• 1760s - First recorded history of the area that would become Adair County is of the Long Hunters, led by Colonel James Knox, who camped, hunted and explored in the Green River area.
• 1773 - Daniel Boone and companion McGary appear to have been in the county. This is verified by an inscription on two trees found 6 miles west of Columbia.  The tree parts are preserved at the Trabue Russell House.
• 1794 - Native American Indians were no longer present in this region opening the area to settlement.
• 1789 - County tradition relates the first permanent settlement by Colonel William Casey.
• 1794 - History records Native American skirmishes  with the slaying of the hostile Indians in Adair County
• 1801 - Adair County was founded as the 44th county in the Commonwealth. One year later the Kentucky General Assembly formed the city of Columbia, making it the county seat.
• 1806 - First courthouse was built in the middle of the public square. 

This courthouse was renovated in 1847 in the Greek Revival Period and was one of the few courthouses in the Commonwealth that was not burned during the Civil War. In 1884 the courthouse was torn down and a new one built in the same location. This courthouse was built in the Victorian Style which remains today, with additions and renovations taking place in 1974. 

• 1812 - First subscription school in the county, Robertson Academy, was founded.
• 1824 - First local paper, The Columbian Reporter, was published.
• 1863 - Even though there were no major Civil War battles in the county, John Hunt Morgan camped in Columbia. Civil War Union Colonel Frank Wolford was from Columbia.
• 1863-1867- Colonel Thomas Bramlette, Columbia resident, was Governor of Kentucky, during and after the Civil War.
• 1872 - Jesse James robbed the Bank Of Columbia. 
• 1873- Columbia Christian College was founded by the Christian Church. It closed in 1890.
• 1903 - The Methodist Conference of Louisville opened a training school for preachers and teachers. In 1923, this became Lindsey Wilson Jr. College and in 1985 this junior college became a four year liberal arts institution.
• 1907 - The worst natural disasters to have occurred in the county happened when a sudden downpour of rain sent a wall of water through the small rural community of Gradyville. Twenty people drowned in this flood and many homes and businesses were destroyed. (Read the original newspaper article depicting the tragedy. (Link on main page).
• 1909 - Segregated public schools were built in Columbia. At the same time, a second school, Jackman High, was built for Afro-American children. The second school burned in 1956 and the parents of these children requested that their children attend the "white" school. This request was denied and the case was taken to court in Louisville, at which time Adair County Schools were ordered to integrate and Adair County Schools became the first integrated school system in the state.
• 1954 - Adair County High School opened, consolidating Columbia High School, Breeding High School, and Knifley High School.
• 1969 - Army Corps of Engineers built a dam on Green River to form Green River Lake.
• 1974 - Cumberland Parkway was completed, connecting Somerset and Bowling Green with access ramps to Columbia.

This 2001 page was restored July 2023