Holt is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Breckinridge County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, United States. Holt is located on the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

and

Kentucky Route 144 Kentucky Route 144 (KY 144) is a state highway running northeast from KY 603 in Owensboro, Kentucky to US 31W in Radcliff near Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north ...

, north-northeast of Cloverport. It was also known as Holt's Bottom.

History

Holt was named after

Joseph Holt Joseph Holt (January 6, 1807 – August 1, 1894) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. As a leading member of the Buchanan administration, he succeeded in convincing Buchanan to oppose the secession of the South. He returned to Ke ...

, who was appointed Commissioner of Patents in 1857, Postmaster General in 1859, and Secretary of War in 1860 during the administration of President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

. He was appointed Judge Advocate General by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and was the judge during the trial of conspirators in the Lincoln assassination.Breckinridge Bicentennial Committee Program. Accessed from Breckinridge Historical Archives. The Holt post office opened in 1880 and continued to operate until 1958. There was also a school near Holt called Holt School and a church known as Holt Chapel. Judge Holt's home, which is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, still stands and Judge Holt is buried in a private cemetery next to the home.

Notable people

* Judge Joseph Holt (1807-1894), Commissioner of Patents (1857), Postmaster General (1859), Secretary of War (1860), and Judge Advocate General under President Lincoln.

References

Unincorporated communities in Breckinridge County, Kentucky Unincorporated communities in Kentucky Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River {{BreckinridgeCountyKY-geo-stub