Hardin

Formed December 20, 1792 (16^th county)

Hardin County (110,694), Elizabethtown (31,379)                

The dark red brick Neo-Classical courthouse of Hardin County was built in 1934 in a square at Dixie and Main streets.  United States Highway 31 West circles around the courthouse.  The courthouse was designed by Thomas Nolan.  It features columns and a small Liberty Bell in front.  There was an 1872 courthouse previously in Elizabethtown, the only county seat.  In 1997 a Justice Center was added to augment the courthouse.  Hardin County was created on December 20, 1792 from Nelson County as the 16^th county.  Revolutionary War hero John Hardin provided the name for the county.  The county seat is named for the wife of one of its founders.  Hardin County was the birthplace of 2 Kentucky Governors, John L. Helm and John Y. Brown. 

Hardin County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 8 Magistrates (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges, Four District Court Judges, Two Family Court Judges and a court clerk serve Hardin County (judicial.) The county is located in central Kentucky.  Louisville, Kentucky is northeast and Bowling Green, Kentucky is southwest of the county.  The county center is 10.9 miles West-Southwest of Elizabethtown nearer Cecilia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Indiana and Jefferson, Bullitt, Nelson, Larue, Hart, Grayson, Breckinridge, and Meade counties. 

The area of the county is 628 square miles.  It is 4 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 6 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 176.3 persons per square mile making it 16 out of 120 in the state.  Hardin County has 56.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 65 goes north to south in the county from Bullitt County to Hart County.  United States Highway 31 West enters from Bullitt County and exits into Hart County.  United States Highway 60 clips the northern tip of the county from Bullitt County to Meade County.  United States Highway 62 crosses east to west from Nelson County to Grayson County.  The county looks like a bag of marbles.  Elizabethtown is east of the geographical center in the county.  Elizabethtown is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 28.4 of the county population.  This county is in the Elizabethtown Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Upton