A Brief History of Rockcastle County

Thomas Walker was one of the first to come into present day Rockcastle County of European descent. He named the Rockcastle River the Lawless river after a man in his party.

Years later more long hungers came through the county, including Henry Skaggs and Charles Cox. On his expedition Skaggs followed a buffalo across the Rockcastle River and through a creek which would become Skaggs Creek.

Isaac Lindsey was in another hunting group. While on this trip, Lindsey was on the Lawless river when he encountered shelving cliffs that reminded him of castles and referred to them as rock castles. Also on this river he encountered a massive rock that resembled an ancient castle and he referred to it as Castle Rock. 

Stephen Langford was the first settler in Rockcastle County in 1790, however at the time it was still Lincoln County. Records show 400 acres near Little Clifty Creek, near the Rockcastle River. But there was another Stephen Langford, possible cousins and this Stephen owned land around what is now Mount Vernon, this Stephen may have come around 1812.