Fincastle, KY

Fincastle is a tiny home-rule city in eastern Jefferson County, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Louisville and two miles southwest of Oldham County. It was incorporated in 1974 and sits in Louisville's east-end suburban fabric, between Westport Road and Highway 22. The city runs under a commission plan, so even though the map reads like a neighborhood, Fincastle has its own mayor, commissioners, clerk, and local ordinances.

What's fun about the name is that it reaches back far beyond the houses around it. Fincastle County, Virginia, created in 1772 from Botetourt County, once covered a huge stretch of western Virginia before Kentucky County was carved from it in 1776. The Kentucky city keeps that old county name as a small historical callback. Day to day, the place is Louisville-facing: shopping, schools, roads, and services are nearby, while the city government gives the pocket of homes its own municipal identity. The distinction matters when you live inside a larger metro but still have a town hall.