Boyle County History

John Boyle arrived in Kentucky from Virginia in 1779, where they stayed at Whitley’s Station in Lincoln County. When the Boyle family left Whitley, they settled in Garrard County, where Boyle made his home for the rest of his life. He served as Chief Justice of Kentucky for more than 16 years, after learning his trade from Thomas Davis, then a member of Congress. He succeeded Davis in Congress after being elected without opposition in 1802.

Danville is the county seat, and is situated some 40 miles southwest of Frankfort. The Dick’s River, one of the primary watersheds of the area and one of the geographic references during the early settlement of the area, is located three miles east of Danville. The town of Danville was among the first settlements in the then-county of Kentucky, and was established in 1787 by the Virginia legislature.

Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby, made his home at Danville, and called it Traveller's Rest -- one of the finest dwellings in the state at the time. The seat of Kentucky's government was first established at Danville, and members of the first Constitutional Convention met in Danville and adopted the first state constitution. In 1792, the government was removed to Lexington before settling eventually in Frankfort.

Walker Daniel first laid out the town, and also gave the community its identity -- DANville, named for Walker DANiel, a young lawyer from Virginia who settled in then-Lincoln County in 1781. His only competitor in the legal profession at the time was Christopher Greenup, who later served as governor of Kentucky. As the original proprietor of Danville, Daniels amassed a fortune in a short period of time, but was killed in 1784 in a confrontation with Native American tribesmen of the area.

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Boyle County Communities

Danville and Perryville are the primary population centers of the county, which is bounded on the south by Lincoln County and Casey County, and on the north by Mercer County, on the west by Marion County, and on the east by Garrard County.

Danville was founded on the site of John Crow's station. Walker Davis, the founder, managed to move the seat of the District to Danville. The first post office was founded in 1792 with Thomas Barbee as the first postmaster. It became the seat of Boyle County when it was established in 1842. It is istuated on US 150/27, 62 miles SE of Louisville.

Perryville is Located on US 68/150, miles west of Danville. Perryville was settled by James Harberson and originally called Harberson's Fort. The hero of the times was Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, whose naval victory in the War of 1812 was the talk of Kentucky (and the young country). When the community received its post office in 1816, it honored Perry, and the town was chartered as Perryville in 1817.

Junction City is located 2 miles south of Danville on the Lincoln County line. Junction City is believed to have been founded when the L&N Railroad reached the area in 1866. It was originally called Goresville, for the two brothers who ran the local hotel. The "Gore" post office was established in 1880, and it was called Goresburgh, but by 1882, it was officially called Junction City.

Parksville is a hamlet with a post office at the head of Chaplin River, at the junction of highways 34 and 300, six miles west-southwest of Danville. The postoffice was established in 1859, and the community was named for James Parks, who donated land for the railroad right-of-way when it came through Boyle County.

Mitchellsburg was originally a station on the L&N Railroad line, located on KY 34/1856 and situated 9 miles west-southwest of Danville. The first postmaster was James Mitchell in 1853, for whom the village is named.

Other Communities Other population centers in Boyle County are Gwinn Island, Well's Landing, Atoka, Little Needmore, and Hedgeville.

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