We are continuing this ongoing project in an attempt to place events in chronological order so that you can relate what was happening here in Bullitt County to events within the state, and nation. Please note that we know it is incomplete. It will be updated occasionally as we add more to it.
Because datable events did not occur in what is now Kentucky prior to about 1750, we are beginning our timeline at 1700. Also, when you see this image 
it is a link to another page that has more information about the subject. Note that you will have to use your BACK button to return to the timeline.
If you know of an event of local history that you think should be included, use the link above and go to our contact page where you can drop us a note.
| State & Local History | YEAR | America's History |
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| 1700 | ||
| -|- | The construction of Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit (present day Detroit, Michigan) was begun 24 Jul 1701 by a group led by the Frenchman, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. | |
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| 1710 | ||
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| -|- | Immigrants from the Siegerland area in Germany arrived in Virginia in 1714 and were settled in what was once the westernmost outpost of colonial Virginia. They were the beginning of what was to become the Germanna Colonies. | |
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| -|- | In 1717 a second group of German families, these from the Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg area of Germany, joined the earlier German settlers. Many descendants of these two colonies later settled in Kentucky. | |
| -|- | New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French as Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. | |
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| 1720 | ||
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| 1730 | ||
| -|- | The first American public library is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. | |
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| -|- | In Nov 1734, New York newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger is arrested and accused of seditious libel. | |
| -35- | In 1735 Zenger is brought to trial for seditious libel but is acquitted after his lawyer successfully convinces the jury that truth is a defense against libel. | |
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| 1740 | ||
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| -|- | In 1749 French soldiers under Major Pierre-Joseph Celoron de Blainville, with their Indian allies, buried leaden plates in the upper Ohio River Valley stating France's claim to the region. | |
| Dr. Thomas Walker led first organized English expedition on record into Kentucky on 13 Apr 1750. | 1750 | |
| Christopher Gist traveled the Ohio River nearly to the Falls of the Ohio and then through Kentucky during the winter and spring of 1750-51. | -|- | |
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| -|- | In 1754 the French and Indian War erupts as a result of disputes over land in the Ohio River Valley. | |
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| -|- | In Nov 1758, the French abandon Fort Duquesne in the Ohio territory. | |
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| 1760 | ||
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| -|- | Proclamation of 1763 by King George III attempts to close the Kentucky frontier to settlement. | |
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| -65- | In May 1765, the first medical school in America is founded, in Philadelphia. | |
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| On 5 Nov 1768 the Iroquois Indians (Six Nations) signed the treaty of Fort Stanwix, ceding the Kentucky portion of the colony of Virginia to the British. Other tribes, particularly the Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee were not involved. | -|- | |
| The Daniel Boone and John Finley hunting party of "Long Hunters" entered Kentucky in the spring of 1769. | -|- | In July 1769, in the Spanish territory of California, San Diego is founded by Franciscan Friar Juniper Serra. |
| 1770 | "The Boston Massacre" - 5 Mar 1770 | |
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| Captain Thomas Bullitt reaches Falls of the Ohio in July 1773. |
-|- | "Boston Tea Party" - 16 Dec 1773 |
| Oldest permanent settlement west of the Alleghenies was founded in 1774 on the Wilderness Road as Harrodstown (later Oldtown, then Harrodsburg) by James Harrod and his pioneer group. | -|- | Battle of Point Pleasant, fought on 10 Oct 1774 between Virginia militia and Indians from the Shawnee and Mingo tribes, with victory going to the militia. |
