Kentucky Historical Marker #2049
Bond-Washington School. This site purchased in 1869 by the trustees of the African School of Elizabethtown. It was the location of District A School from 1888-1923, when East Side High School was built with aid from the local African American community and the Rosenwald fund. Renamed Bond-Washington Graded and High School, 1928. Served as high school until 1956; elementary school until 1959. (Reverse) Julius Rosenwald Fund - Funded in 1917 by Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish businessman, philanthropist, and president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. Fund provided for construction of 158 schools in Ky. between 1917 and 1932 to offer quality education to African Americans. This led to education of over 500,000 students. Presented by City of Elizabethtown and the Ky. African American Heritage Commission.
1/2 mi. SE of Elizabethtown, Cemetery Park, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1912
John Larue Helm, 1802-1867. This Hardin Co. native was one of Kentucky's most celebrated lawyers. In legislature 17 yrs.; rose to House Speaker. Elected lt. gov., he became gov. when John J. Crittenden resigned, 1850. Pres. of L&N R.R., 1854-60, when railroad completed. A harsh critic of Pres. Lincoln, Helm favored neutrality for Ky. in the Civil War. Elected gov., 1867. Died after five days in office.
Elizabethtown, Jct. US 31-W & KY 447, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1727
Gallantry in Action. Sergeant George E. Larkin, Jr., a native of Colesburg, Hardin Co., took part in Doolittle's raid on Japanese mainland, April 18, 1942. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and decorated by the Chinese government; won award for being first Kentuckian to bomb enemy capital. Famous raid boosted American morale. Six months later, the 23-year-old was killed in Asia.
Elizabethtown, Courthouse lawn, US 31-W & 62, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1651
Three Forts. Elizabethtown began in 1780 when three forts were built by Samuel Haycraft, Sr., Col. Andrew Hynes and Capt. Thomas Helm for common defense against Indians. The forts were one mile apart, the only settlements between falls of Ohio and Green River. Hynes laid out 30 acres for public buildings, 1793. In 1797 County Court established the town named for Hynes' wife.
Adjacent to Elizabethtown City Cem., Elizabethtown, US 31-W, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1621
Severns Valley Baptist Church. The oldest continuing Baptist congregation west of Allegheny Mts., organized June 17, 1781, near Hynes Station. Preceded by log structures, this edifice completed, 1834, by John Y. Hill. Sold to First Baptist Church, 1897, and services held until 1974, except when USA soldiers used building as hospital, 1865. Listed on National Register of Historic Places, 1974.
112 West Poplar St., Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1534
Commodore Joshua Barney. Famous American privateer and naval hero in War of 1812. Barney owned many acres of land in Hardin Co. A friend of George Washington, John Paul Jones and Napoleon Bonaparte. His greatest desire was to bring his family to Elizabethtown but he died en route, December 1, 1818. Buried, Pittsburgh. His wife came on to Elizabethtown and lived in this house a few years. (Reverse) First Brick House - Site of Elizabethtown's first brick house, built 1801-1803 for Major Benjamin Helm. He was a prominent court clerk and town's first bank president. Helm rode horseback to Lexington, 90 miles, for nails. Sold the house and two acres of land to Joshua Barney, who wanted to end his days here. Later, home of Elizabethtown's historian, Samuel Haycraft.
201 N. Main St., Elizabethtown, KY 61, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1505
Brown-Pusey House. This Georgian mansion was built in 1825 by John Y. Hill. It is known as "Hill House" and as "Aunt Beck Hill's Boarding House." Jenny Lind sang here in 1851 and General George Armstrong Custer and wife boarded here, 1871-73. Doctors William Allen and Robert Brown Pusey gave the house to Elizabethtown in 1923 for a Community House and library.
128 N. Main St., Elizabethtown, KY 61, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1494
Van Meter Fort. Site of fort, erected 1780, by Jacob Van Meter, Sr., who led a party of 100 settlers from Va. to "the Falls of the Ohio." They made their journey on 27 flatboats and suffered many hardships during their trip. One member of group, John Swan, was killed by Indians. Van Meter built his fort by the spring which supplied water for Elizabethtown for many years. Over. (Reverse) Van Meter Fort - Van Meter brought seed wheat from Virginia; built a grist mill. The fort, October, 1790, was scene of an Indian skirmish. Van Meter was a founder of Elizabethtown and Hardin County. Helped organize Severn's Valley Baptist Church, 1781; served in Revolutionary War as Captain in Clark's Northwest expedition. Buried at fort; remains later moved to Elizabethtown Cemetery.
