FACT SHEET – HARRODSBURG
Founded in 1774, Harrodsburg is Kentucky’s oldest city and the coolest place in history. Sitting
amidst four National Register Historic Districts in the heart of Kentucky’s famed Bluegrass region, it is
home to a lineup of superlative attractions: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, the largest restored Shaker
community in America; Beaumont Inn, the state’s oldest family-operated country inn; Old Fort Harrod
State Park with full-scale replica fort commemorating the first permanent settlement west of the
Allegheny Mountains; the authentic 115-passenger Dixie Belle sternwheeler, providing an up-close view
of one of the most unique ecosystems in the country at the geologically ancient Kentucky River Palisades;
and an early American drug store at the circa 1865 Dedman’s Drugstore with original soda fountain.
Authentic, affordable and family-friendly, Harrodsburg has a hometown atmosphere with streets lined
with architectural treasures, shops spilling over with period crafts and restaurants dishing up traditional
Southern cooking.
“FIRST CITY” FIRSTS
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Established on June 16, 1774,Harrodsburg is the oldest permanent English settlement west of the
Allegheny Mountains.
Kentucky County, Virginia, held the first court of law in Harrodsburg (1776-1780).
The first Supreme Court for the District of Kentucky met here in 1783.
Harrodsburg was the site for Kentucky’s first religious service, school, practicing physician’s
office, harvested crops of corn and wheat, handmade plow, loom and woven material.
The parent schools for Transylvania College (Father Rice’s School) and the University of
Kentucky (Bacon College) originated in Mercer County.
Mrs. Jane Coomes taught the first wilderness school at Fort Harrod; over the years Greenville,
Daughter’s, Beaumont, Hogsett, Wayman (an early private school for African-American children)
and others followed.
Pleasant Hill, today a living history museum, was the first historic site in the country to be
designated a National Historic Landmark from boundary to boundary.
Bright Leaf Golf Resort was the first all inclusive golf resort in Kentucky.
HISTORICAL FIGURES
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Colonel James Harrod erected Fort Harrod as a military installation.
Aaron Burr and General Lafayette were guests at Wingfield Tavern, one of the earliest taverns in
Kentucky.
DID YOU KNOW?
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From 1806 to 1853, Harrodsburg attracted crowds of summer visitors. Greenville Springs and
later, Harrodsburg Springs, offered mineral water, gambling, horse racing and gala
entertainment at this “Saratoga of the South.” During this era of the spa, the most romantic story
is of the Unknown Belle who died while dancing at one of the grand balls and is buried in
present day Young’s Park, where her grave is marked and is cared for by the city.
Fine pre-Civil War homes, churches, taverns and public buildings of log, stone and hand-fired
brick allow the student of architecture to observe these materials still in use. The crude log cabin
where Abraham Lincoln’s parents were married in 1806, the stone houses built by the McAfee
brothers and Morgan Row (the oldest complete standing brick row house in Kentucky) are
examples. Without leaving the county, all styles of architecture employed in Kentucky are found
– Georgian, Federal, American Gothic and others.
The Old Mud Meeting House was the first Dutch-Reformed Church west of the Allegheny
Mountains. Now a National Historic Landmark, it is on the Historic Harrodsburg
Walking/Driving Tour.
The Mercer County Fair and Horse Show, held annually since 1828, is believed to be the oldest
continually-run event of its type in North America.