, transfers, and titling, and issuance of marriage licenses and much more. One of the most important responsibilities of the County Clerk's office is the recording of land records. The most common documents recorded are deeds, mortgages, and assignments and mortgage releases. The other is Marriage Liscenses
Jefferson County Clerk of the Circuit Court has Probate Records from 1784 and Court Records from 1780 and is located at
Mailing Address: Jefferson Co Judicial
Center,
Mail Room,
700 W Jefferson Str,
Louisville, KY 40202;
Attn: Archives and RecordsTelephone: (502) 595-3034;
595-3042,
Fax: (502) 595-3673 .
The Circuit Clerk's office is responsible for maintaining the records of the circuit court. Divorces, civil litigation, criminal crimes, probate, wills , estates and various other functions.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Vital Records in Kentucky
Some documents are just too important to wait six weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!
Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics is located at State
Dept of Human Resources, 275 E. Main St. 1EA, Frankfort, KY 40621; (502) 564-4212. They have the following records:
- Birth & Death Certificates:
The Vital Statistics Law of Kentucky, providing for and legalizing the registration of births and deaths, was enacted by the General Assembly of 1910 and became effective Jan. 1, 1911.
The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of births and deaths occurring prior to the above date except delayed records of births for those born before 1911, which have been established by affidavits and documentary evidence.Fees are listed below. You can download an application online for Birth Certificates or Death Certificates . You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE
- Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Central registration of marriages and divorces began in Kentucky in June 1958. The Office of Vital Statistics has no records of marriages and divorces prior to that date. Copies of marriage certificates prior to June 1958 may be obtained from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued. Records of divorce proceedings are available from the Jefferson County clerk of the circuit court that granted the decree.You can download an application online for Marriage Certificates or Divorce Certificates . You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE
Cost of certificates: Birth: $10 per certificate;
Death, Marriage and Divorce are $6 per certificate
In Person: You can stop in the office at 275 E. Main St. in Frankfort and obtain a certified copy of a birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate by completing an application form between the hours of 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday. There is approximately a one-hour wait to receive the certificate.
Directions to Vital Statistics Office
By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Kentucky State Treasurer" along with the necessary information to the following address: Office of Vital Statistics, 275 E. Main St. 1E-A, Frankfort, KY 40621. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Processing Time: Please allow up to approximately 30 working days for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail.
Birth Records: Expect longer delays during peak request periods from May through September. You should request certified copies of your birth certificate early enough to avoid delays if you are planning retirement, sporting events for the children, travel/passports, children entering school for the first time, etc.
Death Records: There may be delays in issuing new certified death certificates if the original certificate is not promptly filed in Frankfort by the funeral homes. Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
Phone, Fax, On-Line, or Credit Card: To obtain a certified copy of a vital record by phone, fax, on-line or purchase with a credit card, please link to VitalChek. There is an additional $10.50 fee for all credit card purchases. Discover, Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted. If faster delivery is required, you may wish to have the certified copy sent by Federal Express. Please state this when placing the order for the copy. There is an additional fee for this service.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Research In Census Records
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Jefferson County, Kentucky are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Earlier U.S. censuses for Kentucky were destroyed, but published tax lists serve as a replacements for the lost 1790 and 1800 censuses. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Jefferson County, Kentucky are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Union Veterans Schedules were conducted in 1890 but only returns for sixty-five Kentucky counties remain of the 1890 Union veterans and widows schedule of the federal census of Kentucky.
Statewide Records that exist for Kentucky are 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Earlier U.S. censuses for Kentucky were destroyed, but published tax lists serve as a replacements for the lost 1790 and 1800 censuses. Extracts and indexes for many of Kentucky's censuses have been compiled and published. Original or microfilm copies of the federal census returns are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Several Kentucky indexes to censuses predate those published by AISI.
