Spout Spring became an important gathering place for pioneers in the late 1700's because it furnished clean drinking water. Founder Stephen Langford settled the area in 1790, and Spout Spring, which continues to run, along with two other springs no longer visible, made the area attractive for settlement. The settlement was first known as Langford's Station, and in 1810 the town was named in honor of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Early businesses near Spout Spring included a tannery operated by Rev. James McCall in 1840 and the Spout Spring grist mill. It also became the social center of the settlement for picnics and political rallies. During the Civil War, Union troops camped along the creek. In 1925 Spout Spring furnished water for Mount Vernon's public swimming pool, the first commercial public swimming pool in the mountain towns of Kentucky at that time.