KY:Historical Society - Historical Marker Database

KYHistorical Society

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Blandville Courthouse
(Marker Number: 1374)

County: Ballard
Location: Blandville, Courthouse sq., KY 1837

Description: Site of the first courthouse in Ballard Co., Kentucky, which, until 1886, was comprised of present Ballard and Carlisle Counties. Blandville, like Ballard Co., was named for Captain Bland Ballard. Established as the county seat by Kentucky Legislature in 1842, and continued as such for 40 years until 1882, when courthouse burned. Wickliffe then became county seat.

(Subjects: Courthouses)

County Named, 1842
(Marker Number: 826)

County: Ballard
Location: Wickliffe, Courthouse lawn, US 51, 60

Description: For Capt. Bland Ballard, 1759-1853. Born in Va. Came to Ky. in 1779. Devoted life to protecting frontier. Scout for George Rogers Clark's Ohio expedition, 1780, '82; Wabash campaign, 1786. In the battles of Fallen Timbers, 1793; Tippecanoe, 1811; River Raisin, 1813. In Ky. Legis. for five terms. Legis. directed his burial in the Frankfort Cemetery. County from McCracken, Hickman.

(Subjects: Clark, George Rogers | Fallen Timbers, Battle of | Frankfort | Raisin River, Battle of | Tippecanoe, Battle of)

Fort Jefferson
(Marker Number: 64)

County: Ballard
Location: 1 mi. S. of Wickliffe, US 51, 60

Description: Erected here in 1780 by General George Rogers Clark to protect claim of infant United States to a western boundary on the Mississippi River.

(Subjects: Clark, George Rogers | Forts and Stations)

Fort Jefferson Site
(Marker Number: 1309)

County: Ballard
Location: 1 mi. S. of Wickliffe, US 51

Description: Built in 1780 by George Rogers Clark as part of impressive plan of settlement, conceived by Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia, later pursued by and named for Gov. Thomas Jefferson. The fort was to protect US claim to its western border and to be a key trading post. It was abandoned, 1781. Resettled after Jackson Purchase. Important Union post in Civil War. Over.

(Reverse) Indian Massacre - In 1781, the Chickasaws, led by a Scotchman, Colbert, aroused by use of their land without consent, besieged the fort for five days. Many settlers killed. Those left became desperate for provisions, already low because of the difficulty in reaching the fort. Gen. Clark arrived with reinforcements and supplies. The Indians withdrew. Fort was abandoned thereafter. Over.

(Subjects: Civil War | Clark, George Rogers | Forts and Stations | Henry, Patrick | Indians | Jefferson, Thomas)

The Prince of the French Explorers
(Marker Number: 46)

County: Ballard
Location: Wickliffe Mounds Research Center, Wickliffe, US 51, 60

Description: Commissioned by Louis XIV of France, the Sieur Robert de LaSalle, sweeping down the Mississippi with his flotilla of canoes, stopped in 1682 at this place, in his quest for the mouth of the Mississippi and an outlet for the French fur trade. This river, called Ohio by the Iroquois and Quabache (Wabash) by the Algonquins, was proclaimed by LaSalle, April 9, 1682, to be the northern watershed of the New Province of Louisiana of the French Colonial Empire.

(Reverse) French Explorers at the Confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers: Accompanied by Pere Jacques Marquette, the Sieur Louis Joliet, commissioned by the French Government at Quebec to explore the Mississippi River, stopped on this bank in 1673, according to the "Jesuit Relations" by Thevenot. They were feasted by the Indians on buffalo meat, bear's grease and white plums.

Union Supply Base
(Marker Number: 757)

County: Ballard
Location: Fort Jefferson, US 51

Description: One of first Kentucky positions, Fort Jefferson, occupied by Union troops after Confederate seizure of Columbus, Sept. 1861. From this base, General Ulysses S. Grant directed demonstration against Columbus, Jan. 1862. Troops from here joined in capturing Ft. Henry, Feb. 1862. One of four river ports in area used as Union supply bases for operations in the western theater.

(Subjects: Civil War | Forts and Stations | Grant, Ulysses S.)