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Kentucky Highlands Timeline -
Before 1780
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300 Million BC |
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Geologists in Kentucky have concluded that Middlesboro was built in a meteor crater. The crater was caused by a meteor that measured 1640 feet in diameter and struck the earth about 300 million years ago. |
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12,000 B.C. |
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Paleoindians begin migrating into the region. |
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8,000 B.C. |
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The Archaic Period, Kentucky's longest prehistoric era, begins. |
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6,000 B.C. |
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Prehistoric people make the first ground stone tools, such as axes, adzes, and pestles. |
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2,000 B.C. |
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Long-distance trade of copper and marine shell artifacts begins. |
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1,000 B.C. |
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The Woodland Period, during which people begin growing plants and making pottery, begins. |
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500 B.C. |
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The first burial mounds are constructed. |
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700 |
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Hunters begin to use bows and arrows. |
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900 |
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People begin to grow corn. |
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1000 |
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The Late Prehistoric Period begins and Fort Ancient peoples in the eastern half of the state. |
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1400 |
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The Fort Ancient peoples in eastern and central Kentucky begin to trade with Mississippian groups living in eastern Tennessee. |
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1575 |
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The first European trade goods appear in Kentucky in the form of metal ornaments made from pieces of kettles. |
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1680 |
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Smallpox, or another European disease, first arrives in Kentucky, killing over 75 percent of the native peoples in the region. |
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1750 |
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Dr. Thomas Walker, a Virginia surveyor, leads the first organized English expedition through the Cumberland Gap. |
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1750 |
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The Ohio Company hires Christopher Gist to explore Kentucky. |
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1750 |
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April 13th-Dr. Thomas Walker was the first recorded person to discover and use coal in Kentucky. |
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1753 |
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The word "Kentucke" is first used. |
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1755 |
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Lewis Evans' map showing coal in what is now the Greenup County and Boyd County area of Kentucky. |
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1763 |
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King George III issues the Proclamation of 1763 prohibiting settlements west of the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. |
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1763 |
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The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the French and Indian War. |
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1768 |
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The Treaty of Fort Stanwix deeds to the British crown the title to lands south of the Ohio River and east of the Tennessee River and southward to the border of North Carolina. |
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1769 |
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Some twenty Virginia and North Carolina long hunters enter Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap. |
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1769 |
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Daniel Boone, John Findley, John Stuart (Boone's brother-in-law), and three men hired to do camp work depart from the Upper Yadkin for Kentucky. |
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1773 |
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Daniel Boone brings his family to Kentucky but turns back when one son is killed in an Indian attack. |
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1774 |
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Daniel Boone is sent by Virginia authorities to warn Kentucky surveyors of pending war with Shawnees and leads defense of Clinch River settlements during Dunmore's War. |
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1775 |
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Daniel Boone founds Boonesborough in the face of Shawnee Indian attacks and brings family to Kentucky. |
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1775 |
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Reverend John Lyth, an Anglican minister, conducts what may be the first public worship service in Kentucky. |
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1775 |
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The Kentucky National Guard, one of the oldest military organizations in the United States, is organized under the name of the Kentucky Militia. |
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1775 |
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St. Asaph, later called Logan's Fort, is erected about a mile west of the present-day courthouse in Stanford. |
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1775 |
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Richard Henderson purchases a large portion of Kentucky from a group of Cherokee in the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals. |
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1775 |
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Hired by the Transylvania Company to lead a party cutting the Wilderness Road to Kentucky. |
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1776 |
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Jemima Boone and the Calloway girls are captured by Indians and rescued by Daniel Boone. |
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1776 |
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The creation of the counties Montgomery, Washington, and Kentucky from Fincastle make Virginia's claim to Kentucky definite. |
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1776 |
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The creation of the counties Montgomery, Washington, and Kentucky from Fincastle make Virginia's claim to Kentucky definite. |
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1776 |
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About 200 people live in Kentucky, mainly in the forts at Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station. |
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1776 |
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Jane Coomes organizes at Harrodsburg what is probably the first school in Kentucky. |
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1777 |
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Daniel Boone escapes from the Shawnee and travels 160 miles in four days to warn the settlers at Fort Boonesborough of an impending invasion. The ensuing siege lasts ten days. |
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1777 |
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The House of Delegates meet at Boonesborough under a huge elm tree to draw up laws and sign a compact between the proprietors and the settlers. |
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1777 |
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After his capture by Shawnee while on a saltmaking expedition, Daniel Boone is adopted by Chief Blackfish and his wife. |
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1778 |
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Louisville is founded. |
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1779 |
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Strode's Station is established in present-day Clark County. |
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1779 |
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Daniel Boone leads large party of emigrants to Kentucky in September and settles Boone's Station, north of the Kentucky River. |
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