Bardstown, Kentucky 1780-2000 (Making of America Series)

The small town of Bardstown, Kentucky was once an uninhabited wilderness, but in 1780, William Bard lured fellow Pennsylvanians, traveling along the Ohio River, to join him and freely settle his brother's untamed land. He offered rent-free opportunity for the duration of the American Revolution, drawing 33 settlers to clear the region and create a crude brush village called Bardstown. The people of this forested region just south of Louisville would face controversy, population decline, the...