Stanford
Kentucky
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City of Stanford
History
The first paths blazed through the wilderness in central Kentucky were "traces", notches axed into trees to make the route. Often these traces followed trails cut by the hooves of buffalo or tramped down by the feet of the Indian. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail to Kentucky and with some 30 axe men cut a path by joining up buffalo trails and Indian tracks to form the first continuous route through the Cumberland Gap.
Colonel Benjamin Logan, a Virginian seeking fortune in Kentucky, was chiefly responsible for the trace that bore his name. Logan had come through the mountains with Daniel Boone but struck west while Boone went north to found Boonesboro on the Kentucky River. Logan's Trace led to the banks of a creek near a spring where he built a fort that he called St. Asaph's, who was a Welsh saint traditionally honored on May 1, the day the construction of the fort began in 1775.
St. Asaph's soon became better known as Logan's Fort or Logan's Station. May 20, 1777, brought a fierce fifty-three day Indian attack on the wilderness fort, but one which those inside successfully resisted. This caused the tiny fort to be described as "standing fort" and it said the contraction of this into "Stanford" gave the city its present name. Stanford is the county seat of Lincoln County, one of the first three counties into which Kentucky was divided in 1780 while still part of Virginia.
In 1795 Logan's trace became part of the famous Wilderness Road by act of the Kentucky Legislature. Construction of this important road was started while Isaac Shelby, a Lincoln County resident, served as Kentucky's first Governor. Shelby's home, "Traveler's Rest", noted for its hospitality, is located just four miles northwest of Stanford.
Today automobile Route U.S. 150 follows generally where the Wilderness Road once led. Along Route 150, a few miles south of Stanford, stands the William Whitley House, built beside the Wilderness Road and known as the first brick house west of the Allegenies. Stanford's Main Street was once part of the Wilderness Road and is the oldest Main Street in Kentucky. The road passed the first court house built in Kentucky. The Harvey Helm Library and Museum is built around the oldest church in the state.
In later years, around 1865, the railroad became a major part of Stanford and provided a much needed rail head for Southern Kentucky. The Depot that served this rail head is located just north of Main Street in Stanford and has been restored to its original splendor. Beside the depot, one will find the first steam powered flour mill in Kentucky and just below the mill and the depot one will find one of the first automobile garage's in the state, circa 1905.
The first paths blazed through the wilderness in central Kentucky were "traces", notches axed into trees to make the route. Often these traces followed trails cut by the hooves of buffalo or tramped down by the feet of the Indian. In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail to Kentucky and with some 30 axe men cut a path by joining up buffalo trails and Indian tracks to form the first continuous route through the Cumberland Gap.
Colonel Benjamin Logan, a Virginian seeking fortune in Kentucky, was chiefly responsible for the trace that bore his name. Logan had come through the mountains with Daniel Boone but struck west while Boone went north to found Boonesboro on the Kentucky River. Logan's Trace led to the banks of a creek near a spring where he built a fort that he called St. Asaph's, who was a Welsh saint traditionally honored on May 1, the day the construction of the fort began in 1775.
St. Asaph's soon became better known as Logan's Fort or Logan's Station. May 20, 1777, brought a fierce fifty-three day Indian attack on the wilderness fort, but one which those inside successfully resisted. This caused the tiny fort to be described as "standing fort" and it said the contraction of this into "Stanford" gave the city its present name. Stanford is the county seat of Lincoln County, one of the first three counties into which Kentucky was divided in 1780 while still part of Virginia.
In 1795 Logan's trace became part of the famous Wilderness Road by act of the Kentucky Legislature. Construction of this important road was started while Isaac Shelby, a Lincoln County resident, served as Kentucky's first Governor. Shelby's home, "Traveler's Rest", noted for its hospitality, is located just four miles northwest of Stanford.
Today automobile Route U.S. 150 follows generally where the Wilderness Road once led. Along Route 150, a few miles south of Stanford, stands the William Whitley House, built beside the Wilderness Road and known as the first brick house west of the Allegenies. Stanford's Main Street was once part of the Wilderness Road and is the oldest Main Street in Kentucky. The road passed the first court house built in Kentucky. The Harvey Helm Library and Museum is built around the oldest church in the state.
In later years, around 1865, the railroad became a major part of Stanford and provided a much needed rail head for Southern Kentucky. The Depot that served this rail head is located just north of Main Street in Stanford and has been restored to its original splendor. Beside the depot, one will find the first steam powered flour mill in Kentucky and just below the mill and the depot one will find one of the first automobile garage's in the state, circa 1905.