Great Trail Prospect

Cynthiana was named after Cynthia and Anna Harrison, daughters of Robert Harrison, who had donated land for its establishment, though Harrison County was named after Colonel Benjamin Harrison, who was an early settler in the area and the sheriff of Bourbon County. Two Civil War battles were fought in Cynthiana; the first on July 17, 1862, was part of a raid into Kentucky by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan; the second on June 11 and 12, 1864, resulted in defeat of Confederate forces on Morgan's last raid into the state. On January 23, 1877, an LL chondrite meteorite fell in Cynthiana. March 2, 1997, the South Fork of the Licking River which bisects Cynthiana flooded, causing extensive damage in Cynthiana and neighboring communities.