Town Lots Prior to 1792

Prior to 1792, the town lots of Danville were under the care of Trustees.  [See post 4 Mar. 2015 "In Trust"].  The figure which follows show the lots as "sold" up to the time Kentucky became a State of the Union.

Town Lots Occupied Prior to 1792

The 10 lots held by Harry Innes remains in blue. [14,20,35,43,44,45,46,47,55,56]

The lots which include the remaining Trustees are shown in green.  They are as follows:

Peter Tardeveau had six lots. [4,8,12,25,62,63]
George Muter had four lots. [52,53,54,55]
Thomas Perkins had four lots. [28,29,50,51]
Andrew McCalla had two lots. [1,21]

The Trustees held 26 lots between them which is 41% of the town prior to 1792.

The remaining lots were occupied by the following folks:

James Edwards had two lots. [5,6]
Issac Hite had two lots.[38,39] A business partner to Walker Daniel.
John Cohurn had two lots. [7,11]
George Slaughter had two lots. [25,26] Old George was a relative of mine!

A total of eight lots which is 13 % of the town.

The lots shown in white are those that did not seem to be sold to others, and were the remaining lots opened after 1792.  [16/63 = 13%] It would appear that at least three lots per block remained unoccupied except for the block on the north side of "Broad Street" = Main Street.

This was the town lots prior to 1792!

Town Lots of Harry Innes

What was to become the "Town Lots of Danville" were sold by the estate of Walker Daniel starting 1785.  The first name to sign the petition for the founding of Danville was Harry Innes.  He became the next Attorney General for this new area of Virginia, and a leading individual in the future of the town.  The following figure shows the "lots" purchased by him from 1785 - 1791.  He came to own 10 lots as shown in blue.

From the "Public Square" [Now Constitution Square] his lots spread to the southwest.  This represents almost 18 % of the town. 

Harry Innes was to play a significant role in the formation of the state of Kentucky.  Any folks related out there?

Town Lot #34

The town lots that were to become the city of Danville came under the control of  Robert Daniel, the "Heir at Law" to our Walker Daniel.  One of the first acts of business was to sell the town lots.  Lots were sold beginning February 22, 1785 through June 2, 1792. [Kentucky became a State on June 1, 1792.]   The first lot to be sold was "lot #34".  Its position is shown on the figure below.  North is to the top of the page.

John Hunter was the first to own a lot in Danville!  His purchase is dated 22 February, 1785.  Lot #34 is colored blue and lies on the corner of  "Second Street" [now Market Street] and "Cross Street" [now Third Street].  The parking garage is now located on lot #21, the old Methodist Church now stands on lot #22, and the educational wing of the hospital begins on lot #33.  The center of town in 1785 this town lot #34.

[This information is taken from my book titled: "KEN - TAH - THE" The Life and Times of Walker Daniel Founder of the Town Lands of Danville, Kentucky 18th Day of June 1784".]  Whew...a picture of the cover is shown below.  It was published 2009.

A Town Lot

The 76 acres for the town lands of Danville were organized into 63 equal size lots.  A public square was also planned and outline as shown in the figure below.

To orient you, north is at the top of the page.  Constitution Square is shown as "Public Square" with Main Street called "Broad Street".  [It was to be 90 feet wide whereas the other streets were to be 60 feet wide, thus "Broad Street".]  The public square was to be "20 poles 6' 3" in length [north to south] and "14 poles 10' 6" wide. [east to west]  One pole equals 16'5" square.  The next figure zeros in on "No 1" which begins the numbering system for the lots of Danville.

It is on the corner of "Broad Street" and "Market Street". [The present Main and Second Street.]  Each of the 62 lots were to be of equal size with the dimensions shown above.  They were to be "8 poles 2'6" north to south, and  "10 poles 3'1/2" east to west.  This would be 134ft. 6 inches by 168ft. 1/2 inch east to west.  It takes a bit to get organized to the plat since the names are different then we call them today.  Here you go, town lot #1 in Danville, 1784!  More to come.