Kentucky became a state of the United States of America on June 1, 1792.
The U.S. state of Kentucky is divided into 120 counties. Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties were the first counties created on May 1, 1780, and the last county to be formed was McCreary County on March 12, 1912.
Today’s Kentucky counties did not always exist in the present form. They went through many different changes in the space of a few short years. Kentucky Counties were first formed while part of the colony and commonwealth of Virginia, and after that the independent District of Kentucky.
Prior to 1777, all of present-day Kentucky sat as an unorganized wilderness with no local civil government, functioning as a frontier district of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains.
The first localized civil boundaries were organized on December 31, 1776, from the westernmost portion of Virginia. The original territorial boundary included all of present-day Kentucky and extended to the Mississippi River.
There were originally 3 Kentucky counties when it was first organized under Virginia rule in 1780, they were Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky entered the union as the 15th state on June 1, 1792.
Former counties and history
Beckham County Created on February 9, 1904, from parts of Carter, Elliott, and Lewis counties. Named for J.C.W. Beckham, the sitting Governor of Kentucky who signed the creation bill. Just three months after its creation, a lawsuit from a local businessman proved the territory violated strict state constitutional guidelines regarding minimum square mileage and proximity to existing county seats. It was officially dissolved by the Kentucky Supreme Court later that same year.
Fincastle County Created in 1772 by the Colony of Virginia out of Botetourt County. It originalmente encompassed all of modern-day Kentucky, alongside portions of southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia. Due to the immense hardship frontier families faced traveling across the mountains to reach the eastern county seat, Virginia officially abolished it on December 31, 1776, to form Kentucky County.
Josh Bell County Created on February 5, 1867, from portions of Harlan and Knox counties during the Reconstruction era. It was named in honor of Joshua Fry Bell, a prominent local lawyer, U.S. Congressman, and state legislator. Finding the prolonged name too cumbersome for official record-keeping, the state legislature passed a bill on January 31, 1873, formally shortening its name to Bell County.
Kentucky County Created on December 31, 1776, by the Virginia General Assembly from the dissolved territory of Fincastle County. It spanned nearly the entire modern boundaries of the state. On November 1, 1780, Virginia entirely abolished the massive county to establish its first three smaller subdivisions: Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln counties.