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Monroe County was established by an act of the Kentucky Legislature passed on Jan 19, 1820. It was taken from Barren and Cumberland Counties. Three-fourths of what now constitutes Monroe County was taken from Barren with the remaining 1/4 from Cumberland. It was the 65th county in the order of formation, located on the southern border of the state, and lying on the headwaters of the Barren River. Cumberland River traverses it's southeast corner and its other streams are McFarland's Creek, Long Fork, East Fork, Line Creek, Skaggs Creek, Indian Creek, and Big and Little Sulphur. It is bounded on the north by Barren, Metcalfe and Cumberland Counties, on the east by Cumberland, on the south by the Tennessee state line, and on the west by Allen and Barren Counties. The land now contained within the boundaries of Monroe County was once a part of Virginia. Monroe County gave up a small chunk of land to Allen County in 1825, but gained a small strip of the Elbow in 1830 from Cumberland County. In 1860, Metcalfe County was formed in part from a portion of Monroe's northern boundary area, and plucked Beaumont and Willow Shade in the process. There have been no boundary changes since 1860.
Monroe County was named in honor of James Monroe, then President of the United States; the county seat of Tompkinsville was named in honor of Daniel T Tompkins, Monroe's Vice President. A courthouse fire in 1887 destroyed almost al records. There is no active Monroe County Historical Society, but the South Central Kentucky Historical and Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 157, Glasgow, KY 42142-0157, publishes Monroe County information in their quarterly, Traces. Membership in the society is $12.00 per year.
In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in the index.
At the same time, volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the contents of the web page. The person responsible for this county is Katy Hestand Contact her if you have a desire to add your data to the databases of Monroe County.
Sherri Hall is the co-ordinator for the Kentucky Page. If you are interested in hosting a county page or helping to host one, volunteers are needed.
Last Updated: Monday, 08-Sep-2008 0:54 AM