Athens/Cross Plains - founded as Cross Plains in 1783 by Samuel Todd and others who came in 
the wake of Daniel Boone.  It was located in the intersection of Boonesboro Road and Cleveland 
Pike, site of the existing settlement of Athens.  Cross Plains started as a religious community by 
erecting a Baptist Church in 1785 at the site now occupied by the Christian Church.  The town of 
Athens was layed out as a village by surveyor Harvey Bledsoe in 1826.  Several woolen factories 
were built in 1836.  Because of frequent fires, manufacturing ended in Athens only a couple of 
years later.  In 1840, Athens supported 300 residents, two taverns, several general stores, two 
distilleries within a mile of town, plus other shops.  It became a place for large gatherings, for 
gambling, quarter racing on dirt roads, and chicken and dog fights.  In 1971 the white population 
was 99% of the total.

Avon - located at the intersection of the L&N Railroad tracks and Briar Hill Pike, in eastern 
Fayette County.  Until recently, Avon didn't have a large enough concentration of buildings to be 
considered a settlement.  The term "Avon", in the past, referred only to the farming area owned 
by the T.J. Weathers heirs.  Their daughter and her husband, C.E.Gibson, subdivied their inherited 
land in 1956 creating "Avon Acres" where mainly whites live.

Bracktown - located in the northwestern part of Fayette Co., was one of the many settlements 
subdivided after the Civil War.  Before the Civil War, the land now know as Bracktown was 
owned by Fredrick Braxton, James H. Henderson and the Martin family.  In 1887 Robert Stone 
subdivided the 21 acres into long narrow lots, and he named it "stonetown" after himself.  He sold 
this land to African-Americans who were able to pay the $100/acre price.  The southern pact of 
Bracktown was owned by Rev. Fredrick Braxton who was the first pastor of an African-American 
church at Main and Merino Street in Lexington -- and the inhabitants named their whole village 
after him, calling it Bracktown.

Cadentown - a settlement in Fayette County east of Lexington established solely for the purpose 
of providing housing for the freed slaves after the Civil War.  The farm which Samuel McKee 
owned, later residence of Capt. John Starks, Revolutionary War officer, was purhcased in 1867 
by Owne Caden, a farmer born in Ireland in 1830.  He came to the US in 1840 and his children 
settled in the area, subdividing the land of about 70 acres at the intersection of Liberty and Todds 
road.  A 1971 Housing Report states that the one-room schoolhouse was still standing.

Clays Ferry - Eli Cleveland, one of the early pioneers who obtained 740 acres of land between 
Boone Creek and theRichmond Pike in souther Fayette County founded a settlement called 
Cleveland in the 1780s.  He built shipyards, warehouses and mills on the Kentucky River at the 
site which is now known as Clays Ferry.  The settlement was populated only by Cleveland and his 
large numbers of slaves until is death in 1829.  His will gave 624 acres to his sister Martha and her 
husband Bernard Franklin.  Eli gave this sister all his estate because of her frequent assistance and 
good will.  To his other six brothers and sisters he left fifty cents each.  As the estate was handed 
down to subsequent generations it became thoroughly subdivided and now contains about 135 
acres as a community, mostly of whites.

Coletown - located on Walnut Hill Road opposite Shelby Lane in southern Fayette County, it was 
one of the few settlements created before the Civil War.  In 1843 the will of Sarah Johnson stated 
that 10 acres of land on the Walnut Hill Pike shall be given to Milly Cole, an ex-slave of Sarah 
Johnson's brother.  In 1868, upon the death of Milly Cole, the 10 acres were subdivided equally 
into three parts for her three children.  At approximately the same time, other prominant families 
in the area were the Spencer Seals family, the Isaacs family, and the Tookey family.  This 22 acre 
community contained only 30 people in 1971, and the racial mixture is 1/2 black and 1/2 white.

Fort Springs - In 1826 Major Thomas Streshly, owner of large amount of land and many slaves, 
gave three slaves whom he emancipated, some land on the Woodford Road (Versailles Road).  
These freed men started the area known as "Reform".  Slaves in the area used to slip away at 
night for jamborees at "Reform" and thus the name "Slickaway" was established.   In 1882, 
Slickaway was a sizable community with a church and a school attended by the black population, 
the South Elkhorn Baptist Church (1859) and a school attended by the white population -- there 
were approx. 150 residents of Slickaway in 1882, twice as many blacks as there were whites.  The 
name "Slickaway" lasted until 1890 when a prominent resident of the area grew tired of going to 
Pisgah (two miles away in Woodford County) and had the Fort Springs Post Office created.  He 
named it for the Old Stone Tavern of Lewis O'Neal, built in 1826.  It has a large spring which 
runs under the structure.  During the Civil War, the tavern was transformed into a headquarters or 
"fort", thus bringing about the name.

Jimtown - Jacob Sidener, Sr. (b. 1788) was the first of the Sidener family to reside in the area.  
Sidener worked a 20 acre farm in Fayette County for three years to make enough money to buy a 
400 acre farm at the site now called Jimtown.  He paid $3 an acre for this land covered with trees. 
 He began to accumulate other property until he had built up an estate of 1,400 acres.  He gave 
1/2 of his estate to be divided up among his 11 children.  One of his sons was Jacob Sidener, Jr. 
(1824-91) who resided on a 190 acre farm called "Uniondale."  James Sidener, the unmarried son 
of Jacob Sidener, Jr. was the founder of Jimtown.  In 1888 he sold to freed slaves plots of land 
(around 34 acres total now) at about $80 per acre to start the settlement which bears his name, 
located on the Greewich Pike and south of Hume Bedford Pike.

