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A Brief History of Jessamine County

Jessamine County came into being on December 19, 1798, six and a half years after Kentucky became our country’s 15th state in June 1792. Prior to being formed into the state’s thirty-sixth county, the land contained in Jessamine County was part of Fayette County, which had been one of the three original counties (Jefferson and Lincoln being the other two). The county was named for Jessamine Creek, which, in turn, was likely named in honor of Jessamine Douglas, by her father who settled the land at the head of the creek, or, alternatively, for the jasmine flowers growing along the creek’s banks.

Nicholasville, the county seat, was named in honor of lawyer George Nicholas, who was part of the committee that drafted Kentucky’s first constitution. He was Kentucky’s first Attorney General, as well as the first law professor at Transylvania Seminary (now University). Nicholas County is also named in his honor. Wilmore, the county’s other incorporated town, was created by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad in 1876, when the engineering-marvel High Bridge Railroad trestle spanning the Kentucky River was constructed, pushing the rail line southward.

JonathanSmith,CentralKentuckyHistorian