Bullitt County Communities - Mid 1800s

At the time of the Civil War (1860-1865), there were a number of small communities in Bullitt County. Besides Shepherdsville, Mount Washington, and Lebanon Junction, there were the communities of Cane Springs, Chapeze Station (Now called Limestone Springs), Brooks Station, and Pitts Point. There were also a number of very small communities which included only a handful of families.

This section offers a very brief glimpse of each community.

By 1847 Shepherdsville had grown to a community of about 400 persons. Around 1855, the Louisville and Nashville railroad went through the city. This was to have a great influence on the city in the years to come.

Mount Washington was known at first as the Crossroads because of its location at the intersection of the Louisville - Bardstown stage route and the Shepherdsville - Taylorsville route. The community was organized with a post office in 1822. By 1847 it had become the largest community in Bullitt County with a population of about 700.

Settlers had been around in the Lebanon Junction area as early as the 1780's. The town really did not get a good start, however, until the railroad came through.

In 1857, a branch of the L&N railroad was extended to Lebanon, Kentucky. It began at the present site of Lebanon Junction. This junction of the spur line with the main line gave the town its name.

Cane Springs was located about ten miles south of Shepherdsville on the railroad. It was established sometime before 1828, however. In 1860 the population was 80.

Chapeze Station, now called Limestone Springs, was situated on the Long Lick Creek by the Bardstown branch of the L&N railroad. Although people had lived in the area since about 1782, it was not really much of a community until the railroad came through. It is on land once owned by Peter Shepherd and his heirs.

The present community of Brooks originates with Brooks Station which was a stop on the L&N railroad. The post office was established there in 1858. At the time of the Civil War it was only a small village.

There used to be a town at the junction of the Rolling Fork River and the Salt River. Originally called Pittstown, it was later known as Pitts Point.

At its peak, it was a community of several hundred persons (1859 population was 300). Its growth can be attributed to the fact that under normal conditions steamboats could not venture as far upstream as Shepherdsville, thus a place was needed to load Bullitt County goods on the steamboats.

Pitts Point's location was ideal for this purpose. With the decline of the steamboats, Pitts Point also declined.

As early as 1831 there were enough people in the area to warrant a ferry being operate at the site. In that year, James and John Pitts bought 600 acres at the fork and proceeded to lay out their town. A post office was established 1842 and the first public school was organized about 1850.

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