How Corn Island Shaped Louisville’s Origins

Just a few days ago, I posted a photo of Corn Island on Facebook. I never know what will pique people’s interest, and I definitely didn’t see the popularity of the photo coming. In just 3 days, the post had reached 90,000+ people with over 1,600 likes and 300+ shares. Never have I ever had a post explode like this in popularity. I knew then that I would need to follow up with the history. 

This post is unlike my normal posts. Corn Island doesn’t exist today. You can’t see it, you can’t tour it. This is not the history of the greatest place to visit. It is however, the history of the beginnings of Louisville. The people have spoken. Your interest has been heard. So, here is the history of Corn Island! Enjoy.

Dunmore’s Island

From May to October of 1773, Virginia Captain Thomas Bullitt (uncle of Alexander Scott Bullitt and brother of Cuthbert Bullitt (Oxmoor Farm)) led a surveying expedition to Kentucky. He and approximately 40 men traveled down the Ohio River to survey and claim lands for those with French and Indian War military land grants, as well as for the Crown Governor of Virginia, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore.

One of the numerous places Bullitt and his men surveyed was an island at the head of the Falls of the Ohio, just north of the mainland, later to become Louisville. Measuring 4,000 feet long, 1,000 feet wide, and approximately seventy acres, the expedition named the island, Dunmore’s Island, for Virginia’s Crown Governor.

George Rogers Clark Arrives

A few years later, in 1778,  with about ten boats and ten to twenty families, George Rogers Clark landed his flatboats on Dunmore’s Island on May 27. A blockhouse and cabins were built on the island because Clark planned for the settlement to be a communications post to support his military.

“The island extended along the waterfront of present-day Louisville from Fifth to Fourteenth Streets, with its southernmost point near the first river pier of the K and I Railroad Bridge,” (Corn Island Archaeology).

The island was then renamed Corn Island by George Rogers Clark for the corn that was planted and grown by the settlers. Large sycamore trees, cottonwoods, and giant cane also grew there.

In June 24, 1778, “Clark left behind a small group of pioneering settlers and 30 militia men. An estimated 13 families of maybe 60 civilians remained in the little fort. Among the surviving names of the families are those of Captain James Patton, Richard Chenoweth, John Tuel, William Faith, and John McManus.”

Corn Island Archaeology

While Clark was gone on an expedition to Illinois, the settlers explored the mainland looking for future homestead sites. The settlers moved to the mainland the next year (1779) and established Louisville, leaving the settlement of Corn Island behind but continuing to use the island for hunting and farming.

Fort-on-Shore

The settlers moved to Fort-on-Shore which had been built opposite Corn Island in the Fall of 1778 by William Linn on the orders of George Rogers Clark, “on the eastern side of large ravine which formerly entered the river at the present termination of Twelfth Street, near present day 12th and Rowan Streets,” (Corn Island Archaeology ) The fort (also considered a stockade) quickly proved to be “insufficient” and a new one was built upriver.

On to Fort Nelson

In 1781 – 1782, a new, much larger fort was built at present day Seventh Street just north of Main. This fort included log walls, earthen bastions, and a moat.

“Everywhere inside the walls of the fort was considered to be Louisville. It protected the small handful of settlers from Native Americans and the threat of British attacks. Everything outside of the walled city was considered the western frontier,” (Only in your State).

Built near “present day downtown Louisville on Main Street between Seventh and Eighth streets. This fort was named after Governor Thomas Nelson of Virginia and the construction was begun by George Rogers Clark’s troops and settlers. Richard Chenoweth was the builder of the fort. The construction was not completed until late in the Revolutionary War and there was not much need for such a fortification, but it was still the second strongest fort in the West with a ditch surrounding it and the ability to withstand cannon fire. The fort had been abandoned and was in poor condition by the late 1780s.”

Kentucky Historical Society

The Changes to Corn Island

While the settlers left Corn Island for mainland by 1779, the island continued to see use into the 1800s. Louisville residents used the island for picnics, fish fries, duck shooting, festivals, and other activities.

• In 1824, a powder mill was built on the island.
• In 1830, The Louisville and Portland Canal and a three-lift lock system was completed by the Army Corp of Engineers to help boats better navigate the Falls of the Ohio. This caused the water level of the river to rise, submerging parts of Corn Island.
• Around 1840, a stone quarry was located on the island. Limestone was quarried and ground for cement. 
• In 1850, a 20-acre farm was located on the island because of its fertile lands.

With the gradual deforestation of the island, the soil washed away, and the exposed limestone was excavated to the extent that the island was in danger of being totally obliterated. In addition, the excavations caused problems for river traffic, altering the water flow above the Falls (Johnson and Parrish 2007:74; 93).

Corn Island Archaeology

• In 1867, the first pier for an Ohio River bridge was placed on Corn Island.
• By 1869, all that remained of the island was a rock with a dead Sycamore stump.
• In 1889, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drilled and blasted the rock away because it was impeding river boat traffic.
• “By 1924, the first settlement of Louisville at Corn Island was completely under water,” (Historic Louisville.weebly).

The changes and improvements to the Locks and Dams continued to raise the river water levels. Even when the river was at “low water levels,” what remained of Corn Island was continuously under water, submerged forever and destined to be forgotten.

Reflection

Today many Kentuckians and even Louisvillians are unaware of the beginnings of Louisville (as noted by the popularity of the photo post). Corn Island and Fort Nelson are long gone and only monuments remain. Do you know where to look?

In 1924, a monument was erected by The National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Kentucky at W Main Street and N 7th Street to commemorate Corn Island.

The monument to Corn Island is just a few feet from the tiny park dedicated to the commemoration of Fort Nelson. You’ll find Fort Nelson Park at West Main and Seventh Streets in downtown Louisville. It’s known as a “pocket park.” Blink and you’ll miss it. It’s situated among the historic buildings that came many years later.

The next time I’m in the downtown area, I’ll take time to stop and explore the monuments of Corn Island and Fort Nelson for myself. When I do, I’ll take my own photos and you’ll see them on Facebook. The next time you’re in the area, see if you can find the beginnings of Louisville.

Happy Travels!