Nelson County, Kentucky

Founding: 1785
Parent county: Jefferson

Namesake: Thomas Nelson, Virginia politician
Seat: Bardstown (1785–)

Land area: 418 square miles

Population (2020): 46,738

Population (historic): 11,315 (1790); 14,932 (1830); 14,804 (1870); 16,587 (1900); 16,551 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1790; 1800–1820; 1840–1860; 1870s; 1890–1910; 1920–2020

Subdivisions: Four cities; three CDPs

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,359 (7.3%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 34.5%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 29%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 22.7%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 18.5%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,058
Average outbuilding value (1930): $675
Average farmhouse size (1940): 5.1 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 1,869
Average farm size (1920): 84.9 acres
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Bardstown

Namesake: David Bard, local settler

Founding: 1780 (platting); 1794 (post office); 1838 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 13,567

Population (historic): 216 (1790); 1,492 (1840); 1,835 (1870); 1,711 (1900); 1,767 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1790–1830; 1850–1870; 1880–1910; 1920–2020
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 466 (8.1%)
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