Harrod's Creek Community
Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Harrod's Creek. James Taylor (1885-1965) was chiefly responsible for the modern Harrods Creek community. Ambitious entrepreneur, Taylor purchased land from Mary Shirley Helm in 1919 and began to sell lots to other African Americans in 1923. The Taylor Subdivision became the nucleus for a thriving suburban African American community. Presented by African American Heritage Foundation. (Reverse) Harrod's Creek - African American community near Harrods Creek developed after Civil War when large estates were subdivided and African Americans settled in southern Oldham Co., along Harrods Cr., in Prospect, and in "The Neck" near Hoskins Rd. The Jacob School, built 1916 and named for former slave Jefferson Jacob, is a surviving landmark. Presented by African American Heritage Foundation.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
After the Civil War, as large Kentucky estates were subdivided, African American families settled the land along Harrods Creek and in nearby Prospect and "The Neck." In 1919 entrepreneur James Taylor purchased land from Mary Shirley Helm and began selling lots to Black families, and his Taylor Subdivision grew into a thriving suburban community. The Jacob School, built in 1916 and named for former slave Jefferson Jacob, still stands as a landmark of that world.
Why it matters
Harrod's Creek shows how freed people and their descendants built lasting, self-determined communities in the generations after emancipation, a story repeated across the American South.
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Related people
- · James Taylor
- · Jefferson Jacob
- · Mary Shirley Helm
Themes & tags
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