Great Show/Breeding Prospect

Brothers John, William and Nicholas Pence, previously of Warren County, Ohio, settled on the land on which Frankfort now stands in 1829, having entered it from the government in 1827and 1828. In 1830, the brothers donated 60 acres (240,000 m 2) of the land to the county commissioners, a donation which led to the establishment of the county seat at that site rather than in Jefferson, a community which had also been vying for the honor. The new town was named Frankfort at the brothers' request and honors their German great-grandparents' home of Frankfurt am Main. The town of Frankfort was laid off on the 60-acre (240,000 m 2) tract by William Douglass, the county agent, and the plat filed on June 8, 1830. The original plat consisted of 64 lots in eight blocks surrounding a public square where the courthouse now stands.