Present Day Placement

Where the 63 lots of the "town lands of Danville" were exactly located has been a point of discussion.  The main problem in this discussion, is that the plan of Danville most often used is from the book by Calvin Morgan Fackler, titled "Early Days In Danville".  The names of the streets on this plan are usually assumed to be the same names, and in the same locations, that are used today.  This is not the case.

The following figure is my attempt to place these 63 lots in their positions as they would have been located in 1784.  Please note the names of the streets are different as they are in present day Danville.

The "Public Square" is in the same location as it is today.  The name "1st Street" is still in the same location. It extended on the eastern side southward along the "Public Square".  The present "Main Street" was called "Broad Street".  Now "Second Street" is present day "Walnut Street" which is not the location of "Second Street" of today.  "Third Street" is today called "Martin Luther King Jr." and is not the location that "Third Street" is today.  "Main Cross Street" is the name that was given to the center of town. [Third Street today.]  "West Street" is now "4th Street", and the end of the town lands would come to what is called "Church Street" today.  The courthouse now stands in Lot #6.  Whew...lets try and review:

                        Main Street (of today) = Broad Street in 1784

                        1st Street (of today) = 1st Street in 1784 (extended down the Public Square)

                        2nd Street (of today) = Market Street in 1784

                        3rd Street (of today) =  Main Cross Street in 1784

                        4th Street (of today) =  West Street in 1784

                        Walnut Street (of today) = 2nd Street of 1784

                        Martin Luther King (of today) = 3rd Street of 1784

The west end of town would end where Church Street stands today.  What a deal... the present day placement of the town lots of 1784.

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.

The Documentation

Records from the pages of history are part of the story.  Documentation is the role.  The following pages are copies of  the documents used to write the story of Danville.  They are given for those who might want to research the primary documents for their own understand. 

Microfilm "REEL NO. 1" is the source for much of the documentation regarding the early days of Danville. [Part of Virginia at this time.]  The reels are stored in Frankfort at the Kentucky History Society Museum.  They were filmed by the Kentucky Historical Society July 18, 1969.

The reel contains the first 528 pages of the supreme court records of Kentucky District beginning 11-4-1783.  The above page is from the index of this record showing the listing "Danville Plan of Town" on page 67.  This record is the first story of our town Danville.  Check it out.

The Town Spring

The precise location of the earliest landmark defining the town lands of Danville goes by the name "The Town Spring".  There has been general agreement that this spring is near First Avenue, and a variety of specific areas have been suggested.  This spring can be located on a city map of 1876.  The following is shown:

First Avenue is clearly marked.  It extends south along the square and crosses Main Street.  [This was originally called "Broad Street" because it was 90' wide and" broader" then any other street of the original town surveys.  A stream is shown beginning at the middle of First Street behind a house labeled "J. Meuir" as best as I can tell.

An enlargement of this area is shown above giving more of an outline of its flow. [I have traced the stream as it flows SW to Main Street, continuing SW to what was originally called "Second Street".  It then flows almost due south.]

Now using the survey recorded in the very first patent, place the town lands of Danville as drawn.

"A" is the beginning at a "Sugar Tree" near spring known by the name of "Town Spring".

Copyright Notice

This blog "Historic Danville KY" is written for those who have an interest in the history of Danville, KY.

You may not use the contents of this site (blog and post) for commercial purposes without explicit written permission from the author and  blog owner.  Commercial purposes includes blogs with ads and income generation features, and/or blogs or sites using feed content as a replacement for original content.  Full content usage is not permitted.

Jerry E. Jones, MD, MS, The Jones Genealogist, Library of Congress No. 6192-01064476.

76 Acres

The town lands of Danville began as 76 acres purchased the18th day of June 1784.  This "Indenture" was entered into by John Crow of the County of Lincoln (VA) and Walker Daniel of the same county.  The figure below is my attempt to sketch the survey of this land as recorded from the deed book which can be found in Lincoln Co., Deeds A & B, 1781 - 1795, pp. 12-13.

The sketch is as follows:

The survey reads:

"....all that tract or parcel of land included within the following boundaries to wit..."

A. as shown on drawing above..."Beginning at a Sugar Tree near the spring known by the name of the Town Spring & North Eastward by the same running thence..."

The "Town Spring" begins the survey.  North eastward from the spring begins the plot.

B. "...West Thirty seven poles to a Huckberry..."

Going directly west 37 poles to a distinctive tree.  A pole is one square rod, and a rod is 16.5 feet.
Thus from the Sugar Tree near the spring due west 610.5 feet.

C. "...thence South six poles to pointers..."

Turning due south six poles (99 feet) to "pointers".  This must have been some kind of recognized landmark, often a stack of stone place in a distinct way.

D. "...thence West seventy one poles near to a large Cherry tree stump to pointers..."

Again, due west 71 poles (1171.5 feet) to a large Cherry tree stump.  Remember that there are 5,280 feet in one mile.  Thus this would be west from the spring approximately .2 of a mile.

E. "...thence South eighty eight poles to an elm & Water Beech in Jas Browns settlement line..."

From point D, we go due south 88 poles (roughly 1/4 of a mile) to another tree [Water Beech] which is located in the settlement line of James Brown.

F. "...thence East along his Line one hundred & sixty poles to the spring Branch..."

Thus, the southern boundary of the town lands of Danville followed the settlement line of James Brown.  It was 2640 feet along this line until it ran again into the flow of the town springs.  This would be a southern boundary of around 1/2 mile in length.

G. "...thence up the Branch on the East side thereof to the Beginning containing 76 acres & is part of the said Johns settlement whereon he now lives & is commonly known by the name of the Town Lands of Danville...".

Other documents show that Thomas Harrods land was west of this survey which was "lying on sinking springs". [Still located on the campus of Centre College.]  The flow of the town branch is now covered over but can be followed after it runs under ground past the present Post Office.

The deed also list that John Crow was to maintain access to half of the water below the Tannery where it then stood to the lower line.

Other landmarks and individuals that had land surveys around these 76 acres are also shown on the drawing.

Well here it is...the first 76 acres of Danville!

Documentation can be found in my book "KEN-TAH-THE" The Life and Times of Walker Daniel, Founder of the Town Lands of Danville, Kentucky, 18th Day of June 1784, published 2009.

Some Safe Place

At the first "Supreme Court" meeting (1783) of this new District of Kentucky, the court instructed the Attorney General (Walker Daniel) and the Clerk (John May) to fix on some safe place near Crow's station for holding the court.  They were likewise authorized to contract for building a jail of hewed or sawed logs, at least nine inches thick.   This arrangement ultimately gave rise to the town of Danville.

In case the said Daniel and May at their own expense to be built a log house large enough for a courtroom in one end, and two jury rooms in the other on the same floor, together with a jail, "...they would adjourn to the place so to be fixed on, and promised a conditional re-imbursement, in case they removed to any other place, either out of the funds allowed for the support of the court, if sufficient, if not, by using their influence with the legislature to have them paid."

What a deal.  You built it and they will come.

Abstracted from : Valley of the Ohio, by Mann Butler, Published by Kentucky Historical Society, 1971, p. 191.