State School Census for Kentucky infrequently enumerated public school students beginning in 1888. Scattered records are at the office of the respective county Board of Health or Board of Education. Some are maintained by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the Kentucky Historical Society.
See Also Statewide Records that exist for Kentucky
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Kentucky and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Kentucky showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Kentucky showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Kentucky Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect...
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Maps. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Maps by clicking the link below:
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See Also Military Records in Kentucky
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Military Records by clicking the link below:
- Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
- Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
- Southern Claims Commission from the State of Kentucky (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
- Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Kentucky (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
- Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the CSA (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from southern units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
- Kentucky Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 323 High Str, Paris, Ky, 40361;(859) 987- 1788
- National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
- Kentucky Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
- National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
- Jefferson County, Kentucky Military Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Research In Tax Records
One of the most valuable sources for early Kentucky until 1892 is its tax records. Most counties have yearly tax records from the date of organization. Some early tax schedules list watercourse, value and acreage of real estate, men over twenty-one, young men between sixteen and twenty-one, slaves, and horses. Extant county tax schedules from the date of organization of the county through 1892 have been microfilmed for most counties and are available from the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives and the FHL.
Numerous original tax records from 1892 are available at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. The Kentucky Historical Society has tax records to 1875.
Kentucky tax lists are arranged by county and date. Within the counties, residents within its districts are grouped together and names usually arranged under the beginning letter of the surname, although these are not in strict alphabetical order. Some early tax records have been published and are available in research libraries.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
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See Also Other Kentucky Genealogical Addresses
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
- ARCHIVES/RECORDS DEPARTMENT, 514
West Liberty Street (Room 100),
(Old Jail Building)
- Local Kentucky Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
- The Kentucky Historical Society, 100 W. Broadway, Frankfort, KY 40601; 877-444-7867,[EMAIL]
- The Kentucky Genealogical Society, PO Box 153, Frankfort, KY 40602-0153 [EMAIL]
- Kentucky Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
- Kentucky Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com
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See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Kentucky
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Click Here to Search Kentucky Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. |
There are many churches and cemeteries in Jefferson County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Jefferson County Tombstone Transcription Project.
Church membership of early Kentuckians include Baptist, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Some church records were published, others were microfilmed, some are housed in church repositories, but many remain in the local church. Church records and histories may be found in periodicals pertaining to Kentucky. Repositories include the DAR Library, the FHL, Kentucky Historical Society, University of Kentucky Library, and Filson Club Library.
Many
collections of cemetery records are available for Kentucky.
In 1977 the Kentucky Historical Society began computerizing
extant cemetery records for the state. Cemetery tombstone transcriptions
are included in the Ardery collection.
Kentucky regional libraries and some other large genealogical
libraries outside the state have collections of Kentucky cemetery
transcriptions. In addition, publications pertaining to Kentucky
and Kentuckians frequently contain cemetery records for the
state.
Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Jefferson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Jefferson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
- Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
- Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
- Sites on USGenweb: [ Jefferson County ] [ Kentucky ] [ Main Page ]
- [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
- Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
- Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
- Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
- Kentucky Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
- Jefferson County, Kentucky Family Books at Amazon.com
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Continued from Above......
Most of the exurban development, however, took
place in the eastern section of the county along the Louisville-Lexington
railroad. Anchorage, a community of fine homes, grew up
around the antebellum estate of Edward D. Hobbs. Incorporated
as a town in 1879, it was the first municipality to be
created since Jeffersontown and Middletown, in 1797. Another
prestigious exurban community, Glenview, developed about
the same time on the high hills overlooking the Ohio River
above Louisville. Glenview, Harrod's Creek, and other exurban
centers along the Ohio River were served by a narrow-gauge
railroad completed in 1877 to Sand Hill (later Prospect)-the
first built primarily to serve commuters from large estates
to their Louisville offices. In 1904 it was converted into
an electrically operated interurban line, and another interurban
was built to Jeffersontown. Soon a network of such lines
served the county, and two extended beyond-one to Shelbyville
and another to La Grange. The interurban cars dashing through
the rural landscape created corridors of urbanization as
more city dwellers found their way to the countryside.