| On 1 Apr 1775, Daniel Boone, Richard Henderson and their companions, reached the southern bank of the Kentucky River, and began to build a fort, afterwards known as Boonesborough. | -75- | Revolutionary War begins with Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 Apr 1775. On 15 Jun 1775, the Second Continental Congress unanimously votes to appoint George Washington general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army. |
| Kentucky County created out of Fincastle County, Virginia on 31 Dec 1776. | -|- | Declaration of Independence - 4 Jul 1776 |
| -|- | At Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, the Continental Army led by Washington sets up winter quarters on 17 Dec 1777. | |
| -|- | In July 1778 a force led by George Rogers Clark captured the villages and forts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes from the British. The British under Henry Hamilton retook Vincennes. Continental Congress approves Articles of Confederation on 9 Jul 1778. | |
| Settlement of Brashear's Station in Spring 1779. Saltmaking begun at Bullitt's Lick in Summer 1779. |
-|- | In Feb 1779 Clark returned to Vincennes in a surprise winter expedition and retook the town, capturing Hamilton in the process. This was Clark's most significant military achievement and the source of his reputation as an early American military hero. In the Fall of 1779, Americans suffer a major defeat while attacking the British at Savannah, Georgia. Among the casualties is Count Casimir Pulaski of Poland for whom Pulaski County is named. |
| Mud Garrison and Dowdall's Station built in Spring 1780. George Rogers Clark began construction of Fort Jefferson near the mouth of the Ohio River on 19 Apr 1780. Kentucky divided into Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln counties in 1780. |
1780 | |
| Ferry across Salt River at Dowdall's in operation by June 1781. |
-|- | On 19 Oct 1781, the British surrender Yorktown which brings calls in the English Parliament for an end to the war. |
| Fort Nelson (Louisville) was established in 1782. 50 British rangers and 300 American Indians attacked Bryan's Station on 15 Aug 1782, a prelude to the Battle of Blue Licks, fought four days later. This was the final Revolutionary War battle fought in Kentucky. |
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| Colonel John Floyd killed by Indians near Clear's Cabins in April 1783 |
-|- | England officially declares an end to hostilities in America on 4 Feb 1783. Treaty of Paris ends Revolutionary War on 3 Sep 1783. |
| Walker Daniel, Kentucky's first Attorney General, and Geroge Keightly, a merchant from Ireland, were both killed by Indians in 1784 where the Wilderness Road crosses Brooks Run, near the cabin of Joseph Brooks. Pope Cabin built across from Dowdall's Station by 1784. In 1784, Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the president, was killed by Indians near his home somewhere on Floyd's Creek. |
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| Joseph Brooks operated a tavern in his house on road between the Falls and the Saltworks in 1785. Fort Nonsense erected across from mouth of Long Lick Creek by 1785. Charles Broughton erected Long Lick saltworks by October 1785. In 1785 Nelson County was created out of Jefferson County. |
-85- | |
| Shortly after he arrived in the area, Colonel William Christian, the proprietor of Bullitt's Lick, was killed by Indians in 1786. | -|- | |
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| Henry Crist party ambushed by Indians on Salt River in May 1788. Joseph Brooks built first saltworks at Mann's Lick in 1788. |
-|- | U.S. Constitution goes into effect on 21 Jun 1788. Virginia becomes tenth state to ratify it four days later. |
| -|- | George Washington sworn in as the 1st President of the United States on 30 Apr 1789. | |
| Kentucky County's population in 1790 was estimated at over 73,000 people which included over 12,000 slaves. | 1790 | |
| -|- | Bill of Rights ratified on 15 Dec 1791. | |
| Kentucky the 15th state admitted to the Union - 1 Jun 1792. Isaac Shelby became its first governor. | -|- | |
| Shepherdsville established in 1793. |
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| In September 1794 the last Indian battle in Bullitt County occurred at the junction of Indian Run and Rolling Fork River. |
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| Kentucky General Assembly authorized the opening of the Wilderness Road to wagon traffic in 1795. | -95- | |
| James Garrard became governor on 7 Jun 1796. | -|- | |
| Bullitt County officially came into existence on 1 Jan 1797. |
-|- | John Adams became president on 4 Mar 1797. Eli Whitney patented his cotton gin on 14 Mar 1797. |
| Jonathan Irons opened a saltworks near site of Fort Nonsense in 1798. | -|- | |
| Inspection stations for tobacco, hemp, and flour were established by the state in three Bullitt County locations.
