St. Mary, Kentucky

The town was first known as Hardin's Creek when it was settled by the Hardin family c. 1785. Catholic settlers from "Saint" Charles Co.,^[a] Maryland, arrived in 1790. Their community was originally known as Saint Charles after their former home and new church.[1]

The first Catholic settlers of the Hardin's Creek settlement were the brothers Edward Beaven and Charles Beaven from Maryland in 1786, followed by the brothers Mathew, Zachariah, Sylvester, and Jeremiah Cissell.

The community was the birthplace and hometown of George Elder, who – along with William Byrne – later returned from seminary in Maryland to found Saint Mary's College in 1821. The post office was established in 1858 as Saint Mary's for the school.[6] The city was incorporated as St. Mary^[b] on May 26, 1865.[2] The college closed its doors in 1976.

The city includes historical markers honoring the Sisters of Loretto and St. Mary's College.[7]

St. Mary is located on Kentucky Route 84 at 37°50′56.6″N 85°20′46.7″W (37.580711, -85.346291),[8] 5 miles (8 km) west of Lebanon.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city of St. Mary has an area of 0.79 square miles (2.05 km²), of which 0.01 square miles (0.03 km²), or 0.89%, are water.[4]

Since 1980, St. Mary has been home to the 826-bed Marion Adjustment Center, a CCA-owned minimum- and medium-security facility.[10][11] In June 2013, the Kentucky Department of Corrections elected not to renew the contract.[12][13] At the time, the MAC employed 166 people.[14]

^ a: This Charles County is now known within Maryland as "Old Charles County" to distinguish it from the present Charles County. The former was named after King Charles I ("Saint Charles"), the latter after Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore.
^ b: The abbreviation is the formal name, although it sometimes spelled out as "Saint Mary".[2]