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Fort Nelson (Kentucky)
Encyclopedia
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
in the area of what is now downtown
Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west...
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Fort-on-Shore
Fort-on-Shore
Fort-on-Shore, built in 1778 by William Linn, was the first on-shore fort on the Ohio River in the area of what is now downtown Louisville, Kentucky. George Rogers Clark had directed Linn to move the militia post to the mainland from its original off-shore location at Corn Island...
, the downriver and first on-shore fort, had proved to be insufficient barely three years after it was established. In response to continuing attacks from Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and the threat of British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
attacks during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Fort Nelson was constructed between what is currently Main Street and the river, with its main gate near Seventh Street. It was named after Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Thomas Nelson, Jr. was an American planter, soldier, and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia. He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress and was its Governor in 1781. He is regarded as one of the U.S. Founding Fathers since he signed the Declaration of Independence as a member of the...
, then the governor of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. (Kentucky was part of Virginia at the time.)
In the fort's place today stands Fort Nelson Park.
See also
- Corn Island (Kentucky)Corn Island (Kentucky)Corn Island is a now-vanished island in the Ohio River, at head of the Falls of the Ohio, just north of Louisville, Kentucky.-Geography:Estimates of the size of Corn Island vary with time as it gradually was eroded and became submerged. A 1780 survey listed its size at...
- Fort-on-ShoreFort-on-ShoreFort-on-Shore, built in 1778 by William Linn, was the first on-shore fort on the Ohio River in the area of what is now downtown Louisville, Kentucky. George Rogers Clark had directed Linn to move the militia post to the mainland from its original off-shore location at Corn Island...
- Fort William (Kentucky)Fort William (Kentucky)Fort William was a pioneer fort in Kentucky established in 1785 by Colonel William Christian and Anne Christian. William Christian directed the defense of what is now Louisville from attacks by the Indians. The fort was in the area of Jefferson County near St. Matthews and Lyndon...
- Spring Station (Kentucky)Spring Station (Kentucky)Springs Station was established in 1780 in the area of Beal's Branch of Beargrass Creek in what is now Louisville, Kentucky. It was established at the time of the founding of Louisville as part of the settlement's defensive network of six forts, to protect settlers from attack by the Indians who...
- Floyd's Station (Kentucky)Floyd's Station (Kentucky)Floyd's Station was a fort on Beargrass Creek in what is now St. Matthews, Kentucky. In November of 1779 James John Floyd built cabins and a stockade near what is now Breckenridge Lane. In 1783, John Floyd, future Governor of Virginia was born in the Station. The pioneer father was killed by...
- Low Dutch StationLow Dutch StationLow Dutch Station was established in 1780 on the middle fork of Beargrass Creek in Kentucky. This station was settled by Dutch pioneers from Pennsylvania and was also known as New Holland Station. The...
- Bryan's StationBattle of Blue LicksThe Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's famous surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east...
- History of Louisville, KentuckyHistory of Louisville, KentuckyThe history of Louisville, Kentucky spans hundreds of years, with thousands of years of human habitation. The area's geography and location on the Ohio River attracted people from the earliest times. The city is located at the Falls of the Ohio River...
- List of parks in Louisville, Kentucky
- Shippingport, KentuckyShippingport, KentuckyShippingport, Kentucky is an industrial site and former settlement near Louisville, Kentucky on a peninsula near the Falls of the Ohio. It was incorporated without a name on October 10, 1785, then became Campbell Town after Revolutionary War soldier John Campbell, who had been granted the land for...
- Station (frontier defensive structure)Station (frontier defensive structure)A Station was a defensible residence constructed on the American frontier during the early nineteenth century.Many of these structures were built on the Kentucky frontier in and around the Louisville area during the struggle with the British and Native Americans...