Charles Dunn, who would become the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin Territory (1836), was born at Bullitt Old Licks in Bullitt County on 28 Dec 1799. |
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| Kentucky's estimated population in 1800 was 220,955 which included 40,343 slaves. The total population of Bullitt County was 3,542. |
1800 | On 1 Nov 1800, President John Adams arrived in the new Capital City to take up his residence in the White House, the first president to occupy it. |
| -|- | Thomas Jefferson became president on 4 Mar 1801. | |
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| Saltworks established at Parakeet Lick in 1803. |
-|- | In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court established its right to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. (4 Feb 1803) The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory on 30 Apr 1803. |
| First Bullitt County court house completed in July 1804. Christopher Greenup became governor on 5 Sep 1804. |
-|- | Lewis and Clark began their expedition as they departed from Camp Dubois, near present day Hartford, Illinois on 14 May 1804. |
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| -|- | James Madison became president on 4 Mar 1809. | |
| Bullitt County's population in 1810 was 4,311. Little Flock Baptist Church established in 1810. |
1810 | |
| Nicholas Roosevelt arrived in Louisville in December 1811 aboard his steamer, New Orleans, on his way down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Earthquakes of great magnitude hit western Kentucky along the Mississippi River in December 1811, creating what is now known as Reelfoot Lake. |
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| St. John's Catholic Chapel built in 1812 in Bullitt County near Deatsville. |
-|- | United States declares war on Britain on 18 Jun 1812. |
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| -|- | The Treaty of Ghent (Belgium), ending the war with Britain, was signed on 24 Dec 1814 | |
| -15- | American forces win the Battle of New Orleans on 8 Jan 1815, two weeks after peace treaty signed. | |
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| -|- | James Monroe became president on 4 Mar 1817. | |
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| John W. Beckwith began construction of iron works and flouring mill near Shepherdsville in 1819. |
-|- | The Financial Panic of 1819 marked the end of the economic expansion that had followed the War of 1812. Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States on 22 Feb 1819. |
| In 1820 Bullitt County's total population was 5,831. |
1820 | As part of the Missouri Compromise, Maine is admitted as a free state on 3 Mar 1820. |
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| -|- | Monroe Doctrine declared on 2 Dec 1823. | |
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| Louisville and Portland Canal Company granted a charter to construct a bypass around the Falls of the Ohio in January 1825. | -25- | John Quincy Adams became president on 4 Mar 1825. Eric Canal is opened for traffic on 26 Oct 1825. |
| People had begun to frequent Parakeet Springs for the "medicinal waters" by 1826. |
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| -|- | Construction begins on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad on 4 Jul 1828, the first public railroad in the U.S. | |
| -|- | Andrew Jackson became president on 4 Mar 1829. | |
| Saltmaking ended at Bullitt's Lick in 1830. The Portland Canal around the Falls of the Ohio opened on 5 Dec 1830. In 1830, William Greathouse was the postmaster at Mount Washington and at Shepherdsville it was Abraham Field. |
1830 | President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act on 28 May 1830 to begin the removal of eastern Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River. |
| In 1831 there were two post offices in Bullitt County: Mt. Washington (William Greathouse, postmaster), and Shepherdsville (Abraham Field, postmaster). | -|- | |
| Salt River Steam Cold-blast Charcoal Furnace built in 1832. |
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| John H. Baker begins purchase of ironworks in Shepherdsville in 1833. |
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| James T. Morehead, a native of Bullitt County, became Kentucky Governor following the death of Governor Breathitt on 21 Feb 1834. | -|- | |
| John H. Baker was granted authority by the Kentucky General Assembly to build a dam across Salt River at Shepherdsville on 27 Feb 1835. |
-35- | |
| -|- | Texas declares its independence from Mexico on 1 Mar 1836. | |
| On 1 Aug 1837, the town of Shepherdsville witnessed a rare sight in the sky as Richard Clayton passed overhead in what was the first notable balloon ascension from any point in Kentucky. | -|- | Martin Van Buren became president on 4 Mar 1837. Financial panic begins on 10 May 1837 in New York City, when every bank stopped payment in specie (gold and silver coinage); begins 5 year depression. |
| John D. Colmesnil purchased Parakeet Springs and began making improvements by 1837-8. |
-|- | 15,000+ Cherokee Indians are forced to march to Indian Territory in Oklahoma in 1838. |
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| By 1840 the Paroquet Springs spa was fully operational. |
1840 | |
| -|- | William Henry Harrison became president on 4 Mar 1841. He died on April 4th, and John Tyler became president on that day. | |
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| Belmont Steam Hot-blast Charcoal Furnace built in 1844. |
