[4] Yelvington was settled in the early 19th century when it was in the northern portion of Ohio County, KY, by Valentine Husk and James Smeathers, brother of famed pioneer William Smeathers who first settled Yellow Banks, Kentucky; now Owensboro.

[5] Yelvington was a prosperous community with a funeral home, hotel, various stores and other forms of commerce including a distillery owned by C.L.

Appelgate and Company[6] which was built between 1879 and 1880 on the west side of the community as well as another whiskey distillery owned by a lawyer, Camden Riley Jr.[7] A raging fire burned through the community in the late 19th century which destroyed most of the business.

Yelvington was also home of United States Senator Thomas C. McCreery who was born there December 12, 1816.

He was elected to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Senator James Guthrie of Louisville in 1868 and remained in office until March 3, 1879, when he returned to Daviess County to live in Owensboro, KY. McCreery died July 10, 1890.