The Forks of Elkhorn & Legend

The Forks of Elkhorn is located at the forks of the Elkhorn Creek a few miles east of Frankfort, bordering Woodford and Scott counties. Situated in a bend of the Kentucky River, the Elkhorn served as a main source of navigation for early settlers, leading the Legislature to approve an act in 1819 to survey and improve navigation on the creek.

Legend has it that an Indian maiden in love with a young brave (though betrothed to the chief) fled with him on the back of a friendly elk. Pursued by the angry chief, the elk was eventually shot, using its dying horns as a shield before the chief gave up the pursuit. The couple spent their lives in the valley, and as the years passed, the elk's horns sank into the ground, forming indentations filled with water that the Indians called Elkhorn.

Some Early Settlers

• Charles C. Black: Wagon maker and horse trader born in Madison County near Richmond. After living in South Carolina, he returned to Kentucky in 1818 with his bride Jane Roach (widow of Jesse Cox) and purchased land on North Elkhorn three miles from the forks, continuing his practice of driving horses South until his death in 1839.
• John Henry Burdin: Listed on the Franklin County census from 1880 to 1910 in the Forks of Elkhorn District.
• William Haydon: Established his station on the Kentucky River at the mouth of Yeatman's Branch, building a cabin and raising a crop of corn in 1776; married Ann Ballard with at least three known children.
• Daniel James: Cabinet maker from Virginia born about 1750, appearing on the Franklin County tax list in August 1800 at Haydon's Station with his wife Sarah Richard and six children. Members of Mount Pleasant Church; sold his farm to Benjamin Branham in 1824.
• John Lewis: Born about 1784 to Zachary and Ann Terrell Lewis of Virginia; married Jean Wood Daniel in 1808. They ran a school at Llangollen in Woodlake. Their son Cadwallader was a minister who helped organize Providence Baptist Church, serving from 1858 until his death in 1882.
• Anthony Lindsay: Born in 1736, married Rachel Nellie Dorsey in 1758, and brought his family to Kentucky in 1784 to settle at Haydon's Station.
• Hugh Macklin: On the Elkhorn by 1801, of Irish descent from Maryland; his son A. W. Macklin operated a slaughter and pork packing house.
• Bennett Pemberton: Migrated from Caroline County, Virginia, to Woodford County, selling land to Samuel Moxley in 1803 and moving to the Benson area of Franklin County.
• Nathaniel Sanders, Sr.: Born 1742 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia; established a mill at the forks in 1789 (ceased by 1809) and petitioned for a new mill on North Elkhorn in 1792. Known for Sanders's tavern, fish dam, and Sanders Mill and Steele Ferry Road. Moved to Gallatin County where he died in 1826.
• James Tate: Migrated from Augusta County, Virginia, marrying Mary Lloyd and raising children Elizabeth, Thomas L. (who married Mrs. Nancy Taylor Gray), Arminta, Sally, and Martha.
• Reverend John "Daddy" Taylor: Born 1752, son of Lazarus and Anna Bradford Taylor; married Elizabeth Kavanaugh in 1782 and settled briefly on Gilbert's Creek in Woodford County before serving as a prominent area preacher.

Historic Area Churches

• Buck Run Baptist Church: Organized in January 1818 at Isaac Wilson's following dismissals from the Forks of Elkhorn Church. Early members included John and Susanna Price, Isaac and Lucy Wilson, William Forsee and wife, Frances Castleman, Nancy Triplett, Sarah Head, Lucy Nall, Love Fuler, John, Elizabeth and Benjamin Taylor, Presley and Fanny Neal, Julius and Elizabeth Blackburn, John and Catherine Graves, Elizabeth Gatewood, and Lewis and Jane Nall. John Taylor preached once a month for five years. In 1888, the building at Spring Station was moved to the Forks of Elkhorn.
• Calvary Baptist Church: Formed in the late 1940s when a group left Buck Run Baptist Church and built directly across the creek.
• Providence Baptist Church: Established in 1855 when Cadwallader Lewis and 24 members withdrew from Buck Run over pastoral disagreements, moving down the road to Woodlake.

Property Owners in Forks of Elkhorn Precinct (Including Duckers, Switzer, Woodlake, and Jett — 1870)

Area Cemeteries & Burying Grounds

• Bartlett-Featherston Graveyard: A small cemetery located at Switzer near the railroad crossing at the Forks of Elkhorn.
• French Cemetery: Located about 2 miles on U.S. 460 East on the Georgetown Road.
• Taylor Cemetery: Located on the Macklin farm at the Forks of Elkhorn.