-|- | The first commercial telegraph line in the United States became operational. First message was "What hath God wrought". |
| Quiry and Tyler firm take control of ironworks in Shepherdsville in 1845. |
-45- | James K. Polk became president on 4 Mar 1845. The Republic of Texas became the 28th state of the United States on 29 Dec 1845. |
| St. Francis Xavier Church of Mt. Washington dedicated on 4 Oct 1846. |
-|- | The United States declares war on Mexico on 13 May 1846. The Oregon Treaty fixes the U.S. - Canada border at the 49th Parallel on 15 Jun 1846. |
| Bullitt Masonic Lodge #155 was chartered on 2 Sep 1847 |
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| -|- | Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California on 24 Jan 1848. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed on 2 Feb 1848 ends Mexican War. | |
| -|- | Zachary Taylor became president on 4 Mar 1849. Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery on the "Underground Railroad" on 6 Dec 1849. | |
| On 5 Mar 1850, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was granted a charter by Kentucky to build a railroad between Louisville and the Tennessee state line in the direction of Nashville. The population of Bullitt County was 6,770 in 1850. |
1850 | President Taylor died on 9 Jul 1850, and Millard Fillmore became president on that day. |
| In 1851 there were six post offices in Bullitt County: Cane Spring (Sexton R. Samuels, postmaster), Coxe's Creek (Henry McCullough), Crooked Creek Furnace (David B. Whitman), Mt. Washington (Linton Snapp), Pitts Point (Wm J. Colbow), and Shepherdsville (Abraham Field). | -|- | |
| -|- | Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published in 1852. | |
| The first track of the L&N Railroad was laid in May 1853. | -|- | Franklin Pierce became president on 4 Mar 1853. |
| There was a cholera outbreak in Shepherdsville in the summer of 1854. | -|- | Kansas-Nebraska Act, establishing the terrritories of Kansas and Nebraska is passed on 30 May 1854. |
| Charles S. Morehead, a former Whig, was elected Governor of Kentucky after he joined the "Know Nothing" or American party in 1855. | -55- | |
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| An act to incorporate the Paroquet Springs Company was approved by the General Assembly on 19 Dec 1857. |
-|- | James Buchanan became president on 4 Mar 1857. |
| -|- | The first official telegram to pass between two continents was from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan on 16 Aug 1858 via the transatlantic telegraph cable. The cable was broken a month later. | |
| By 27 Oct 1859, the L&N Railroad had laid track all the way from Louisville to Nashville. | -|- | Abolitionist John Brown and followers capture federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry VA on 16 Oct 1859. |
| The population of Bullitt County was 7,289 in 1860. |
1860 | |
| On 14 Feb 1861 the General Assembly approved an act to incorporate the town of Pitts Point. Most of the Company "B," Sixth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry were mustered in at Shepherdsville in November 1861. |
-|- | The Confederate States of America is formed on 4 Feb 1861. Abraham Lincoln became president on 4 Mar 1861. |
| Three attempts were made in September 1862 to destroy the railroad bridge at Shepherdsville. On the 7th, Confederate forces captured the stockade on the south bank of Salt River and tried to burn the railroad bridge. They failed due to the bridge's mostly iron construction. On the 21st, a second attempt was made, but was repulsed by Union forces. Then on the 28th, the Confederate Fourth Tennessee regiment took Shepherdsville with orders to destroy the bridge. Lacking necessary powder and drills, they were unable to destroy the bridge before being driven from town by advancing Union forces. |
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| -|- | The Homestead Act becomes law on 1 Jan 1863, allowing settlers to claim 160 acres of land after they had lived on it for 5 years. Union forces under Major General Meade defeated the forces led by Confederate General Lee at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on 3 July 1863. Union forces led by Major General Grant, occupied Vicksburg, Mississippi on 4 July 1863, following a forty day siege of the city. | |
| St. Margaret Catholic Chapel established in Pitts Point in 1864. The Shepherdsville voting district was expanded by the General Assembly |
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| On 27 Feb 1865 the Kentucky General Assembly incorporated the Bullitt's Lick Petroleum Company under the names of B. R. Young and Richard H. Field. | -65- | The Confederate States of America surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the Civil War on 9 Apr 1865. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on 15 Apr 1865, and Andrew Johnson became president on that day. Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ratified on 6 Dec 1865. |
| By 1866 ironworks in Shepherdsville closed. |
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| On 7 Mar 1867 the General Assembly approved an act to incorporate Butler Lodge of the "Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons" located at Pitts Point. |
-|- | The United States purchases the Alaska Territory from Russia on 30 Mar 1867. |
| -|- | Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution ratified on 9 Jul 1868. | |
| Of over 3,900 Union soldiers interred at Cave Hill Cemetery by 1869, 13 had been removed from the vicinity of Shepherdsville, and another 23 from the vicinity of Belmont in Bullitt County. | -|- | Ulysses S. Grant became president on 4 Mar 1869. The first transcontinental railroad in America was completed on 10 May 1869. |
