The Timeline

The Timeline.  It’s incomplete and will never be finished.  But it is a start, attempting to present key events in the Four Rivers Region.  Additions are always happening here.  Enjoy!

1780
April 11

Fort Jefferson, Kentucky

Construction begins on Fort Jefferson with the civilian town of Clarksville, Kentucky.  Soldiers and townsfolk abandoned the area the following year due to hostilities and lack of provisions.

1797
October 25

Port Royal, Tennessee

The town of Port Royal officially incorporates, although European explorers and traders were here as early as the 1600s.

1818
October 19

The Birth of Jackson’s Purchase

Jackson’s Purchase is negotiated with the Chickasaw Indians by Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby, obtaining land from the Mississippi River to the Tennessee River.

1820
October 15

Boyd’s Landing, Kentucky

The first post office was established in Boyd’s Landing, Kentucky (now Canton), with settlements here dating back to 1799.

1821
December 19

Hickman County, Kentucky

The Kentucky General Assembly approves the creation of Hickman County, encompassing all of Jackson’s Purchase in Kentucky.

1822
November 3

Calloway County, Kentucky

Calloway County is the second formed in the Jackson Purchase, splitting from Hickman County.

1823
August 30

Canton, Kentucky

Canton, Kentucky’s first post office established after the town incorporated the year before.  Previously known as Boyd’s Landing.

1824
January 15

Graves County, Kentucky

Graves County, Kentucky forms from Hickman County, the third such county in the Jackson Purchase.

March 12

Wadesboro, Kentucky

The first post office opens in Calloway County at Wadesboro, the county seat.  The first settlers arrived there around 1818.

1825
March 21

McCracken County, Kentucky

The first McCracken County Court was held in Wilmington.