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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Henry County >> DefoeIndex...

Welcome to Defoe ...

Defoe is primarily located in Henry County<1>. A portion of Defoe extends into Shelby County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Defoe, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1884.

Defoe is 870 feet [265 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Defoe lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Defoe: 502

Communities Also Named Defoe ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Defoe - it's located in West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Defoe.

Communities near Defoe ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Defoe.

  • Frankfort
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Shelbyville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • La Grange
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Simpsonville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Eminence
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eminence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eminence
    • Eminence is located in Henry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,566 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eminence <3>
  • Owenton
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • New Castle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Castle have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Castle
    • New Castle is located in Henry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 930 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Castle <3>
  • Pleasureville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Campbellsburg
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Worthville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Worthville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Worthville
    • Worthville is located in Carroll County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 195 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Defoe. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Defoe.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Defoe. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Defoe.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Defoe. See our Newspapers Page for Defoe.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Defoe ...

Looking for more information about Defoe? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Defoe, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Defoe.

Adding Defoe to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Defoe in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Defoe was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Defoe post office opened in 1884.

We also found Defoe in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Defoe.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Kentucky's counties, including Henry, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Defoe - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<5>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/