| The population of Bullitt County was 7,781 in 1870. Pitts Point was a small community of 98 people according to the census. In 1870 Bullitt County had eight post offices: Bardstown Junction, Belmont, Cane Spring Depot, Lebanon Junction, Mount Vitio (Brooks), Mount Washington, Pitt's Point, and Shepherdsville. |
1870 | Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution ratified on 3 Feb 1870. |
| In March 1871 the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act giving the people of Bullitt County the right to vote on prohibiting the county government from issuing licenses to sell intoxicating beverages within the county. In August the people voted to prohibit such sales. Colmesnil sold Paroquet Springs to newly formed Paroquet Springs Company on 28 Apr 1871. |
-|- | The Great Chicago Fire burned started Sunday 8 Oct 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about four square miles in Chicago. |
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| In January 1874 the Kentucky General Assembly passed a "local option" law under which the people of Bullitt County subsequently voted to allow the sale of intoxicating beverages withing the county. | -|- | |
| The Zoneton community was named in 1875 by Dr. J. R. Holsclaw, its first postmaster. |
-75- | |
| -|- | Lt. Col. George A. Custer's regiment wiped out by Sioux Indians at Little Big Horn on 25 Jun 1876. | |
| -|- | Rutherford B. Hayes became president on 4 Mar 1877. | |
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| In March 1879 fire destroyed the Paroquet Springs hotel building. |
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| The population of Bullitt County was 8,521 in 1880. |
1880 | |
| St. Eugene's Church, Bardstown Junction, dedicated 1881. |
-|- | James A. Garfield became president on 4 Mar 1881. He died on September 9th, two months after being shot. Chester A. Arthur became president on that day. |
| Dr. John Elias Johnson began practicing medicine in Lebanon Junction in 1882. |
-|- | United States adopts "standard time" on 18 Nov 1882. |
| In 1883 there were post offices at Cane Spring (G. Lutz, postmaster), Cupio (T. J. Ramsey), Lebanon Junction (Mathew J. Cockerill), Mount Vitio (J. C. Perdy), Mount Washington (John W. Davidson), Pitts Point (Francis M. Hardy), and Shepherdsville (C. F. Troutman). | -|- | |
| -|- | First telephone line between Boston and New York was inaugurated on 27 Mar 1884. | |
| -85- | Grover Cleveland became president on 4 Mar 1885. | |
| -|- | Statue of Liberty dedicated on 28 Oct 1886. | |
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| On Christmas Eve 1888 a train collision at Bardstown Junction resulted in two deaths. |
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| -|- | Benjamin Harrison became president on 4 Mar 1889. | |
| A terrible tornado struck Louisville KY on 27 Mar 1890, destroying nearly 800 buildings and killing over 100 people. Eckstein Norton University established in 1890 near Cane Spring in Bullitt County. |
1890 | Sherman Antitrust Act becomes law on 2 Jul 1890. Last major battle of Indian wars at Wounded Knee in South Dakota on 29 Dec 1890. |
| Stone Jail built in Shepherdsville in 1891. | -|- | |
| -|- | Ellis Island becomes the chief immigration station of the United States in 1892. | |
| Squire Murphy of the Murphy and Barber Distillery in Clermont died in August 1893. |
-|- | Grover Cleveland again became president on 4 Mar 1893. |
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| A.M. Barber, surviving partner of the Murphy and Barber Distillery, died in 1896, bringing an end to the distillery's operation. |
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| -|- | William McKinley became president on 4 Mar 1897. | |
| -|- | USS Maine is blown up in Havana harbor. Spanish-American War begins 25 Apr 1898. United States annexes Hawaii on 7 Jul 1898. | |
| Smallpox epidemic hits Lebanon Junction in March, 1899. |
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| Second Bullitt County court house completed in 1900 (front section now used for museum). | 1900 | Galveston hurricane hits on 8 Sep 1900. Nation's population approaches 76 million. |
| -|- | President McKinley was assassinated on 14 Sep 1901. Theodore Roosevelt became president on that day. | |
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| St. Mary Catholic Church at Huber Station is dedicated in March 1903. In November 1903, two L&N freight trains met at the end of the bridge over Salt River, near Shepherdsville, killing two trainmen and injuring two. |
-|- | U.S. acquire the Panama Canal Zone by treaty on 17 Nov 1903. Wright Brothers make historic flight on 17 Dec 1903. |
| John R. T. Barbour shot and mortally wounded his neighbor, Frank J. Hagan, on 11 Aug 1904 in Bullitt County apparently following a land dispute. The railroad yard at Lebanon Junction was described in a 1904 lawsuit. |
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| In 1905 there were two flour mills in Bullitt County, in Zoneton and Smithville. |
-05- | |
| The L&N Freight Depot at Lebanon Junction was destroyed by fire on 31 Jan 1906. William B. Campbell became Bullitt County Sheriff in 1906. In March 1906 Sheby Patterson shot his business partner, Sam Magruder, thinking he was a burglar. The two ran a store in Lebanon Junction. First road bridge over Salt River at Shepherdsville in 1906. Ed Croan, Bullitt County Representative, leads the effort to pass a dog tax bill in the General Assembly in 1906. |
-|- | San Francisco earthquake destroys 4 square miles of city on 18 Apr 1906. |
