Free Negro Farm (Meade County, KY)

The Free Negro Farm was located near the segregated community of Stithton in Hardin County, KY. Around 1918, African Americans from Louisville, KY were brought to the area as laborers for the construction of Fort Knox. The laborers were confronted by an armed mob that had to be dispersed before the laborers were led to the Free Negro Farm in Meade County.

There are several different accounts of the origin of the Free Negro Farm. The community predated the existence of Stithton and continued long after Stithton became defunct during the development of Fort Knox. The Free Negro Farm was an African American community situated on about 300 acres of land from as early as 1847 to 1931. There is also speculation that the community is much older and was established by Hardin County's first freeman, General Braddock, who was freed in March 1797. There is also speculation that the community was started by freeman Pleasant Moreman, whose descendants remained in the community until around 1931.

For more see P. W. Urbahns, "More Moremans, Pleasant Moreman: the Free Negro of Meade County" Ancestral News, vol. 19, issue 3 (Fall 1994), pp. 101-104; and Howard, Jonathan, "A Brief History of Racial Violence in Meade County and Surrounding Areas."