Jeffersontown, Kentucky

Jeffersontown is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 26,595 at the 2010 U.S. census.

It is a major suburb of Louisville: when the Louisville Metro government was established in 2003, Jeffersontown remained an independent city. It is the metro area's third largest municipality outside of Louisville.

History

Located in southeastern Jefferson County, Jeffersontown came into being in the late 1700s as a stopover for early pioneers on their way to the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. Farmers began to cultivate the rich land, which was surveyed by Thomas Bullitt in 1773 and John Floyd the next year. The Hites, Tylers, and Oldhams all settled the area under land grants for military service.

In 1794, Abraham Bruner purchased 122 acres of land. In May 1797, he successfully petitioned the Jefferson County Fiscal Court to incorporate a 40-acre section of his land as the city of Jefferson – either after the county or after Thomas Jefferson, then the vice president of the United States, directly. The city was long known as Bruner's Town or Brunerstown by its inhabitants, but the usage Jefferson Town eventually led to its present name.