German Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
At the corner of Watterson Trail and Shelby Street stands the 4th oldest cemetery in Kentucky, the German Reformed Presbyterian Cemetery, and to the right of it is the Lutheran Church Cemetery.

In the 1790s, the German Reformed Presbyterians and German Lutherans held their services in the barn of Jacob Hoke, about 3/4 of a mile northwest of the town square. In 1798, they built a small log church and graveyard on Taylorsville Road, just past the viaduct, but in 1819 a Union Church was built on Lot #35 at the corner of Watterson Trail and Shelby Street, where First Baptist Church now stands, and the Presbyterians and Lutherans moved to the new brick building, along with local Baptists and Methodists. Each of the four churches took a turn one week a month to use the Union Church for services, until they raised enough money to build their own churches. 

The German Presbyterians were the first to move to Lots 26 and 27 they had purchased in 1799 across the street from the Union Church; here, they built a small log church and cemetery. The Lutherans were the next to move to Lots 28-30, dedicating their new church in 1833. That building was used until 1895, when a new frame church was built on the old foundations. The members of Christ Lutheran Church moved a much newer building on Taylorsville Road in 1957; Thoroughbred Chorus currently owns their old church building.