Bullitt County History

Spencer, Bullitt, and Jefferson County Turnpike Road Company

In 1860 the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act to establish a turnpike road between Taylorsville and the Bardstown-Louisville turnpike as it passed through Bullitt County. If you can share any additional information about this merger and/or the roads involved, please use our "Contact Us" link at the top of this page and write to us.


CHAPTER 353.

AN ACT to incorporate the Spencer, Bullitt, and Jefferson County
Turnpike Road Company.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

§ 1. That a company shall be, and is hereby, incorporated for the purpose of constructing a turnpike road from Taylorsville, Spencer county, Kentucky, to intersect the Bardstown and Louisville turnpike road at some point between the Salt river bridge and Roby's toll-gate, at such point as said company may designate, whose capital stock shall be thirty thousand dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each, which capital stock may be increased by additional subscriptions, in manner and form as the president and directors of said company may think proper, if such enlargement shall be found necessary to fulfill the intent of this act.

§ 2. That books of subscription for the stock of said company shall be opened in Taylorsville and Shortsville, on the first Monday in March next, under the superintendence of Abraham Van Dyke, Moses V. Buckner, and John B. Woollen, as commissioners, at Taylorsville, and Samuel Collings, William Beard, and Abraham Funk, as commissioners, at Shortsville. The commissioners named at each of the above places shall procure one or more books, and in each of them enter as follows: We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do promise to pay to the president, directors, and company of the Spencer, Bullitt, and Jefferson county turnpike road company, the sum of fifty dollars for every share of stock in said company set opposite our names, in such manner and proportions, and at such times as shall be determined on by the president and directors of said company, and agreeably to an act of Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky incorporating said company. Witness our hands, this ___ day of ___, in the year ___. The commissioners attending shall permit all persons of lawful age, bodies corporate and politic, who shall offer to subscribe in said books in their own names, or that of any other who shall duly authorize the same, for any number of shares in said stock; the books shall be kept open for the purpose aforesaid, by adjournment from time to time, and from place to place, if necessary, until the whole number of shares shall be subscribed, of which adjournment the said commissioners shall give such notice as the occasion in their judgment may require: Provided, The president and directors of said company shall not have power to call in more of said stock than five dollars on each share in any sixty days.

§ 3. That whenever one hundred shares of said stock shall have been taken, the commissioners aforesaid, or any one or more of them, shall call a meeting of the subscribers, to be held in Taylorsville, on some day to be fixed by them, of which meeting they shall give at least thirty days, notice in writing, by posting the same in Taylorsville and Shortsville, for the purpose of electing a president, five directors, treasurer, and such other officers as may be deemed necessary, to serve until others are elected and qualified; and that all future elections shall be on the first Saturday in May, in every successive year, at such place as the president and directors for the time being may designate.

§ 4. That the company formed and organized as aforesaid shall be, and they are hereby, created a body corporate and politic in deed and law, by the name and style of the Spencer, Bullitt, and Jefferson county turnpike road company, and under the said style and name shall have perpetual succession, and all the privileges, immunities, and franchises of a body politic and corporate, and as such shall be capable of contracting and being contracted with, purchasing, taking, and holding to them and their successors and assigns forever, and of selling and conveying in fee-simple, all such lands and tenements and estate, real, personal, and mixed, as shall be necessary to them in the prosecution of their work; and to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be defended, before any and all judicial tribunals whatsoever; and also to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to break, alter, or renew; and do any and every act which a body politic and corporate may lawfully do.

§ 5. That the subscription and payment for two shares of stockholders stock in said turnpike road company, shall exempt a person within one mile of said road from working on any road so long as he continues thus to reside, and the like subscription and payment for two shares for each slave he or she may own, shall exempt such slaves, nor shall any such person or their slaves be arranged into any other road precincts so long as they continue to reside within one mile of said road.

§ 6. That the whole width of said road shall be thirty feet, the graded part whereof shall be at all places (where the ground will admit of it) at least twenty feet, and the macadamized part thereof shall be covered with good pounded rock or gravel, not less than fifteen feet in width and to the depth of ten inches. The macadamized part may be placed to one side of the grade if the president and directors prefer it.

§ 7. The grade on said road shall not exceed three degrees; and whenever five miles of said road shall be completed, the president and directors shall have power to erect toll-gates and employ gate-keepers, and collect toll therein in manner and to the extent pointed out by the charter of the Louisville and Shelbyville turnpike road company.

§ 8. In the election of president, directors, and treasurer, each subscriber shall be entitled to one vote for each share of stock in said company; and no one shall be elected as president, director, or other officer, unless he be a stockholder in said road.

§ 9. That the provisions of sections 8, 10, 11, and 12 of Provision of the act incorporating the Taylorsville and Louisville turnpike road company, approved March 1st, 1848, so far as the same are applicable to the objects and intent hereof, be, and they are hereby, adopted and enacted as part of this act.

§ 10. This act to take effect from its passage.

Approved February 18, 1860.


From Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Volume Two, Frankfort, Ky., J.B. Major, State Printer, 1860, pages 32-4.


If you, the reader, have an interest in any particular part of our county history, and wish to contribute to this effort, use the form on our Contact Us page to send us your comments about this, or any Bullitt County History page. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you feel that we have misspoken at any point, please feel free to point this out to us.

The Bullitt County History Museum, a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is located in the county courthouse at 300 South Buckman Street (Highway 61) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The museum, along with its research room, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday appointments are available by calling 502-921-0161 during our regular weekday hours. Admission is free. The museum, as part of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization and is classified as a 509(a)2 public charity. Contributions and bequests are deductible under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. Page last modified: 12 Jan 2024 . Page URL: bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/spencerbullittjeffroad.html