In 1837, Trimble County became Kentucky's 86th county, created from portions of Gallatin, Henry, and Oldham Counties. It was named for Virginia native Robert Trimble, a Kentucky attorney and state legislator who was nominated to the US Supreme Court by Pres. John Quincy Adams in 1826. In 1838, an eastern portion of Trimble County was taken to create Carroll County; the two eventually became archrivals in high school sports. Bedford, the county seat, was founded in 1816, centrally located at the junction of US Highway 42, once the region's main thoroughfare before Interstate 71 was built, and US Highway 421. Milton, the only other incorporated city in the county, is linked to Madison, Indiana, by the Milton-Madison Bridge, the sole Ohio River crossing between the Markland Dam, 26 miles upriver in Gallatin County, and Louisville, 42 miles downriver. Traditionally rural, Trimble County is known for its peach and apple orchards, its roadside markets, and of course tobacco.
