Rogers Station, 1780
Nelson County, Nelson County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Rogers Station, 1780. Site of station located on 1,000-acre tract "marked and improved" in 1775 by Col. James Rogers. Born Va., 1742, died Ky., 1828. Fought in Dunmore's War, 1774, and Revolutionary War. Appointed Colonel, Nelson Co., Ky. Militia and the Justice of the Peace by Patrick Henry, Gov. of Va. Signer of "Petitions of Early Inhabitants of Ky." for separation from Va.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
In the dangerous years of the Revolution, frontier surveyor and soldier James Rogers marked out a thousand-acre claim here in 1775 and by 1780 had planted a fortified station on it. A veteran of Dunmore's War and the Revolution, Rogers was commissioned a militia colonel and justice of the peace by Virginia's governor Patrick Henry, and he signed the early petitions asking that Kentucky be separated from Virginia. Stations like his were the seeds of permanent settlement.
Why it matters
Fortified pioneer stations were the beachheads of American settlement in Kentucky, turning contested hunting grounds into a future state.
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Related people
- Β· Col. James Rogers
- Β· Patrick Henry
Themes & tags
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