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!
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.
The town of Port Royal officially incorporates, although European explorers and traders were here as early as the 1600s.
The first post office was established in Boyd’s Landing, Kentucky (now Canton), with settlements here dating back to 1799.
Canton, Kentucky’s first post office established after the town incorporated the year before. Previously known as Boyd’s Landing.
The first post office opens in Calloway County at Wadesboro, the county seat. The first settlers arrived there around 1818.
The town of Wilmington, Kentucky is officially established, the first seat of McCracken County.
The first post office is established in Feliciana, which has a wild tale of how the town got its name.
The first Bear Spring Furnace opens for business in 1830, although the exact date is unknown.
After establishing a post office two years prior, New Concord incorporates as a town.
The town of Callaway is officially incorporated by the Kentucky General Assembly, later to be known as Callowaytown.
The community of Blandville was picked as the Ballard County seat in 1842 with incorporation officially happening on this date.
The first post office was established in Golden Pond. The town was eradicated with the creation of Land Between The Lakes in the 1960s.
The first post office is established at Shiloh with the town incorporating in 1876.
After residing shortly at nearby Bishop’s Mills, the post office moved two miles northwest and was renamed Olive.
After being known as Olive’s Landing and Shipsport, the town of Linton incorporates in Trigg County.
Nearly 3,000 men arrived at this Confederate training camp, which for six months, was riddled with disease and atrocities.
Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill creating Henrietta County, Kentucky, but voters in Trigg County killed the measure.
Kuttawa, Kentucky is incorporated by the Kentucky General Assembly. Parts of the original town are now under Lake Barkley.
A post office opens up at Star Lime Works, site of a large quarry and is now partially submerged by Kentucky Lake.
The first post office known as “Backusburgh” is established, named after Asa Backus, who opened grist mill here in 1869.
A detailed atlas is published of Graves County in 1880 (exact date unknown), showing landowners, roads, towns and much more.
Although this exact date conflicts with another resource, the first train arrived in Murray in 1890.
A post office was established at Dexter, Kentucky, after the completion of the new railroad, marking the beginning of the community.
Although seeing significant economic activity since 1830, the first post office opens in Bear Spring, Tennessee.
The first train heads down the new Tennessee & Cumberland River Railroad, but closed 23 years later.
Colonel Henry G. Wooldridge is buried at his Wooldridge Monuments, called “The Strange Procession Which Never Moves”.
The now-abandoned Cross Creeks Bridge opens for traffic.
After being known as Newburg, Williams Ferry, Warburg, and Blood, the post office at this location adopted Newburg as its name on this date.
The 351-foot Jefferson Davis Monument in Fairview, Kentucky opens to the public.
The famous Cerulean Springs Hotel burned, which was a popular spot for travelers for decades before automobiles.
The first Eggners Ferry Bridge opens to traffic, spanning the Tennessee River at Aurora, Kentucky.
Nine of ten crew members aboard a B-29 bomber perished when it crashed in southwestern Marshall County.
Pasty Cline’s airplane crashed near Camden, Tennessee, causing the famous 30-year old singer to lose her life along with three others.
Barkley Dam is officially dedicated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The project began in 1957 with the lock operational in 1964.
The post office closed on this date as part of the elimination of Golden Pond, Kentucky, by TVA for the creation of Land Between The Lakes.
The 50-acre Discovery Park of America opens to the public in Union City, Tenn.
Traffic moves to the new Eggners Ferry Bridge, replacing the original 84-year-old bridge across Kentucky Lake.