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| Six people were injured when their automobile broke through a storm-damaged bridge over Salt River at Smithville in July 1908. | -|- | |
| Church of the Holy Redeemer in Chapeze established in 1909. Naval Commander James P. Foster, a native of Bullitt County and Civil War veteran, died 2 Jun 1809. |
-|- | William Howard Taft became president on 4 Mar 1909. Mrs. Taft has 80 Japanese Cherry trees planted along the banks of the Potomac River. |
| Sheriff Campbell left for Colorado for health reasons. |
1910 | |
| In 1911, Ora Lee Roby was elected to the office of County Superintendent of Schools of Bullitt County. |
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| On 24 May 1912, a fire raged through Lebanon Junction, destroying three dry-goods stores, a drug store, a cleaners, pool room, two houses and a Knights of Pythias meeting hall. St. Aloysius Church in Shepherdsville dedicated on 1 Sep 1912. |
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| -|- | Woodrow Wilson became president on 4 Mar 1913. | |
| -|- | On 28 Jun 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. This is considered the spark that started World War I. Panama Canal opens to traffic on 15 Aug 1914. | |
| -15- | Long distance telephone service between New York and San Francisco demonstrated on 25 Jan 1915. | |
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| Shepherdsville Train Wreck on 20 Dec 1917 |
-|- | United States enters World War I on 2 Apr 1917. |
| -|- | A deadly form of influenza (known as Spanish influenza) broke out across the world beginning in August 1918. Millions died from it before it ran its course in 1920. | |
| -|- | Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution ratified on 16 Jan 1919 which prohibits the manufacture, sale, and transportation of liquor. Nineteen Amendment ratified on 18 Aug 1919, giving women the right to vote. | |
| St. Eugene's Church, Bardstown Junction, burned in 1920. |
1920 | |
| -|- | Warren G. Harding became president on 4 Mar 1921. | |
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| Bullitt County Woman's Club estabished in 1923. Armed bandits held up guards at the Carle Wathen Distillery at Hobbs in Bullitt County and got away with 100 cases of whiskey in March 1923. |
-|- | President Harding died on 2 Aug 1923. Calvin Coolidge became president on that day. |
| Bullitt County Public Library established in 1924. | -|- | |
| -25- | The "Scopes Monkey Trial" over the teaching of evolution is held in Tennessee July 10-25, 1925. | |
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| -|- | Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop transatlantic flight in The Spirit of St. Louis on May 20-21, 1927. | |
| In 1928 Isaac W. Bernheim purchases 14,000 acres of heavily logged and worn out farm land in Bullitt and Nelson Counties, Kentucky. |
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| Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is established on 10 May 1929. Samuel Heddin and Clarence Hines were convicted of murdering W. E. Close, a merchant at Cupio. |
-|- | Herbert Hoover became president on 4 Mar 1929. The Great Depression in the United States began on "Black Tuesday" with the Wall Street crash of October, 1929. |
| 1930 | ||
| Jockey Charles Kurtsinger, a native of Shepherdsville, won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes aboard Twenty Grand. | -|- | The Star-Spangled Banner adopted as the national anthem on 3 Mar 1931. |
| -|- | Amelia Earhart completes the first nonstop transatlantic fligh by a woman on 21 May 1932. | |
| Jockey Charles Kurtsinger won the Preakness Stakes aboard Head Play. | -|- | Franklin D. Roosevelt became president on 4 Mar 1933. Twenty-First Amendment ratified on 5 Dec 1933, repealing Prohibition. |
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| Gospel Kingdom Campground established in Bullitt County. |
-35- | Social Security Act passed on 14 Aug 1935. |
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| Flood inundates much of Bullitt County in January, 1937. Jockey Charles Kurtsinger, born in Shepherdsville, won the Triple Crown aboard War Admiral. |
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| St. Benedict's Church, Lebanon Junction, dedicated on 17 Jul 1938. |
-|- | First minimum wage in the U.S. established at 25 cents per hour on 25 Jun 1938. |
| -|- | Germany invaded Poland on 1 Sep 1939, setting off the events leading to World War II. | |
| 1940 | ||
| -|- | United States enters World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941. | |
| Mt. Washington Fire Department organized in 1942. | -|- | |
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| Shepherdsville Lion's Club chartered in 1945. | -45- | President Roosevelt died on 12 Apr 1945. Harry S. Truman became president on that day. World War II ended in Europe on 8 May 1945 when the Allies formally accepted Germany's surrender. Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 8. The war effectively ended on 2 Sep 1945 when Japan formally surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. United Nations is established on 24 Oct 1945. |
| Three-year-old Paul Alden Tyler, lost in the woods, was located safe and unharmed, following a search by civilians, state troopers and soldiers. |
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| -|- | Marshall Plan foreign aid bill passed by Congress on 2 Apr 1948. Berlin airlift of food and fuel to West Berlin begins on 26 Jun 1948 after Soviet Union blockades Berlin. | |
