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Harrison County · Early commonwealth · 1793

Cynthiana — Cynthia & Anna on the Licking

Harrison County was carved from Bourbon and Scott in 1793 and named for Col. Benjamin Harrison, a Ruddle’s Station settler and early Kentucky convention man.

The same December acts made the county seat a new town on 150 acres Robert Harrison, a blacksmith (no proven kin to Benjamin), donated opposite the mouth of Gray’s Run on the South Fork of the Licking. He asked it be named for his daughters Cynthia and Anna—hence Cynthiana—then moved on to Ohio and Indiana while the square grew into the seat.

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Chicago

Snowden, Shannon. "Cynthiana — Cynthia & Anna on the Licking." Kentucky History Drive. Published September 12, 2026. Last revised September 12, 2026. https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/cynthiana-cynthia-anna-on-the-licking/.

MLA

Snowden, Shannon. "Cynthiana — Cynthia & Anna on the Licking." Kentucky History Drive, published 12 Sept. 2026, last revised 12 Sept. 2026, https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/cynthiana-cynthia-anna-on-the-licking/.

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