Petersburg, KY

Petersburg is a Boone County census-designated place on the Ohio River, about 25 miles southwest of Cincinnati. The site began as Tanner’s Station, an outpost founded by John Tanner before 1790, and was renamed Petersburg in the early 1800s. Before roads and highways took over, the river was the main route: Petersburg was a landing place, market town, and shipping point for the farms along the Kentucky bottomlands. That older river role is still the best way to understand why a small community here shows up so often in Boone County history.

Petersburg also carries a deeper layer beneath the nineteenth-century town. Archaeologists have identified an ancient Fort Ancient settlement at the town site, while the later community became known for a large distillery and Ohio River trade. Today the Petersburg boat ramp keeps the river accessible, the Boone County Public Library has a local branch, and the Creation Museum draws visitors from well beyond the county. The town is still an unincorporated community, but it has a clear identity: Ohio River frontage, a very old settlement site, and a long run as one of Boone County’s working river towns.