Explore Harrodsburg's 250th Anniversary Marker Tour
In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Harrodsburg's founding in 1774, this tour highlights the history of the town and surrounding sites in Mercer County. The tour includes all of the Historical Markers within Mercer County, providing digital users and visitors to the area with locally grounded narratives that connect the county and Harrodsburg to wider stories about Kentucky, its past, and its future.
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Marker #1343, "Boone's Cave"
Historical marker #1343 highlights Boone’s Cave in Mercer County, which is regarded as the only cave in Kentucky historically verified to have been visited by Daniel Boone. This is based on information and directions given in historical documents from the early to mid-nineteenth century and the presence of Boone’s initials, “D. B—1770,” which were carved into an oak tree near the entrance of the cave.
Marker #1877: "James Harrod"
James Harrod was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in the 1740s. The exact date of his birth is unknown but estimated to be between 1742 and 1746. Harrod and his nine siblings moved around…
Marker 1637: "Original Fort Harrod Site"
Historical Marker #1637 in Mercer County commemorates the first permanent Anglo-American settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Marker #1449, "the Big Spring"
Historical marker #1449 marks the Big Spring, a vital source of water, and site of the settlement of Harrodsburg.
Marker #1530 "Wilderness Revival"
Historical marker #1530 shares the story of a series of religious revivals that took place in Kentucky during the mid-to-late 1770s.![Marker #1498, "New Providence" [Presbyterian Church]](https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/files/fullsize/46fa8545dc4bd41affdc573fdba73dc3.jpg)
Marker #1498, "New Providence" [Presbyterian Church]
Historical marker #1498 in Mercer County notes the location of New Providence Presbyterian Church, a congregation first established in 1785.
Marker #1603, Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in New Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Situated in northern Mercer County on the grounds of New Providence Presbyterian Church, marker #1603 commemorates the graves of eight Revolutionary War veterans who are buried nearby in the New Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Marker #928, "McAfee Station / Pioneer Teacher, 1779"
Historical Marker #928 commemorates McAfee Station, an early settlement in frontier Kentucky.
Marker #929, "McAfee Station / Pioneer Teacher, 1779"
Historical Marker #929 commemorates McAfee Station, an early settlement in frontier Kentucky.
Marker #1258, "Mercer County/County Named"
Standing on the courthouse lawn in Harrodsburg since 1969, historical marker #1258 describes the circumstances that led to Mercer County’s creation and provides a brief biography of its namesake, the Revolutionary War hero Brigadier General Hugh Mercer.
Marker #1083, "Mercer County before Kentucky Became a State"
Historical marker #1083, “Mercer County before Kentucky Became a State,” sits near the northwestern corner of the courthouse lawn in downtown Harrodsburg. This two-post marker is unique in its design, featuring two full panels listing historic dates and statewide “firsts” achieved in the area on either side of a historic map of the county. It was installed in 1967.
Marker #1751, "Warwick / Oregon"
Historical marker #1751, “Warwick / Oregon,” chronicles the early history of the Warwick (Woodford County) and Oregon (Mercer County) communities that sit across from each other in a bend of the Kentucky River approximately two and a half miles east of present-day Salvisa.
Marker #141, "Old Mud Meeting House"
Historical Marker #141 in Mercer County commemorates the first Dutch Reformed Church west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Marker 185: "Morgan Row"
Historical Marker #185 tells the story of early businesses and architecture in downtown Harrodsburg.
Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill
Historical Marker #1481 in Mercer County recognizes the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. The Society of Believers, more commonly known as the Shakers, immigrated to America from England in 1774 to…
Marker #1817, "Shaker Ferry Road / Shaker Landing"
Marker #1817, “Shaker Ferry Road / Shaker Landing,” in Mercer County marks the site of a vital transportation route for Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and other nearby communities during the nineteenth century.
