THE BRICK WALL
PROTOCOLGENEALOGY · BEYOND THE SEARCH BOX
BRICK WALL PROTOCOL / FREE GUIDES

Mercer County:
Put a Harrodsburg family into a photographed neighborhood.

Put a Harrodsburg family into a photographed neighborhood. Start with the collection and request a specific item, place or date range before planning a visit.

Sources checked October 26, 2026. Based on public institutional descriptions and collection catalogs; no staff confirmation or onsite inspection. Confirm access before visiting.

Start with one connection.

Bring a person, a place, approximate years, and one question. A township, congregation, school, or employer may reveal records a surname search misses. The custodian can be outside the county.

Check the county for your research year.

A place may have belonged to a parent county before this county existed.

Explore Mercer boundary history →
MERCER COUNTY / SELECTED RECORDS COVERAGE

Which collections cover your years?

Use these dated holdings to choose a next search. This is a selection of cataloged collections, not a complete inventory of Mercer County records.

A range is a lead, not a guarantee. Bars show the dates stated by the cited catalog or inventory. They do not establish uninterrupted coverage, complete reporting or online image access. Unmarked years mean not represented in this selection, not that records were destroyed. Indexes and abstracts still need to be followed to the underlying record.

Sources reviewed October 26, 2026. Blue shows cataloged holdings; rust identifies indexes or compiled publications where the source specifies them. Read the format label and access notes for each row.

KDLA inventory entry

Deed books

Listed years: 1786–2009.

Source, access and coverage limits

Use KDLA’s record-request instructions and identify the county, record series, exact years and any book or page reference. Ask about indexes and the current custodian before ordering.

Keep in mind: These are selected inventory dates, not proof of complete or uninterrupted coverage or online images. Confirm the specific volume and any earlier jurisdiction; a range endpoint is not necessarily the first or last year of recordkeeping. Probate papers may be filed separately from will books.

KDLA inventory entry

County order books

Listed years: 1786–1801, 1876–1983.

Source, access and coverage limits

Use KDLA’s record-request instructions and identify the county, record series, exact years and any book or page reference. Ask about indexes and the current custodian before ordering.

Keep in mind: These are selected inventory dates, not proof of complete or uninterrupted coverage or online images. Confirm the specific volume and any earlier jurisdiction; a range endpoint is not necessarily the first or last year of recordkeeping. Probate papers may be filed separately from will books.

KDLA inventory entry

Will books

Listed years: 1786–2009.

Source, access and coverage limits

Use KDLA’s record-request instructions and identify the county, record series, exact years and any book or page reference. Ask about indexes and the current custodian before ordering.

Keep in mind: These are selected inventory dates, not proof of complete or uninterrupted coverage or online images. Confirm the specific volume and any earlier jurisdiction; a range endpoint is not necessarily the first or last year of recordkeeping. Probate papers may be filed separately from will books.

Confirm the historical jurisdiction as well as the date. A record may be held outside today’s county, and an inventory’s ending year does not mean recordkeeping stopped.

Check historical jurisdiction → · Find collections for my years →

STOP 01 / Harrodsburg / online

Mercer County Public Library History Research Center

Put a Harrodsburg family into a photographed neighborhood.

The library operates a separate History Research Center and links its historic photograph archive.

Research details & a question to ask

How to begin

Use the center’s page to open the photograph archive; contact the center with an address, business or family name before a visit.

A question you can ask

Are there photographs of this street or business, and what identifies the image?

Keep in mind

A pictured building or unidentified person is a lead, not an identity confirmation.

STOP 02 / Online

Kentucky Genealogical Society: Mercer tax book, 1789

Read an early tax book with its transcription alongside.

The society provides images and a transcription of the available 1789 Mercer tax book.

Research details & a question to ask

How to begin

Open the item and compare a transcribed name with the page image and nearby entries.

A question you can ask

Does the original page support this spelling and its tax details?

Keep in mind

The source warns about missing material, bleed-through and imperfect alphabetical arrangement. Absence is not proof of nonresidence.

Leave a trail another researcher can follow.

Save the repository, collection title, dates, volume, page or item identifier, link, and the date you consulted it. Follow an index to the original record when possible. Keep uncertain names and inferred relationships visibly separate from what the source states.

Return to the Kentucky county map · Follow settlement and county changes

Corrections or a useful collection? hello@brickwallprotocol.com

HELP KEEP THIS GUIDE USEFUL

Know a collection we should include?

Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.

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