Mercer County History

Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county is named for General Hugh Mercer.

Hugh Mercer (January 17, 1726 – January 12, 1777) was a physician, a brigadier general in the Continental Army and a close friend to George Washington. Mercer died as a result of his wounds received at the Battle of Princeton and became a fallen hero and rallying symbol of the American Revolution.

Mercer County, Virginia (later Kentucky) was formed from Lincoln County, Virginia. It was the 7th county to be formed and was created on 1 Aug 1785. Page 627.

A courthouse fire occurred on 15 May 1928.

Mercer County was one of the first settled in the Commonwealth. In 1769, Daniel Boone wintered in a cave on the land occupied first as Trigg's Station, later called Viney Grove. Settlers were attracted by the deep soils, excellent for crops such as tobacco, corn, grains, strawberries and hay; the fertile grasslands were excellent for raising livestock. In 1773, James Harrod built the first permanent residence on the site known as Harrodstown, then Old Town, then later called Harrodsburg. Harrodsburg began as a number of log cabins set upon 1/2 to 5 acre lots, and were distributed to a group of thirty men by lottery. Shortly after these residences were established, Indian raids permeated the area to the point that habitation was impossible, the settlers leaving town in early 1774. In March, after the Shawnee signed the Treaty of Camp Charlotte with Lord Dunmore, Harrod and his party returned to resettle. The company was able to build more cabins and make improvements. However continued Indian attacks wreaked havoc upon the residences located on the outer edges of the community. Construction of a stockade started in the fall of 1775 and was completed the next year. The fort enclosed an area of approximately an acre and a half, with a spring and stream running through for fresh water supply. In the center was a powder magazine. These Stations were centers in which families were gathered for mutual protection; the men gradually extending out their farming operations as safety allowed. New settlers who arrived in Kentucky went out from the fort at Harrodstown to build other stations:

• Boiling Spring
• Brown's Station
• Danville Station
• Fontain Bleu
• Gordon's (Harlan's) Station
• William McAfee's Station
• Major Hugh McGary's Station
• Trigg's Station
• Wilson's Station
• Liberty Fort
• Frowman's Station

In 1780, the Virginia Assembly divided Kentucky County into Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties, with Harrodstown the county seat for Lincoln County. In 1785, Mercer County was formed out of Lincoln County, and Harrodstown remained the county seat. At the same time the town's name was officially changed to Harrodsburg.

Harrodsburg, during the latter part of the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century, was a thriving community. Greenville and Harrodsburg Springs were among the finest spas in the South. Beaumont College, a well-known school for girls, was built on the site of Greenville Springs.

Also during the first half of the nineteenth century, the Shakers built a large and prosperous community at Pleasant Hill in accordance to Mother Ann's vision, "the next opening of the gospel will be in the southwest; it will be a great distance, and there will be a great work of God." They were excellent farmers, and pioneered the silk culturing in Kentucky. Garden seed and preserves were their chief exports, but they were also known for brooms, coopersware, weaving implements, shoes, tanned skins, woolen goods, and pressed cheese. In addition to the Shakers, a sect of the Dutch Reformed Church settled in Harrodsburg. Their meetinghouse, Old Mud Meeting House, named for the extensive mud daubing used in its construction, was the first meetinghouse west of the Allegheny Mountains.

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