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History · Stamping Ground

Stamping Ground’s post office opened in 1818, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Alexander Bradford House and the William Campbell House. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.

1818first post office
2on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Stamping Ground began

When was Stamping Ground founded?

1818

The Stamping Ground post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 233 in 18802020 census: 780208 years
Founding year: the first Stamping Ground post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Stamping Ground’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 Stamping Ground are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1818: 208 years of Stamping Ground.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Stamping Ground’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Stamping Ground, 1818 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818Post officeThe Stamping Ground post office opens
  3. 1842Born hereJames C. C. Black is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1938Born hereJack Cottrell is born here
  6. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Stamping Ground came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Stamping Ground.

Read it all →

In April 1775, William McConnell and Charles LeCompte's party from Pennsylvania, first discovered the area surrounding what is now Stamping Ground. The party encountered a large spring from which herds of buffalo would drink. Due to the stamping of the buffalo's hooves while waiting to drink from the spring, the area was named Buffalo Stamping Ground, later shortened to Stamping Ground.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Stamping Ground, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Stamping-Ground-ky2019Stamping-Ground-kyStamping-Ground-jail-ky2019Stamping-Ground-jail-kyStamping-Ground-William-Mason-office-ky2019Stamping-Ground-William-Mason-office-kyStamping Ground KY Postmark2012Stamping Ground KY PostmarkStamping ground school2007Stamping ground schoolKYMap-doton-StampingGround2004KYMap-doton-StampingGround
On the map

Stamping Ground on the map, 1939 to 1953

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

Stamping Ground on the 1939 USGS mapStamping Ground on the 1953 USGS map1939Sadieville 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 Stamping Ground.

Every building

Stamping Ground, building by building, 1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Stamping Ground fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Stamping Ground

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Alexander Bradford House
Alexander Bradford HouseWilliam Campbell House
Buildings
All 2 listings
Alexander Bradford HouseBuilding · listed 1974William Campbell HouseBuilding · listed 1984

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

People over time

Stamping Ground, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020780

Grew from 233 people in 1880 to 780 in 2020, 3 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Stamping Ground

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
James C. C. BlackConfederate Army soldier and American politician · b. 1842
J
Jack CottrellAmerican theologian · b. 1938

Questions about Stamping Ground’s history

What year was Stamping Ground founded?

The Stamping Ground post office opened in 1818, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Stamping Ground?

Two places: the Alexander Bradford House (listed 1974) and the William Campbell House (1984).

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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.