| Bullitt County Fair was revived in 1949 after a 20-year lapse. | -|- | N.A.T.O. established 4 Apr 1949. |
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| Bernheim Forest opens to the public in July 1950. |
1950 | The war in Korea began on 25 Jun 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea across the 38th Parallel. |
| Bullitt County Chamber of Commerce organized on 22 Jun 1951. | -|- | President Truman speaks on first live coast-to-coast television broadcast on 4 Sep 1951. |
| In 1952 a portion of the Paroquet Springs tract was sold as right-of-way for a section of the Kentucky Turnpike. | -|- | |
| -|- | Dwight D. Eisenhower became president on 20 Jan 1953. On 27 Jul 1953, the United States, North Korea, and China signed an armistice, ending the fighting in Korea. | |
| -|- | Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court decision handed down on 17 May 1954. | |
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| Governor Chandler dedicated the 40 mile stretch of the Kentucky Turnpike extending south through Bullitt County on 31 Jul 1956. | -|- | |
| In May 1957, Gov. Chandler addressed a cancer memorial dinner in Shepherdsville. The dinner was believed to be one of the first of its kind in Kentucky. | -|- | |
| Publishers Printing opened its Shepherdsville plant in 1958. | -|- | Explorer I, first American satellite launched on 31 Jan 1958. |
| Joe B. Hall, former Shepherdsville High School teacher and coach, appointed coach at Regis College, a Jesuit school. |
-|- | Alaska becomes 49th state on January 3, and Hawaii becomes 50th state on August 21, 1959. |
| 1960 | ||
| On 9 May 1961, the Salt River crested at 40.84 feet at Shepherdsville, leaving much of the town flooded. Lebanon Junction was also heavily flooded. | -|- | John F. Kennedy became president on 20 Jan 1961. |
| -|- | John Glenn becomes the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth on 20 Feb 1962. | |
| -|- | By 1963, American involvement in the conflict in Vietnam included approximately 16,000 military personnel. Martin Luther King delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech on 28 Aug 1963 at civil rights rally in Washington D.C. President Kennedy was assassinated on 22 Nov 1963. Lyndon B. Johnson became president on that day. | |
| The Salt River crested at 41.5 feet on 11 Mar 1964 at Shepherdsville, the highest level since 1937, leaving much of the town flooded. Lebanon Junction was flooded by the Rolling Fork River which reached a crest of 51 feet upstream at Boston. |
-|- | President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act on 2 Jul 1964. Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution on 7 Aug 1964, giving the president the power to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without declaring war. |
| Warren C. Osborne, a Tennessee native, died on 9 Sep 1965 in an automobile wreck near Mt. Washington, after a high speed chase by local police. He was on the FBI 10 Most Wanted list. | -65- | On 8 Mar 1965, the first U.S. Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. |
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| Bullitt County flag adopted in 1967. |
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| In 1968, an interdenominational group called "Fellowship of Concern" was formed to provide emergency financial aid to needy persons. | -|- | In January 1968 the Tet Offensive in Vietnam marked the turning point in American involvement there. |
| Eight homes were destroyed, and 29 more were damaged as an F3 tornado moved east from two miles south of Shepherdsville over a path 100-200 feet wide from near Bardstown Junction to just north of Clermont on 10 May 1969. | -|- | Richard M. Nixon became president on 20 Jan 1969. Apollo 11 astronaut Neal Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on 20 Jul 1969. |
| Bullitt Central High School opens in Fall 1970. Former high schools in Shepherdsville, Mt. Washington, and Lebanon Junction become junior high schools. | 1970 | |
| -|- | Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, lowering voting age to 18, is ratified on 1 Jul 1971. | |
| -|- | The last remaining American ground troops were withdrawn from Vietnam in August 1972. | |
| -|- | The Paris Peace Accords, signed on 27 Jan 1973, ended direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Skylab was launched in 1973 as the America's first experimental space station. | |
| -|- | President Nixon resigned from office, and Gerald Ford became president on 9 Aug 1974. | |
| -75- | In July 1975, the docking of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft marked the first international manned spaceflight. | |
| In 1976, the Holly collection at Bernheim Forest undergoes significant expansion to become the largest collection of American hollies in North America. | -|- | |
| -|- | Jimmy Carter became president on 20 Jan 1977. | |
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| In January 1979 the EPA closed operations at the A. L. Taylor site, better known as the "Valley of the Drums." |
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| 1980 | ||
| -|- | Ronald Reagan became president on 20 Jan 1981. The first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched into orbit on 12 Apr 1981. Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman Supreme Court justice on 25 Sep 1981. | |
| In 1982, wild turkeys are successfully reintroduced at Bernheim Forest. The Bernheim population becomes an important foundation stock for reintroducing turkeys throughout Kentucky. In 1982, vandals desecrated the grave of Jacob Hubbs, an early Kentucky pioneer who was buried in Bullitt County.