1/2 mi. W. of Elizabethtown, US 62, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1468
Lincoln Heritage House. Pioneer homes of the Hardin Thomas family. One-room log cabin built circa 1789. Thomas Lincoln, the father of 16th President, did the carpentry and cabinet work on the four-room log structure built ca. 1805. For several years Thomas Lincoln was a resident of Hardin County, which then included other present-day counties. Restoration was made possible by Hardin County Historical Society.
Elizabethtown, 1/4 mi. E. of US 31-W, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #1116
Elizabethtown Battle. Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan on his second raid into Kentucky, with 3,900 men, was met by 652 Union troops under Lt. Col. H. S. Smith, Dec. 27, 1862. Object of raid was destruction of L&N R.R., main artery for USA troop movement south. Morgan surrounded town and placed artillery on the cemetery hill. Elizabethtown garrison was destroyed. Federals surrendered.
Elizabethtown, at Cemetery, US 31-W, 62, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0960
Hardin County. Formed from Nelson County by first Legislature, 1792. Named for Col. John Hardin, veteran of Dunmore's War, 1774, Am. Rev., Gen. Clark's Wabash Exped., 1787, and Maumee Indian campaign, 1790. Murdered by Ohio Indians while U.S. peace envoy to them in 1792. In 1780 Elizabethtown settled by Samuel Haycraft, Thomas Helm and Andrew Hynes, for whose wife town named.
Elizabethtown, Courthouse lawn, US 31-W, 62, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0932
Lincoln-Haycraft Memorial Bridge, 1936. Here along Severn's Valley Creek Samuel Haycraft, Sr., built mill raceway in 1796. Thomas Lincoln, father of Pres. Lincoln, employed in building it, received his first monetary wages when about 21 years of age. Abraham Lincoln, age 7, with his family on way to Indiana in 1816, crossed this creek about here and went thru Elizabethtown.
Elizabethtown at bridge, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0833
Helm Cemetery. This pioneer cemetery includes the graves of John LaRue Helm, who served two incomplete terms as Governor of Kentucky, and his son, Confederate Gen. Ben Hardin Helm, who fell at battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863. Gen. Helm and Abraham Lincoln married half-sisters, Emilie and Mary Todd, the daughters of Robert S. Todd of Lexington, Kentucky.
Elizabethtown, Jct. US 31-W & KY 447, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0748
Captured and Burned. On second Kentucky raid CSA Gen. J. H. Morgan's cavalry came from Glasgow to Hammonville, Dec. 25, 1862. Next day sent some to Bacon Creek and others to Nolin to take stockades and burn trestles, both places. At Nolin, two miles west, 76 Union men taken prisoners and paroled. Stockades and trestles burned both places. Railroad out of use for critical time. See map.
9 mi. S. of Elizabethtown, US 31-W, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0606
General Custer Here. Cavalry and infantry battalions under Gen. George Custer assigned here, 1871 to 1873, to suppress Ku Klux Klan and carpetbaggers, to break up illicit distilleries. Those gangs becoming inactive, he was sent to Chicago to maintain order after big fire. Returning, he led an active social life. In 1873 ordered to Dakota, ending in "Custer's Last Stand," June, 1876. Erected April 16, 1964. For more information, see ExploreKYHistory: General Custer Here
Elizabethtown, Courthouse lawn, US 31-W, 62, Elizabethtown, KY, United States
Kentucky Historical Marker #0525
Morgan's Second Raid. North of here Morgan's Raiders destroyed two of the most important L&N R.R. trestles Dec. 28, 1862, rendering line impassable for two months. Circling this area, they returned to Tenn. on Jan. 2, 1863. In eleven days they destroyed $2,000,000 of U.S. property, wrecked L&N line from Munfordville to Shepherdsville, and captured, then paroled, 1,877 prisoners. Erected in 1962.
Elizabethtown at Cemetery, US 31-W, Elizabethtown, KY, United States