Botetourt County was created in 1770, but the area that would become Kentucky was extracted in 1772 to become a portion of Fincastle County.įincastle County, which existed only through the conclusion of 1776, was carved up into three counties: Washington County (now exclusively part of Virginia), Montgomery County (which included parts of present-day Virginia and West Virginia), and Kentucky County.ĭr. Kentucky arose from a still-extant Virginia county: Botetourt County which has been massively carved up over the centuries. The remaining Botetourt County, Virginia. At this point in history, Virginia consisted of the modern states/commonwealths of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. The boundaries of Virginia evolved over the next century-plus before settling on the more familiar lines when, in 1784, Virginia ceded claims to northwestern lands to the U.S. (emphasis added)įrom sea to sea, eh? In these pre-Lewis & Clark days, there was still little concept of just how wide the continent truly is. We do also of our special Grace… give, grant and confirm, unto the said Treasurer and Company, and their Successors… all those Lands, Countries, and Territories, situate, lying, and being in that Part of America, called Virginia, from the Point of Land,from the pointe of lande called Cape or Pointe Comfort all alonge the seacoste to the northward two hundred miles and from the said pointe of Cape Comfort all alonge the sea coast to the southward twoe hundred miles and all that space and circuit of lande lieinge from the sea coaste of the precinct aforesaid upp unto the lande, throughoute, from sea to sea, west and northwest and also all the island beinge within one hundred miles alonge the coaste of bothe seas of the precincte aforesaid. It also gave to the Virginia Company what was then unknown to be such a massive offering: In 1609, the Second Charter extended rights of the Virginia Company to all lands within 200 miles to the north nad south of the James River. A website called Virginia Places explained that the London Company “ shall have all the landes, soile, groundes, havens, ports, rivers, mines, mineralls, woods, marishes, waters, fishinges, commodities and hereditaments whatsoever, from the firste seate of theire plantacion and habitacion by the space of fiftie like Englishe miles.“Īdditionally, the First Charter offered a company 100 miles inland from its first settlement. As I suspected, they didn’t include the lands that would become Kentucky. Letting curiosity get the best of me, a quick Internet search offered a map of King James’ grants to the Plymouth and London Companies in 1606.

It is a useful resource, but I questioned its first referenced fact when it suggested that the first Virginia charter (1606) included the territory that would become Kentucky. In preparing for a presentation on the history of Lexington, I reviewed an online timeline of Fayette County.

The system of measured, however, is best understood by looking at the historic nature of how Kentucky itself came into being. Surveyors and other professionals utilize the system to specifically identify parcels of land though errors by the early surveyors creating much trouble in the early days.Įven with today’s surveys being done largely with technological advantage, it is possible for a call to be reversed and the wrong parcel be conveyed or mortgaged.

Used for centuries in England, the system of describing land by its metes and bounds is a common way of describing an area of land.

Metes and bounds system