ELIZABETHTOWN

city, Hardin county seat, central Kentucky, U.S., 48 miles (77 km) south of Louisville. Settled as Severns Valley Station (177980), it was laid out in 1793 by Colonel Andrew Hynes and named for his wife when it was officially established in 1797. Abraham Lincoln's father, Thomas, lived for a time in Elizabethtown in the early 1800s. The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site is 13 miles (21 km) southeast of the city. During the American Civil War the town was bombarded by the forces of the Confederate general John Morgan. Elizabethtown developed as a trading centre for agricultural produce, tobacco, and spirits and after World War II acquired diversified industry. The Elizabethtown Community College, a branch of the state university, was opened in 1964. My Old Kentucky Home State Shrine, the Patton (Armor) Museum, and Fort Knox with its gold vaults are in the vicinity. Inc. city, 1893. Pop. (1990) 18,167.