Marker #1874: "Gabriel Slaughter, 1767-1830"
Historical Marker #1874 in Mercer County recognizes Gabriel Slaughter, who served as Kentucky’s seventh governor between 1816 and 1820.
Marker #2287, "Greenville Springs"
Marker #2287 in Harrodsburg commemorates Greenville Springs, a popular medical spa and social resort that operated between 1806 and 1827.
Marker #551 "Harrodsburg Springs" and #1297 "Graham Springs"
Historical Markers #551 and #1297—Harrodsburg Springs and Graham Springs—both commemorate the mineral springs, health spa, and social resort operated by Dr. Christopher Columbus Graham in Harrodsburg between 1820 and 1853.
Marker 1679: "Burgin Christian Church"
Historical marker # 1679 shares the story of Burgin Christian Church which traces its origin to the 1830s in Mercer County.
Marker #1335 "Early Gun Shop Site"
Historical Marker #1335 in Mercer County notes the location of the gun shop established by Benjamin Mills in 1840s.
Marker #2082 "Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church"
The story behind Historical Marker #2082, located outside the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, lies in the stories of the founding generation, who created a community bound by worship and defined by the collective building of a woodland chapel. As neighbors contributed land and labor to construct the church out of thick forest trees, a congregation simultaneously grew, rooted in the values of mutual responsibility, neighborhood, and attachment to the natural land.
Marker #1325, "Neighbors - Governors / Mercer Governors"
Historical marker #1325 outside of Harrodsburg highlights Kentucky’s five nineteenth-century governors from Mercer County: Christopher Greenup (1804-1808), Gabriel Slaughter (1816-1820), John Adair (1820-1824), Robert Letcher (1840-1844), and Beriah Magoffin (1859-1862). The marker provides a brief overview of those five governors, highlighting either where they lived (such as the homes of Slaughter and Adair) or providing a brief list of their accomplishments. Beriah Magoffin’s role as the first of Kentucky’s Civil War governors warrants further consideration.
Marker #627, "Morgan's Men Here"
Historical Marker #627 at Shaker Village highlights how the Confederate invasion of Kentucky in the summer and fall of 1862 impacted the Shaker community at Pleasant Hill. Though generally supportive of the Union cause and the preservation of the nation, Shakers at Pleasant Hill fed soldiers from both sides during the Civil War. This story from the Pleasant Hill community reveals how some Kentuckians confronted the marching, hungry armies of the Civil War while simultaneously attempting to protect their own property and lives.
Marker #539 “A General’s Prayer”
Historical marker #539 notes the “General’s Prayer” given at Harrodsburg’s St. Philips Episcopal Church on October 9, 1862, following the Battle of Perryville. The prayer was offered by Confederate General Leonidas K. Polk in the aftermath of Kentucky’s largest Civil War engagement. Harrodsburg was located ten miles northeast of Perryville and became one of the local communities to treat the wounded and dying soldiers.
An Early Derby Winner/Another Derby Winner
Historical Marker #1295 in Harrodsburg notes the Mercer County origins of two Kentucky Derby winners: Leonatus in 1883 and George Smith in 1916. Leonatus, winner of the ninth Kentucky Derby (1883)…
Marker #1173, "Beaumont College, 1895-1915"
Historical Marker #1173 in Mercer County commemorates the southern women’s institution Beaumont College. One of the most advanced women’s colleges in the South, Beaumont College was located in Mercer County, Kentucky.
Marker #2050, "West Side School"
Marker #2050, “West Side School,” in Harrodsburg, tells the story of a historically Black school that operated during an era of racial segregation.
Marker #2044 Colonel George Morgan Chinn, USMC
Historical Marker #2044, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, honors Colonel George Morgan Chinn, who served in the U.S. Military during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.Tour curated by: the staff of the Kentucky Historical Society | This tour is a proud supporter of Harrodsburg's 250th anniversary and the efforts of Kentuckians within and beyond the county who collect, preserve, and share the stories of Mercer County.