Glendale, Kentucky

Glendale is an unincorporated community in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It is included in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Once named Walker's Station for Lewis B. Walker's store, when a post office was established on March 2, 1859. Lewis B. Walker was the first postmaster. It was named Glendale for the new train station, which in turn was possibly named for the hometown of a railroad employee. A train depot was built in Glendale along the L & N Railroad tracks in 1864. It was remodeled into a "combination station" in 1905 and the old station became a freight room with two waiting rooms for passengers and an agent's office. The original depot was torn down in the 1930s.

The passage of the train is still a familiar sound and site in Glendale. Those who grew up in Glendale can remember the train coming through to pick up and drop off mail. As the train passed slowly through town, the person in charge of mail on the train would throw out a large bag of mail for the Glendale postmaster to pick up. For outgoing mail, the Glendale postmaster would hang a mailbag known as a "catcher pouch" on a "mail hook", located next to the train tracks, before the train's scheduled arrival. The catcher pouch was grabbed by a catcher mechanism (mechanical arm) as the train passed by. This was known as "mail on the fly" because the train could deliver and receive mail without stopping.

Legend has it that Jesse James once robbed the Glendale bank.

Glendale once had a college known as Lynnland. In 1867 a charter was issued under the name of Lynnland Female Institute. The school opened in September of the same year under the guidance of a Baptist preacher, Rev. Colson. After two years of operation, the college was taken over by Confederate Brigadier General William F. Perry. The school was then converted into Lynnland Military Institution which operated until 1879. From 1879 until 1888 it became the residence of the Samuel Sprigg family. In 1888, it reopened as Lynnland Female Institute until it was sold to the Kentucky Baptist Education Society in 1905. In 1915, it became the Kentucky Baptist Children's Home. Many Glendaleans knew it as the Glendale Children's Home until it officially closed in 2009. Many outstanding young men and women came through the Glendale Children's Home where they received loving care by those who lived and worked there. They attended Gilead Baptist Church (organized 1824) which was located nearby. The children also attended school at Glendale Elementary and High School. Glendale became East Hardin Elementary and High School in 1964. East Hardin Elementary was shut down in 1971 as East Hardin High continued to operate. East Hardin High School was converted into East Hardin Middle School in the 1990s and continues to operate today. East Hardin High School (Rebels) consolidated with its Stephensburg, Kentucky rival school West Hardin High School (Lakers) to form Central Hardin High School (Bruins).

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