Stanford is a home rule-class city in Lincoln County, Kentucky, United States.

[citation needed] In 1781, the original settlement expanded when Benjamin Logan donated part of his own land as the site for a courthouse.

Unlike most courthouses in Kentucky, it has never suffered from a fire or other major loss of records.

The building still stands and is now part of the Harvey Helm Memorial Historic Library and Museum on Main Street.

The library was renamed in 1970 in honor of Harvey Helm, a native son who became a Kentucky statesman and member of the United States House of Representatives between 1909 and 1917.

The Stanford School was founded in 1900, and after much expansion, still serves, now as the Lincoln County Student Support Center.

[8] Largely untouched by the American Civil War (the nearest conflict was the Battle of Perryville, 20 miles (32 km) away), Stanford grew significantly in the post-war period.

In the late 1860s, the town gained its own newspaper, the Stanford Banner, which is still publishing as the Interior Journal.

The city continued to grow, especially after the Louisville and Nashville Railroad built a station and line into the town in late 1865.

However, the railway depot has been restored, and Stanford is notable as the location of the first automobile garage in Kentucky, which opened in 1905.

[citation needed] Stanford is located in south-central Kentucky in the southernmost extent of the Bluegrass region along the Southern Knobs in northern Lincoln County.