03/27/2023
History on our little town of Tyrone.
The Lost City of Tyrone.....Nestled in the thick woods near the Kentucky River sits the remnants of a town that, at one time, almost rivaled its sister city and county seat just a few miles to the west. Today, Tyrone is home to a small population of Anderson County, but just a little over a hundred years ago, the city had around 1000 residents, included dozens of bourbon distilleries, and was fully incorporated with its own police force and city hall, unlike most other villages in the county.
The history of Tyrone dates all the way back to 1847. There were only three homes in the thick forest, one of which was in the style of a Daniel Boone log cabin, complete with mud chinking and and a stick and clay chimney. By 1860, the first bourbon distillery was built by SP Martin, Number 112. That particular distillery would become the now famous Wild Turkey Distillery after being bought a number of times through its history.
Soon enough, the town would quickly start to build with roads being laid to Lawrenceburg, homes and businesses being built, and more residents moving there to support the burgeoning bourbon industry. By 1879, the town was official incorporated. The town quickly was modernized with schools, a police force, churches, and more.
At its peak before the start of Prohibition, Tyrone had around two dozen distilleries. Many of these were small and may have only survived a few years, but a number became very well established, making their owners very rich. SP Martin’s distillery would eventually be purchased by TB Ripy, who would build his sprawling mansion on South Main Street in Lawrenceburg. John Dowling would build his distillery in Tyrone off of Bailey’s Run just behind the streets that now makeup the village. He would also build a large house on South Main Street.
By the 1910’s, Tyrone featured its own city hall, a number of stores, a hospital, and many other professionals. The city, however, would face a complete economic disaster at the start of 1920. Prohibition officially started in January of 1920, which meant the biggest employers in the region would be forced to shut down. With the distilleries gone, residents began pouring out of the city, many moving to nearby Lawrenceburg. Some remained and worked for "the quarry" now Hanson Aggregates, but the town never recovered. It would eventually revert back to being just a village in the county, with its city government dissolving..
And then, in 2012....we moved here!
