Old Fort Harrod, Harrodsburg, KY - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

The Treaty of Paris in 1763, which ended the Seven Years’ War, ceded all land in North America east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. Included in this area was a substantial amount of land that lie directly west of the Colony of Virginia and which would eventually become the State of Kentucky. In the early 1770s, Virginia Governor John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (usually called Lord Dunmore) sent several expeditions into this area west of the Appalachian Mountains in order to establish a Virginia presence there. The first of these settlements (established in 1774) was called Harrod’s Town after its leader, James Harrod.

This was a turbulent time in Virginia as agitation for independence from Great Britain was on the rise. Lord Dunmore was forced to flee the colony in 1776 right about the same time as the County of Kentucky was being added to Virginia. Throughout the Revolutionary War period, settlers continued to flow into Kentucky and in 1792, just a few years after Virginia ratified the new Constitution of the United States, Kentucky became the 15th state to join the union.

Harrod’s Town continued to grow and prosper. James Harrod himself became rather wealthy although, in 1792, he mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. Harrod’s Town (or Fort Harrod) was eventually renamed Harrodsburg, the name by which it is known to this day.

Pioneer Memorial State Park (later renamed Old Fort Harrod State Park) was established in 1927 to commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of the early pioneer settlers of the state. A replica of the original fortified settlement was constructed, albeit a third smaller than the original and just across the street to the south of the original site. Today, actors in period costumes perform various eighteenth-century activities that occurred at the original fort.

In 1974, the U.S. issued a postage stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of Fort Harrod which has the distinction of being the first English settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. It features a drawing of covered wagons approaching the old fort which appears to be based on the 1927 reconstruction.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 15-Jun-1974 Denomination: 10c Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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