History
Prior to the creation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1792, seven men floated down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh in flatboats and landed at what was to become Harmony Landing and then eventually Cardinal Harbour Subdivision. The expedition was led by Captain Francis Snowden, a British Officer in the Revolutionary war who, after returning to the newly created United States, bought land deeds from American Revolutionary war soldiers in Virginia. Captain Snowden erected his blockhouse on Huckleberry Hill, where the present Harmony Landing Country Club sits. The local Indian tribes lived up 14-mile creek in present day Charlestown Indiana and were a constant menace to settlers heading west into Kentucky. Captain Snowden and his descendants moved further up into the area that became Belknap Farm and is buried there. His descendants sold the farm down on the river to Thomas Crutchfield whose descendants held the property until 1939 and built the farmhouse “Bellevue” on Jesamine Hill directly across the entrance to Cardinal Harbour. The Crutchfields are buried in the family cemetery off Hwy 1793. Patrick Calhoun, President of JeffBoat, purchased the farm in 1939. At the time of the Purchase, Calhoun’s “Cardinal Ridge Farm” consisted of all the property from Wolfolk Landing at the Ohio River, Goshen Lane South to Harmony Landing Road, and from the Ohio River to Creasy Mahan Nature Preserve.
Patrick Calhoun and his wife Louise, hosted celebrities at Bellevue including English royalty, senators, governors, and businessmen including a young boxer name Muhammad Ali. At that time, the entrance to the farm was off of Goshen Lane. Rose Island and Harmony Landing roads were little more than dirt paths and inaccessible in the winter or inclement weather. The Calhoun’s were founding members of St Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in 1947. Calhoun was instrumental in getting the state to upgrade Harmony Landing Road (Hwy 1793) to as we see it today. Remnants ’s of the original Harmony Landing Road can still be seen today as one drives up the steep hill away from the Ohio River on Hwy 1793 on the right. Starting about 1960 Calhoun began developing Settlers Point subdivision. Louise Calhoun died in 1971. Patrick Calhoun began to sell off parts of Cardinal Ridge Farms. Bellevue and the Wolkfolk Landing area went to Nana Lampton. The remainder was sold to Jim Irwin who ultimately developed Cardinal Harbour into one of the premier housing communities in the nation boasting 255 acres with three quarters of a mile of riverfront overlooking Charlestown State Park, a boat ramp, over eighty acres of common grounds, horse barns, pool, tennis court and walking paths.
If you have any additional questions about the Cardinal Harbour Association community, please Contact Us today!