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History · Nortonville

Nortonville’s post office opened in 1871, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1880.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Nortonville began

When was Nortonville founded?

1871

The Nortonville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 49 in 18802020 census: 977155 years
Founding year: the first Nortonville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Nortonville’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 Nortonville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,336 in 1980; 977 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1963. Watch Nortonville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Nortonville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nortonville’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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People over time

Nortonville, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,336

Peaked at 1,336 in 1980; 977 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Nortonville on the map, 1912 to 1963

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

Nortonville on the 1912 USGS mapNortonville on the 1953 USGS mapNortonville on the 1963 USGS map1912Nortonville 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 Nortonville.

The story

How Nortonville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nortonville.

Read it all →

Nortonville owes its existence to the railroad industry and is named for Eckstein Norton, a Kentucky-born investment banker who started as a clerk in a country store in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1846. Norton participated in the creation of the Elizabethtown and Paducah Railroad in the late 1860s (east-west tracks). He then purchased 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land in what would become "Norton Village", later changed to "Nortonville" around 1900. Norton became a shipping agent for the Illinois Central Railroad, which eventually acquired the Elizabethtown & Paducah Railroad. The north–south railroad, named the Evansville, Henderson and Nashville, was completed through Nortonville in 1872. It was purchased in a foreclosure sale in 1879 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Norton became president of the L&N Railroad on October 6, 1886. By 1886, Nortonville was one of only nine towns in …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nortonville, 1871 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Nortonville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,336
By decade

Nortonville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Nortonville-post-office-ky2018Nortonville-post-office-kyNortonville-Walnut-St-ky2018Nortonville-Walnut-St-kyNortonville-United-Methodist-Church-ky2018Nortonville-United-Methodist-Church-kyNortonville-RR-tracks-ky2018Nortonville-RR-tracks-kyNortonville-Municipal-Building-ky2018Nortonville-Municipal-Building-kyNortonville-Bestway-ky2018Nortonville-Bestway-ky
Famous people

Famous people close to Nortonville

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

See all →
Jefferson DavisPresident of the Confederate States from 1861 t… · b. 1808
bell hooksAmerican author and activist · b. 1952
Miles HeizerAmerican actor · b. 1994
Steve Beshear61st governor of Kentucky · b. 1944
Demetrious JohnsonAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1986
Terry BissonAmerican science fiction and fantasy author · b. 1942

Questions about Nortonville’s history

What year was Nortonville founded?

The Nortonville post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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), 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.