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Mercer County, Kentucky

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

—newspaper titles
—digitized titles
72historic places
—earliest paper
1786formed
22,641pop. 2020
27cemeteries
1CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The National Register of Historic Places includes 72 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1971; 1 is also National Historic Landmark. Most listings are in or near Harrodsburg, Salvisa, McAfee.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers

Library of Congress

Newspaper directory data for Kentucky is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Mercer titles at the Library of Congress.

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

57 of 72 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

72 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
Adams HouseSalvisaBuilding1989
Archeological Site 15ME15HarrodsburgSite1985
Aspen HallHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Baldin HouseEbeneezerBuilding1989
Beaumont Avenue Residential DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict1989
Boise HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Bonta HouseDanvilleBuilding1989
Bowman, Col. John, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Burford HillHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Burris HouseSalvisaBuilding1989
Burrus, Nathaniel, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1984
Burton, Ambrose, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1983
CardwelltonHarrodsburgBuilding1977
Clay HillHarrodsburgBuilding1976
College Street Historic DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict1979
Confederate Monument in HarrodsburgHarrodsburgObject1997
Cunningham HouseSalvisaBuilding1989
Curry, Daniel, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Daniel, Benjamin, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1983
Daughters' CollegeHarrodsburgBuilding1980
DorichamHarrodsburgBuilding1976
Dunn, Peter, HouseMcAfeeBuilding1989
Dutch Reformed ChurchHarrodsburgBuilding1973
Elms, TheHarrodsburgBuilding1989
FairviewHarrodsburgBuilding1984
Forsythe-Shewmaker HouseHarrodsburgBuilding2012
Froman-McCann HouseHarrodsburgBuilding2004
Greek Revival Houses of Mercer County: Lynnwood, Walnut Hall, GlenworthHarrodsburgDistrict1978
GreystoneHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Gritton, Floyd, HouseSalvisaBuilding1989
Harrodsburg ArmoryHarrodsburgBuilding2000
Harrodsburg Downtown Historic DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict1980
Harrodsburg Downtown Historic District (Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation)HarrodsburgDistrict2017
Honeysuckle HillHarrodsburgBuilding1983
Jones, Moses, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1979
Lexington and Cane Run Historic DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict2011
Lexington, Harrodsburg, and Perryville Turnpike Rural Historic DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict2003
Magoffin, Beriah, MonumentHarrodsburgObject1997
Matheny-Taylor HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
McAfee Farm Historic DistrictMcAfeeDistrict1989
McAfee, George, HouseCornishvilleBuilding1983
McAfee, James, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1983
McCoun, Joseph-Sharp, D.S., HouseBondville/SalvisaBuilding2005
McGee HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
McGee, John, HouseCornishvilleBuilding1983
Mercer County Jailer's ResidenceHarrodsburgBuilding1989
MillwoodSalvisaBuilding1976
Moreland HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Morgan RowHarrodsburgBuilding1973
Morgan, Joseph, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1990
New Providence Presbyterian ChurchSalvisaBuilding1975
North Main Street Historic DistrictHarrodsburgDistrict2011
Passmore, Benjamin, HotelHarrodsburgBuilding1990
Passmore, Benjamin, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Passmore, George, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Pioneer Memorial State ParkHarrodsburgDistrict1989
Price, Dr. A. D., HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Roach-Ison HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Shaker West Lot FarmHarrodsburgBuilding1983
Shakertown at Pleasant Hill Historic District NHLShakertown and vicinityDistrict1971
Shawnee SpringsHarrodsburgBuilding1976
Smith-Williams HouseBurginBuilding1989
St. Peters AME ChurchHarrodsburgBuilding1989
St. Philips Episcopal ChurchHarrodsburgBuilding1978
Stone Quarters on Burgin RoadHarrodsburgBuilding1983
Sutfield HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Sutfield-Thompson HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1977
Taylor, Capt. Samuel, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1977
US Post Office-HarrodsburgHarrodsburgBuilding1989
WildwoodHarrodsburgBuilding1989
Williams HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1990
Woods, Archibald, HouseHarrodsburgBuilding1983

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Mercer was formed in 1786 (1786-08-01) from Lincoln.

MERCER created by Virginia from LINCOLN.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

Mercer County population from 1790 to 2020 (Census historical series).

23k15k7,091179018001840188019101920196020002020
17901800182018401860188019001920194019501960198020002020
7,0919,64615,58718,72013,70114,14214,42614,79514,62914,64314,59619,01120,81722,641

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

National Park Service sites nearby

NPS

Park units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).

SiteTypeDist.
Camp Nelson National MonumentPark unit24.8 km

Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

27 cemeteries and 25 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 27 of 27 listed
NameLatLon
Adkinson Cemetery37.78537-85.00566
Berea Cemetery37.75007-84.90051
Bethel Baptist Cemetery37.86558-85.01304
Bethel Church Cemetery37.70534-84.89888
Burgin Cemetery37.74646-84.77439
Burgin Memorial Gardens37.74651-84.77463
Carpenter Cemetery37.68233-84.98813
Cog Hill Cemetery37.84747-84.70583
Deep Creek Cemetery37.71934-85.00651
Ebenezer Church Cemetery37.88052-84.81506
Grapevine Cemetery37.8345-84.99558
Hawkins Cemetery37.95713-84.82031
Hopewell Church Cemetery37.8599-84.90822
Kirkwood Cemetery37.91122-84.92788
Mayo Church Cemetery37.87232-84.9275
Mount Hebron Cemetery37.88018-84.98845
Mount Pleasant Cemetery37.78896-84.89356
New Providence Cemetery37.86396-84.86828
Oakland Cemetery37.76118-84.90717
Patterson Family Cemetery37.70795-84.96818
Proctor Cemetery37.73729-84.71855
Robinson Road Cemetery37.73757-84.74439
Rose Grove Cemetery37.78085-85.00446
Royalty Cemetery37.80941-84.91453
Saint Nicholas Cemetery37.73534-84.92912
Sallee Cemetery37.72849-84.69747
Spring Hill Cemetery37.77007-84.83911
Historical populated places — 25 of 25
NameLatLon
Battle37.73683-84.91899
Bellevue37.73957-84.72665
Bruners Chapel37.74737-84.93852
Cane Hurst37.8148-84.79475
Cummins Ferry37.88192-84.77971
Curry37.81545-84.87085
Dunnlora37.84375-84.85245
Edgewood37.7323-84.74617
Fairview37.80558-84.77748
Grapevine37.83445-84.99472
Hickory Grove37.92374-84.96888
Hilltop37.74011-85.00577
Laurel Hill37.71772-84.89691
Liberty37.76505-84.9704
Lucto37.93665-84.91509
Lucton37.94978-84.92977
Lynnwood37.71654-84.76583
Maple Lawn37.79196-84.77521
Maplewood37.73801-84.73596
McGary Station37.805-84.831
Oakland37.76081-84.90736
Perryville Tollgate37.71061-84.86054
Shawnee Run37.81779-84.75911
Wilson Station37.72847-84.86162
Woodlawn37.82526-84.77658

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Civil War battlefields nearby

ABPP

American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) Civil War study areas near this county.

BattlefieldStudy acresDist.Site ID
Perryville12,58120.6 kmKY009

Source: NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Civil War Study Areas (public ArcGIS feature service).

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for Mercer County, Kentucky

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.