Perryville, Kentucky

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Historical Marker #1284 in Boyle County highlights the community of Perryville and notes that this town was named after a War of 1812 veteran.

Originally established in a cave located near the Chaplin River, Perryville was first called Harberson's Station after an early settler. In 1815, however, Edward Bullock and William Hall officially organized the town and named it Perryville, in honor of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who had won a great naval victory on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The town was incorporated by the Kentucky legislature on January 17, 1817.

Although the town name recognizes an 1812 hero, the community is best known as the site of Kentucky's largest Civil War battle. On October 8, 1862, more than 40,000 Union and Confederate troops clashed near the village, resulting in about 7,500 casualties.

The marker reads:

Established as Harberson's Fort
before 1783 by James Harberson,
Thomas Walker, Daniel Ewing and
others at crossroads of Danville-
Louisville, Harrodsburg-Nashville
routes. Town laid out by Edward
Bullock and Wm. Hall, 1815, named
for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry,
victorious at Battle of Lake Erie
in 1813. Incorporated by act of
Ky. Legislature, Jan. 17, 1817.

This marker was erected on October 2, 1969.