The History of Ellisville, Kentucky

 Have you ever passed through a community and asked yourself "I wonder what it's history is?"   I do that sometimes. And one of the communities I've had that thought about is Ellisville located in Nicholas County, KY.  Now I've only passed through Ellisville a handful of times.  But each time I have, when I see the "Ellisville" road sign I start thinking about its history. How did the community start? Where did it get its name? What businesses were here?  All those types of questions.

The small road sign coming into Ellisville.

Ellisville, formerly Ellis Station, is located on Hwy 68, better known as the Lexington-Maysville Road on what used to be the James Ellis farm.  Ellisville became the first county seat of Nicholas County in 1805.

According to Riley Mola's post on Findagrave.com, " prior to 1782, James Ellis built a log tavern to protect himself and other pioneers from the attacks of the British and native Americans. It was there, on August 19, 1782, that the Soldiers en route to the battle at Blue Licks stopped to eat and rest. 

The Old Stone Tavern in 2018, courtesy of 
Christopher Riley's Flicker account.

The Ruins of the Old Stone Tavern at Ellisville,
courtesy of Google Maps, August 2023.

[When the act] was passed that moved the county seat of Nicholas County to the farm of James Ellis. Ellis deeded the county the necessary acreage of land, across the road from his home, to build a courthouse and a jail. Later in 1807, James Ellis built his final residence nearby his log tavern. This home was also a tavern that was later a residence of the McClanahan Family. Charles McClanahan, a pioneer who is buried in the cemetery, help move the stones to the site where the Stone Tavern was being built, when he was only 10 years old.

Arieal view of Ellisville, courtesy of Google Maps.
The red dot is the Old Stone Tavern location. And 
according to Mr. Riley, the old courthouse and jail 
used to sit across the road from it. 

James Ellis sold scores of lots to individuals who wanted to live in the new county seat, and the residents named the area Ellisville in his honor. But the county seat was short lived, for in 1816 another act was passed that moved the county seat from Ellisville to Carlisle. The Courthouse and jail were razed and moved there also. Following its demotion from county seat, progress suffered at Ellisville and many of its businesses shut down.

Although the community was no longer the county seat, it still kept its name and persisted for many decades before it lost all its business. Many families continued living there, and soon Ellisville established a cemetery on the McClanahan's farm for the community to lay their loved ones to rest. Today, the cemetery is privately owned and is not visible when driving down US 68.

The abandoned Ellisville Cemetery. Now overgrown.
Photo courtesy of  Riley Mola / Find-A-Grave.

James Ellis's Stone Tavern still stands to this day and the remains of the pioneers of Ellisville are interred in the cemetery just across the road. A few country homes, The Old Stone Tavern, and fields of tobacco are all that's left of the beautiful little town of Ellisville as we drive down US 68."

UPDATE: According to the Nicholas County Tourism Department,, the Stone Tavern is still standing as of today, "but barely."  It's most likely not safe for anyone to enter or visit.

Mr. Riley Mola's description of Ellisville is about the only one you can find online. Just as the town has about all vanished physically, it has also done so historically. There's not much information out there at all. 

This is why the work that historians such as myself and others do is so important. Unless we preserve what little history is left, it will soon be forgotten.