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History · Bonnieville

1 of Bonnieville’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Bonnieville Elementary School. Most of Bonnieville was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1959. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bonnieville’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Bonnieville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 376 in 1960; 269 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bonnieville’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bonnieville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bonnieville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewH and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bonnieville, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 376

Peaked at 376 in 1960; 269 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bonnieville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Bonnieville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bonnieville.

Read it all →

Founded in 1849, the town was originally known as Bacon Creek, for the stream that runs through the city. It is rumored that the name was changed to Bonnieville because of the popularity of the song "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean".

On December 26, 1862, the Confederate John Hunt Morgan sent a detachment from Upton to the bridge over Bacon Creek in Bonnieville. A brief firefight with a detachment of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment resulted with the destruction of the bridge for a third time and the wounding of 23. The railroad remained closed for six weeks until the tracks could be repaired and reopened on February 1.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bonnieville, 1880 to 1960

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Bennieville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930In the archiveH and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville, Kentucky (85237)
  5. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 376
By decade

Bonnieville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
H and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville, Kentucky (85237)c. 1930H and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville, Kentucky (852…O. K. Court, Bonnieville, Kentucky (85445)c. 1930O. K. Court, Bonnieville, Kentucky (85445)
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Bonnieville-City-Hall-ky2017Bonnieville-City-Hall-kyBonnieville-Bonn-Theater-ky2017Bonnieville-Bonn-Theater-kyBonnieville-Bacon-Creek-ky2017Bonnieville-Bacon-Creek-kyBonnieville-Bacon-Creek-Bridge-marker-ky2017Bonnieville-Bacon-Creek-Bridge-marker-ky
On the map

Bonnieville on the map, 1937 to 1967

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bonnieville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bonnieville on the 1937 USGS mapBonnieville on the 1954 USGS mapBonnieville on the 1967 USGS map1937Munfordville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bonnieville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

H and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville, Kentucky (85237)
Retake this viewH and S Motel, Hwy. 31 W., Bonnieville, Kentucky (85237), c. 1930

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bonnieville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bonnieville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
Bonnieville Elementary School
Bonnieville Elementary School
Buildings
All 1 listings
Bonnieville Elementary SchoolBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bonnieville

Nobody well known was born in Bonnieville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Kelly RutherfordAmerican actress · b. 1968
D
Diane SawyerAmerican journalist · b. 1945
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.American lieutenant general during World War II · b. 1886
Billy VaughnAmerican singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchest… · b. 1919
Charles MiddletonAmerican actor · b. 1874
Kenny PerryProfessional golfer · b. 1960

Questions about Bonnieville’s history

What is on the National Register in Bonnieville?

One place: the Bonnieville Elementary School (listed 2025).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.