Jonestown - formally Jonesboro, located south of Lexington off Tates Creek Road.  In 1817 
Samuel S. Wilson bought his farm which, after the Civil War, he began to subdivide.  In 1883 he 
sold nearly 50 acres to Thomas Jones who subdivided it into lots in 1893 -- the original plat for 
the Jones Subdivision is in the Fayette County Courthouse.  It is a totally African-American 
community of 46 acres.

Little Georgetown - located on the south side of Parkers Mill Road in western Fayette County in 
the area of the large land holdings of the Parker and Waltz families.  In the first half of the 19th 
century this area belonged to George Waltz who game some of his 200 acres to several African-
Americans who built their homes there and called it after him -- they had to add on the "Little" 
because there was already a "Georgetown" in Kentucky.  In the early 20th century, Little 
Georgetown had a school house operated by the Fayette County School system.  Today around 
90 people live in the mostly black community which covers 34 acres on the south side of Parker's 
Mill Road.

Little Texas- located in the western part of Fayette County at the corner of Military Pike and Ft. 
Springs-Pincard Lane.  It was established in the early 18th century as one of the few all white 
rural communities.  The area of Shannondale, as it was called when it was founded, was 
established by several families, such as William H. Davis, J.H. Lushy, Joseph Carter and others.  
They had a baseball team which traveled to play other teams in a covered wagon.  It is said that 
this produced the nickname "Texas" for the Shannondale residents.  The names were used 
interchangeably up to the 1930s.  It covers about 17 acres.

Loradale - a village in northern Fayette County on the Russell Cave Road, it has developed mostly 
during the 20th century.  Originally owned by Jacob Sidener, Sr. and his heirs (as was Jimtown), it 
was sold and then subdivided in 1904 by the Huffman family.  The Old Union Church in Loradale 
was first built in 1823, rebuilt in 1875, and again in 127.  It is a mainly white community of 90 
covering roughly 110 areas, but most of that is farm land.

Maddoxtown - Samuel Maddox was born in Maryland in 1817, and upon oving to Ky. he married 
a girl from Scott Co. and lived there most of his life as a farmer.  In 1871, he subdivided part of 
his farm on Huffman Hill Road and sold lots to freed slaves.  In 1879 he sold off larger tracts of 
land of approximately 10 acres for an average of $80 per acre.  In Maddoxtown these larger tracts 
were subdivided into smaller lots inthe early 20th century.  It supported its own school which was 
held in the church erected in 1875.  There are about 44 acres today (of which about 20 acres are 
used for farming) for 98 people of whom 75% are African-American.

Pricetown-Nihizertown-Centerville - these three communities are located close together in the 
Todds Road and Cleveland Pike area in eastern Fayette County.  All three were created around 
the same time after the Civil War for the development of housing for emancipated slaves.  Willis 
Price was heir to land left to him by other members of the Price family who came to Fayette Co. 
soon after Daniel Boone.  Dr. Sanford Price, son of Willis Price, subdivided some of this land to 
form the settlemtn of Pricetown.  At the same time, John Nihizer was in the process of 
subdividing his land into two acre lots which he sold for $80-$100 per acre.   The combined 
population of the 3 areas is approximately 105 people of whom 2/3 are black, and the combined 
acreage is about 77.

Spears - formally Spearsville, this settlement on the Tates Creek Pike, split by the Jessamine-
Fayette Co. line, was settled in the late 18th century by John L. Spears from Virginia.  He 
attracted other settlers because of his education and skill as a surveyor and school teacher.  It 
covers about 15 acres and was settled by whites.

Uttingertown-Columbus - these two towns are located off of Royster Road just north of 
Winchester Road, and both were created for the increased population of freed slaves after the 
Civil War.  In 1869 Samuel L. Uttinger sold several 2 acre lots for about $100 per acre.  He later 
mysteriously disappeared and was declared dead.  Next to Uttingertown is Columbiatown, known 
now as Columbus.  Clarence H. Crimm subdivided his land in 1893 and began to sell lots at $100 
per acre, and chose the name for the Columbian Exposition which had just closed in Chicago.  
The combined population of all blacks is around 90.

Willa Lane - located east of Lexingtonand south of Avon on the Haley Pike, it was a farming area 
before 1920 owned by J. Madison Jackson and his wife Kitty.  After her husband's death, Kitty 
Jackson subdivided her 415 acres into large lots.  A man by the name of Goodpaster bought two 
of these lots totally 103 acres and in 1920 he subdivided them into aproximately 5 acre lots.  In 
1924 Willa B. Stevenson bought Goodpaster's land and sold it to the blacks who settled there.  
There are around 43 people in the community, covering about 45 acres of land (28 of which is 
farmland).
 
From the 1971 Housing Report of the City-County Planning Commission.  
More information can be found in the Ky. Room, Central Lex. Public Library.

Posted August 14, 1997
email: Dolph@pop.uky.edu
http://www.bluegrass.kctcs.edu/LCC/HIS/scraps/towns.html