The Big Spring

The Big Spring. . , The site of the First Permanent Settlement West of the Alleghenies, which became present-day Harrodsburg, is firmly connect to this spring. This site was chosen because of the never-ending flow of fresh, clean water - and for the creek that it supplies. Situated in the middle of the territory, the spring is surrounded by open, fertile, tillable land that offered numerous benefits., During a surveying trip, James Harrod led a group of men from their landing point on the Kentucky River to this very site, which he determined to be the best location for the new settlement. Under a sprawling Elm tree that stood about 100 yards downstream, the men laid down their packs, made a fire, relaxed, and enjoyed their first meal on the site of the township they would develop. Soon it became their evening routine to gather under the Elm adjacent to the spring, having spent the day exploring, scouting and surveying the new land. Importantly, though John Lythe of the Church of England has been noted as the first preacher in Kentucky (April 1775), it was under that same Elm tree that Rev. Thomas Tinsley and Rev. William Hickman preached the first Baptist sermon in Kentucky on May 1775., During those early years, the people of "Harrod's Town" used this spring and the Town Branch creek for fresh drinking water, cooking, laundry, and bathing as well as for the watering of gardens and livestock. It became the life blood of the growing settlement.