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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Estill County, Kentucky.
Official Website
History
Estill County was formed in 1808 and named for Captain James Estill, a Kentucky militia officer who was killed in the Battle of Little Mountain during the American Revolutionary War. Originally settled by European settlers entering Kentucky via old buffalo and Indian trails and traveling through Boonesborough in what is today Madison County.
Estill County was one of the first areas in the United States to experience early industrialization, with iron mining and smelting beginning in 1810. The iron industry would go on to thrive in Estill County for decades, with the ruins of the Estill furnace, the Cottage furnace, and the Fitchburg Furnace still being visible today. The Fitchburg furnace was a particularly impressive engineering feat. Standing 81 feet tall, the furnace is the largest charcoal furnace in the world, and one of the largest 25 dry-stone masonry structures in the world. The iron industry declined after the Civil War when iron deposits and timber to fire the furnaces were depleted, and innovation made charcoal furnaces obsolete.
Additionally, the county was historically known for the Estill Springs summer resort, situated near mineral springs in Irvine. This resort was a popular vacation site for many prominent Kentuckians in the 19th century, with men including Henry Clay, John Crittenden, and John C. Breckinridge vacationing there.
Adjacent Counties
Cities & Communities
- Barnes Mountain
- Cobhill
- Cressy
- Crystal
- Drip Rock
- Fox
- Furnace
- Hargett
- Irvine (County Seat)
- Leighton
- Palmer
- Patsey
- Pryse
- Ravenna
- Red Lick
- South Irvine
- Spout Springs
- Tipton Ridge
- Wisemantown
- Winston
Links
Daniel Boone National Forest (part)
National Register of Historic Places
