Woodford County

The ninth Kentucky county and the last organized by Virginia prior to Kentucky's separation, Woodford County was created from Fayette on November 12, 1788. It is bordered by Anderson, Fayette, Franklin, Jessamine, Mercer, and Scott counties. The 192-square-mile county was named in honor of Gen. William Woodford, a Virginia officer in the Revolutionary War who died a prisoner of war of the British. Versailles is the county seat.

The topography is gently rolling and deep limestone formations make the soil productive for horses, cattle, and crops. In the antebellum era, agriculture was a combination of small farms and large plantations. Crops included hemp, tobacco, corn, and hay. The slaves that were the labor force of the plantations outnumbered whites by 5,829 to 5,276 in 1860. Thoroughbred farms expanded their operations in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and today horse farms such as Ashford Stud, Gainsborough Farm, Hurstland, Nevertell, Pin Oak, Three Chimneys, and Shadwell are dominant forces in the international thoroughbred industry. England's Queen Elizabeth II, who breeds thoroughbreds, has made repeated visits to Lane's End Farm in Woodford County, owned by William S. Farish III who was Ambassador to the United Kingdom. The county's 1989 agricultural receipts ranked second among counties; 82 percent came from livestock and poultry.

Settlers in the 1770s included John Floyd, militia leader and surveyor; Col. William Steele; Joseph Lindsey, who explored Elkhorn Creek; John Lowery; Benjamin Berry, who explored the Falls of the Ohio; James McConnell, later involved in the founding of Cincinnati; and Robert Patterson, who helped settle Lexington. The early settlers clashed with Indians who sought to preserve their hunting grounds. Prehistoric Native Americans lived in what is now Woodford County at Lovedale, where their earthworks and burial sites are found. The county has two incorporated towns, Versailles and Midway, and includes the communities of Duckers, Faywood, Fintville, Millville, Mortonsville, Nonesuch, Pisgah, and Troy.

Pisgah Presbyterian Church was organized in Woodford County in 1784, and its Kentucky Academy became a part of Transylvania University in 1798. James Parrish and Dr. Lewis Pendleton founded a female orphan's school in Midway that became Midway College, the only women's college in the state.

In July 1862 Confederate troops destroyed the Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad line (now CSX Transportation). While the tracks were being torn up, G.A. Ellsworth, a telegraph operator with Gen. John Hunt Morgan, sent false dispatches to Union troops to confuse their movements. Two months later, Confederate forces briefly occupied Versailles. Union troops forced the Confederates out of the county, and Union Gen. Stephen Burbridge executed four guerrillas near Midway in retaliation for a murder by Confederate guerrilla Marcellus Jerome Clarke ("Sue Mundy"). In February 1865 Clarke's men attacked Midway, robbing residents, burning the railroad station, and stealing fifteen of Robert A. Alexander's prized thoroughbreds. After the Civil War, Midway, an L&N development where streets were named for the railroad's board of directors, was rebuilt.

Quebecor World Inc. prints books and maps in the county, OSRAM/Sylvania manufactures fluorescent lamps and glass tubing, the Kuhlman Company produces transformers, and L&N Glass makes automobile windshields and YH-America makes auto parts. Both CSX and the Norfolk Southern railways serve the county, as do U.S. 60, U.S. 62, and the Bluegrass Parkway. Many county residents commute to jobs in Lexington and Frankfort. The thoroughbred horse farms, the rich architectural history of Versailles, and the quaint shopping district on Depot Street in Midway draw visitors to Woodford County, where tourism receipts in 1988 were $3.4 million, a 62 percent increase over the previous year.

The county had 14,434 inhabitants in 1970; 17,778 in 1980; 19,955 in 1990; and 23,208 in 2000.

From: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by John Kleber. University Press of Kentucky. Copyright 1992


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