Harrodsburg was laid off as Harrodstown by James Harrod and companions in 1774, becoming the first permanent English settlement west of the Alleghany Mountains. In 1776, the Virginia Legislature formed Kentucky County, the area now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and named Harrodsburg the seat of government. The first court in the area was held in 1777. In 1780, the Virginia Legislature divided Kentucky County into Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefferson Counties, with Harrodsburg as the seat of Lincoln County government. In 1785, the Virginia Legislature formed Mercer County out of Lincoln; its area was the same when Kentucky became a state in 1792, and Harrodsburg continued as the county seat. This was the center of organization that held the Northwest against outside attack. George Rogers Clark planned his 1778 campaign here. It was the headquarters of Col. John Bowman, military commander of Kentucky County, from 1775 to 1780, and the stations shown on the map were defenses against Indians. Mercer County also saw many Kentucky firsts: the first settlement in 1774; James Harmon's corn crop; Rev. John Lythe's services and Dr. George Hard as physician in 1775; Mrs. Jane Coomes' school, Wm. Poage's plow and loom, and Ann McGinty's linsey-woolsey in 1776; wheat sown and reaped in 1777; John Cowan's census in 1777; Capt. McMurtry's grist mill in 1782; and horse racing at Humble's Race Paths, a jail, and the road to Squire Boone's Station viewed and opened in 1783.