The county seat for Lincoln County is now Stanford. Why do maps show the county seat of Lincoln County, Virginia, as Harrodsburg?
When Lincoln County, Virginia, was formed in 1780, Harrodsburg was named the county seat as it seemed the most centrally located. The first (county) court ever held in Kentucky was for Lincoln County; it was organized in Harrodsburg on January 16, 1781. In February 1781, Col. Benjamin Logan offered ten acres of land at his station (or St. Asaph), including the Buffalo Spring, for building a courthouse and other public buildings. He donated an additional fifty acres “so long as the court of Lincoln county shall continue there”. At the May term, 1786, the court ordered “that the courthouse and prison be removed to the town of Standford” (now Stanford) “on the lands conveyed by Benjamin Logan to the court.” (Ref: “Collins’ History of Kentucky”, Vol. II, pp 475-476.) When Mercer County was formed in 1785, it was decided the county seat (for Mercer) would be Harrodsburg.
