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History · Ghent

Ghent dates to 1814, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 101 buildings. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1860.

1814founded
1on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ghent began

When was Ghent founded?

1814

Ghent dates its founding to 1814 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 366 in 18602020 census: 363212 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1817.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ghent’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ghent are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Ghent Historic District takes in 101 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 569 in 1900; 363 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1814: 212 years of Ghent.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ghent’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the National Register

1 listing protects 101 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
101
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Ghent Historic District
Ghent Historic District
Districts
Ghent Historic DistrictDistrict

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

People over time

Ghent, census by census

0100200300400500600190019502000Peak: 569

Peaked at 569 in 1900; 363 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

The story

How Ghent came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ghent.

Read it all →

Ghent was settled at the end of eighteenth century and was first known as McCool's Creek Settlement. The town was laid out in 1814. Henry Clay is alleged to have suggested the name, derived from the city of Ghent (then part of the Netherlands and now part of Belgium), where the treaty ending the War of 1812 was signed between the United States and the United Kingdom on Christmas Eve, 1814. Ghent's post office opened in 1816. On January 17, 1839, the Kentucky General Assembly formally established the city of Ghent and appointed Theodoric Fisher, Samuel Sanders Jr., James Knox, John C. Lindsey, and Richard Sarlls as its trustees.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ghent, 1814 to 1976

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1814
    FoundingGhent is established
  3. 1817Post officeThe Ghent post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 569
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1976Post officeThe Ghent post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Ghent on the map, 1943 to 1980

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

Ghent on the 1943 USGS mapGhent on the 1980 USGS map1943Vevay South sheet · 1:24,000

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Ghent had its own post office from 1817 to 1976.

Ghent
1817–1976
18101920today
Gone or out of use
McCools Creek Baptist Churchchurch
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ghent
Colored OddfellowsGhentGhent ConsolidatedGhent IOOFGhent Second BaptistMasonicScott Number 1

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Ghent’s history

What year was Ghent founded?

In 1814, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ghent’s post office opened in 1817, and the census of 1860 counted 366 people here.

What is on the National Register in Ghent?

One place: the Ghent Historic District (listed 1983).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 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.