By 1910 the dim outline of a metropolitan area embracing
both city and county was evident. In that year 14.8 percent
of the total county population of 263,000 lived outside
Louisville, compared with 12 percent in 1900.
Urbanization was beginning to nibble at the
county's rural tranquility and the pace increased as the
automobile came onto the scene. The fiscal court (known
as the court of claims until 1892), made up of ten justices
of the peace, one from each precinct, became unequal to
the increasing governmental burden of paving roads, building
and administering schools, preventing crime, and the like.
This, plus the nationwide trend toward shorter ballots,
prompted the move toward a commission form of government.
With the permission of the General Assembly and the approval
of local voters, Jefferson became the first Kentucky county
to adopt the commission form of government, replacing the
justices with three commissioners on January 1, 1918.
The prosperity of the 1920s brought more urban
incursions into county farmland and the creation of the
small municipalities of Strathmoor Village (1928) and Strathmoor
Manor (1931) near Bowman Field southeast of Louisville.
As automobile ownership increased, even during the Great
Depression years of the 1930s, the interurban electric
lines quietly closed, one by one; the last, to Prospect,
quit in 1935. Then in 1938 an act of the General Assembly
changed the relationship of Louisville to the smaller municipalities
in the county and paved the way to an explosive growth
in small incorporated cities in the years after World War
II.
With the repeal of prohibition in 1933, distilleries
were reopened, many of the new ones choosing an area immediately
southwest of Louisville known for many years as St. Helens.
The plant built by Joseph Seagram and Son opened in 1937
as the world's largest distillery. Although Louisville
had cast annexing eyes at these new enterprises, it had
not yet done so when the 1938 General Assembly approved
a bill requiring that at least 50 percent of the residents
of an incorporated community facing annexation by a Class
I city (a category that included only Louisville) must
approve the action beforehand. Two months after the bill
was passed, the city of Shively was created, including
all the distilleries. The law effectively prevented Louisville
from annexing the area.
The possibilities inherent in this legislation
were not lost on the residents of the spate of new subdivisions
that seemed to sprout overnight in the county, beginning
in the late 1940s. Nor were they lost on established communities
like St. Matthews, which took the precaution of becoming
an incorporated city in 1950 to prevent annexation by its
larger neighbor. Suburbanization, which began in the 1920s
and was held in check for fifteen years by the Great Depression
and World War II, burst the dam when the war ended. Between
1950 and 1960, county population outside Louisville nearly
doubled, to 220,308, or 36 percent of the combined city-county
total. By 1960 the number of incorporated cities, some
very small, was about thirty.
A major factor in suburban growth was the expressway
system, once seen as a way to discourage commercial growth
on the fringes. That was the rationale advanced by the
Louisville Area Development Association about 1947 for
a belt highway around the city (now the Watterson Expressway)
and a connecting spur to the central business district
(now 1-65). The first sections were opened in the early
1950s, preceding the national interstate highway system
that would bisect the county from east to west and north
to south. Each interchange became a node of commercial
and residential development. By 1972 the county population
outside Louisville exceeded the city's. In fact, were it
not for signs posted along its perimeter, it would be impossible
to identify the Louisville boundaries.
Attempts to merge city and county into a single
entity to meet the new circumstances have been consistently
rebuffed by the suburban areas in 1956, 1970, 1982, and
1983. The problem of divided governmental authority was
partially solved, however, with the approval by the state
legislature of a city-county compact effective January
1, 1987, and continuing until the end of 1998. Louisville
has agreed not to annex unincorporated county areas, and
no new small cities will be created in the county-which
counted a total of ninety-three when the agreement took
effect. City and county share occupational tax revenues
under a complex formula, a single economic development
office has replaced the former two competing agencies,
and the county has increased its share of funding to joint
city-county agencies.
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