Kentucky County Formations Home Page

This database includes the complete text of the Acts of the Virginia General Assembly and the Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly creating all 120 Kentucky counties.  Also included are Fincastle, Kentucky, Henrietta, and Beckham counties. Original spelling and punctuation formats have been used for the text on this database. Information contained in the “Note” field was obtained from Rone’s “Kentucky & Her Counties”, Collins' "History of Kentucky", and the “Kentucky Encyclopedia”.

Provisions of Acts establishing many Kentucky counties have been amended by supplementary legislation. Acts regarding boundary changes will be added to this database as they are identified. 

Although the Office of the Kentucky Secretary of State receives, files, and certifies maps of state and city boundaries, official maps of county boundaries and boundary changes, suitable for certification, are not filed with this office.

Disclaimer:  The text of the Virginia & Kentucky Acts creating Kentucky Counties was keyed for the Internet by the staff of the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office. Where the published Kentucky Acts were incomplete, staff relied on the microfilm of enrolled bills filed with governors’ journals. Although efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the Acts, researchers should consult the published versions of the Virginia and Kentucky Acts for official use. The official “Acts of the Virginia General Assembly” and the official “Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly” may be researched at the Kentucky History Center Library, the Department for Libraries & Archives, and the Supreme Court Law Library, all in Frankfort, Kentucky.  Enrolled Bills and Governor’s Journals (1792-1927) are available on microfilm at the Department for Libraries & Archives.