Corn Island (Louisville, Kentucky)
Louisville · Kentucky · Revolutionary War
History & Significance
Corn Island, formerly Dunmore's Island, was an island at the Falls of the Ohio in the Ohio River, measuring 43 acres in a 1780 survey, extending from present-day Louisville's Fourth to Fourteenth Streets. In May 1778, George Rogers Clark's militia and approximately 60 civilian settlers established a fortified settlement on the island, with Clark departing June 24 for his campaign against British posts in Illinois and Indiana.
The island was renamed Corn Island by Clark, reflecting the early importance of farming and partly concealing the true military purpose of the post as a communications base. Clark's regiment helped the settlers build cabins, clear land, and construct a springhouse.
The settlers remained and moved to the mainland in 1779 to establish Louisville, which traces its foundation to Corn Island. The settlement produced the first documented non-Native American children born in Kentucky, including Isaac Kimbley, born to Andrew and Sarah Kimbley, with Andrew later receiving a land grant from Clark.
After 1779, the abandoned island experienced deforestation and limestone mining from 1806 onward, with the Louisville Cement Company extracting rock in the 19th century. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed submersion of the island's bedrock through blasting and excavation between 1889 and 1891.
Key Facts
Map
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_Island_(Kentucky)
- https://history.ky.gov/markers/fort-on-shore
- https://www.nps.gov/people/george-rogers-clark.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Louisville,_Kentucky
- https://cornislanddar.org/about-corn-island-2/
- https://kentuckydar.org/