Rineyville, Kentucky
Rineyville is
situated on the Illinois Central Railroad in the north central section of
Hardin County, a distance of approximately six miles northwest of
Elizabethtown.
Rineyville received
its name from the Riney family who gave land for the railroad, which was built
in 1874. It was known as Riney station although only "Riney" appeared
on the station sign. When the Post Office was established the "ville"
was added and since that time the name has been Rineyville.
Blue Ball Hill,
highest elevation in Hardin County, rises 1,017 feet above sea level, a few
miles west of Rineyville and dominates the valleys surrounding it. Blue Ball is
one of the oldest names in Hardin County and has been a landmark for location
of property since land was first recorded in this county.
John Wesley
Pawley and his family were the first settlers in Rineyville. Pawley was born in
England about 1743 and as a young man he became very sympathetic with the
Americans who had begun their struggle for independence. He was smuggled abroad
the ship "Ark of the Dove" and landed at Pawley's Island on the coast
of South Carolina. He fought in the Revolutionary War under General Francis
Marion, famed "Swamp Fox" of the American forces. For his service in
the war John Wesley Pawley was given a land grant which he took up in this part
of Hardin County, not long after the end of the war. In addition he purchased
several hundred acres so that in the beginning he owned 3,000 acres of land
extending from the present Helmwood area in Elizabethtown to Moormans Valley
beyond Blue Ball Hill. Many Pawley descendents still live in and near
Rineyville. Other prominent families from early Rineyville with descendent
still in the area are Nall, Smith, Raine, Osborne, and Woodring.