Mason County was the 8th county formed in Kentucky.  The law enacting Mason County was passed on November 5, 1788 and the county was formed on May 1, 1789  from a part of Bourbon County. Its boundaries are unchanged since March 27, 1890. It has an area of 241.1 square miles, making it the 89th largest of Kentucky's 120 counties.

Members of the Mason County Masonic Lodges in 1911:  (pdf's)

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture's assessment of agriculture in Mason County, in 1898-1899 can be found here. (pdf)

In 1930, Kentucky Progress Magazine ran a feature letting each of Kentucky's counties to list their accomplishments for 1929.  What Mason County came up with is here. (pdf)

Mary Shotwell kept a journal of her trip, in 1788, from New Jersey to Washington, Kentucky.  It's not real detailed, but it'll give you an idea of what the an ordeal it was in that time.  Read it here.  (pdf)

In 1864, the editor of the Maysville Bulletin was not happy about Abraham Lincoln, his Kentucky Commandant, Gen S. Burbridge, and especially with the local commissioners, the latter of whom had evidently never heard that old saying about not picking a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel.  Read the editor’s rant, here.

An African-American newspaper from Indianapolis - The Freeman - got updates from its Maysville correspondent in 1890.  You can read it here, and here, and a pair of officer listings from fraternal organizations, here.

Information on the twenty (!)  covered bridges that used to serve in Mason County are listed in the data base at web site of Kentucky Covered Bridges, here.  Several have pictures.

Desha Glen

Wernwag House

Thomas Marshall House

Lewisburg Baptist Church

Mays Lick Baptist Church

Washington Methodist Church

Shannon  Methodist Church

In the early 1960's, the Lexington Herald-Leader ran a series of vignettes by noted Kentucky historian Winston Coleman on a variety of Kentucky historical locations.  Some from Mason County are above.  (all pdf's)

In October 1986, around the time PBS film producers were releasing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was filmed in the area, the New York Times wrote a piece about Augusta, Maysville, and Washington called "Old Kentucky Towns" which provides a wealth of history about the area. Here.

The Mason County Museum is here.

L. Alberta Brand's  paper Place Names in Mason County is here. (pdf)

A list of men who went to the penitentiary from ason
County from 1798 through 1834 is here.

The City of Maysville is here

A brisk cavalry skirmish took place near Helena, Ky., in which
 several rebels were killed and wounded on April 20, 1863.

R. S. Cotterill's "Old Maysville Road," from 1917, is here. (pdf)

Some Mason County Cemetery Records are here,  here, and here.

Lafayette comes to Maysville.  Read about it, here.

A site dedicated to the bridges of Mason County is here.

Courier-Journal's 1896 report on Mason Co Toll Roads, here.

L. Alberta Brand's Place Names of Mason County is here.  (pdf)

Mason County Officials, Merchants, Doctors and Lawyers, 1847, here

18th Century Mason County Distillers, here.

R. S. Cotterill's The Old Maysville Road, from 1917, is here.  (pdf)

The Maysville Chamber of Commerce is here.

Here's a list of the Mason county Historical Markers.

Maysville's Frank O'Donnell Hurst played for the Cubs and the Phillies, in a major league career that spanned 1928 through 1934.  His record is here.

A status report from the Superintendent of Schools in Mason County from 1900 is here.

Description of Maysville, from 1808, here.

An excerpt from The Writings of Caleb Atwater (1833) 
describing his visit in 1829 to Maysville, is here.

Lucy Lee's Historic Places of Mason County is here. (pdf)

If you have an interest in Slavery and the Underground Railroad in the Mason County area, you absolutely want to find a book called Beyond the River, by Ann Hagedorn. It's the story of Ripley, Ohio's John Rankin, and has detailed information about slavery days in Bracken and Mason Counties.  That's a handy link to Amazon for you to get a copy, at the left.

There are a total of six Mason Counties in the US.  Here's a list of the other five.

"The Maysville packet Bostona No. 3, brought the news [to Cincinnati] last evening that Maysville is occupied by a force of rebels, under the notorious Pete Everett.  The steamer was notified of the fact at the mouth of Cabin Creek, when they were coming down yesterday afternoon.  They were reported to be 300 strong.  Learning that the rebs had no artillery, the officers of the steamer concluded to run the blockade, which they did successfully.  Ten or twelve shots were fired at the boat, from pistols and carbines, none taking effect.  The rebels came to Maysville about 3 o’clock yesterday morning.  It was reported that they had killed three men there."   From the New York Times, June 12, 1964.