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| -|- | On 28 Jan 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff claiming crew and vehicle. | |
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| Bullitt County Genealogical Society founded in 1988. Camp Crooked Creek Boy Scout Camp opened in the summer of 1988. |
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| -|- | George H. W. Bush became president on 20 Jan 1989. | |
| 1990 | The Hubble telescope was launched into orbit in April 1990. | |
| 14 cars of a CSX freight train plunged off the Salt River bridge at Shepherdsville on 20 Nov 1991, causing the bridge to collapse. | -|- | |
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| -|- | Bill Clinton became president on 20 Jan 1993. | |
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| An F4 tornado formed northwest of Brooks, hit Holsclaw Hill Road, Top Hill Road, near the I-65 Brooks exit, Pioneer Village, Hillview, and the Northfield subdivision in Mt. Washington on 28 May 1996. | -|- | |
| 10.53 inches of rain fell from Feb 28 through Mar 3 in Shepherdsville, swelling Salt River and flooding much of the town. Following the 1997 flood, the Kentucky Hazard Mitigation Team awarded Shepherdsville $2.5 million to purchase flood-damaged property. Lebanon Junction was flooded by the Rolling Fork River which crested at 53 feet upstream at Boston. |
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| -|- | On 14 Dec 1999, control of the Panama Canal was turned over to that nation, with both Panama and the United States responsible for maintaining its neutrality. | |
| 2000 | The Census Bureau officially announced that the 2000 census showed a population of 281,421,906 people in nation. | |
| -|- | George W. Bush became president on 20 Jan 2001. Terrorist Attack on America 11 Sep 2001. | |
| -|- | U.S. Department of Homeland Security created on 25 Nov 2002. | |
| -|- | On 1 Feb 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was lost during re-entry. | |
| Construction completed on third Bullitt County court house in 2004. Bullitt County History Museum opens in 2004. |
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| -05- | Hurricane Katrina destroys much of New Orleans and southern Louisiana and Mississippi in August 2005. | |
| -|- | Former President Gerald Ford died on 26 Dec 2006. He was the oldest living president. | |
| In 2007, Bernheim Forest receives Platinum LEED Green Building Certification from USGBC, first in several state region, for its green Visitor Center. A CSX train derailment near Brooks in Bullitt County on 16 Jan 2007 ignited an explosion that forced significant evacuations. |
-|- | Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives on 4 Jan 2007. |
| -|- | The American economy suffers with a Stock Market crash, and with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac placed under government conservatorship in September 2008. | |
| Col. Edgar Bryant Stansbury, 103, a native of Bullitt County, and son of Emmett L. Stansbury and Mabel Katie Bell Stansbury, died 19 Aug 2009. |
-|- | Barack Obama became president on 20 Jan 2009. On 11 May 2009 the space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time. Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy dies on 5 Nov 2009. |
| In April, Shepherdsville renamed Vine Street as Joe B. Hall Ave. in honor of the former coach at Shepherdsville High School. Shepherdsville's Alexandria Mills won the Miss World title in 2010. |
2010 | A deep water oil rig explosion on 20 Aug 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the worst marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The world watched as 33 Chile miners were rescued on 13 Oct 2010 after spending two months trapped a half-mile underground. |
| On June 30, 17 railroad cars carrying new automobiles derailed between Brooks and Shepherdsville. In the 2011 Fall election, 27% of Bullitt County's 51,388 registered voters cast ballots. |
-|- | The tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks passed without incident. |
This is a work in progress. The webpage is copyright 2011 by Charles Hartley, Shepherdsville KY. All rights are reserved. No part of the content of this page may be included in any format in any place without the written permission of the copyright holder.
If you, the reader, have an interest in any particular part of our county history, and wish to contribute to this effort, use the form on our Contact Us page to send us your comments about this, or any Bullitt County History page. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you feel that we have misspoken at any point, please feel free to point this out to us. |
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This page was last modified on 29 Dec 2011 .
