Robards

History

The name of the precinct has gone through three changes. In 1868 it was officially "Robard's Station". In 1880 it became "Robard", and in 1924 the final change made it "Robards". Robards is pronounced "Robberds". The early settlers of the area included Reuben Moss, George Robards, George Eakins, Bennett Sandefur, Jordan Moss, Enoch Spencer, Thomas Reidout, Ben Wall, Nathan Smith, T. W. Royster, James McMullin, and Samuel McMullin Sr. As far back as 1810 and through 1840, and even later, before Robards became a community, its site attracted daring horsemen who raced their steeds there on a race track, which was a straight half mile section of road, congregating to bet. George Rudy's school house was built before 1840, and between 1840 and 1848 the school had four teachers: Washington Sale, Dave Cowan, Frank Davis, and Joseph C. Norman. The Methodists built a church near the school, and in 1853 it was dedicated as "McMullin's Chapel". Two of the chief battles of the American Civil War in this county took place at what would become Robards. J.D. Robards, for whom Robards was named, built the first house in 1867. This was a frame store house which was also used as a dry goods, grocery and general merchandise store. In this store, he carried on a business totaling from $25,000 to $40,000 per year. He also owned and operated a tobacco stemmery which employed 50 men and shipped directly to Europe. In the twenty years after the Civil War, Robards doubled in population. The average price of land in the 1800s was $20–$25 per acre. While tobacco, corn and wheat were the chief cash crops, a number of farmers were engaged in cattle raising. In 1880, businesses in Robards included John W. Arnett and J.L. Burdon as physicians and surgeons; S.W. Spencer serving as manager of the…

Geography

Robards is located in southern Henderson County at (37.674669, -87.542918). The original town center is on Kentucky Route 416, west of U.S. Route 41. The city limits now extend east past US-41 to Interstate 69, the Pennyrile Parkway, with access from Exit 68. Henderson, the county seat, is north of Robards via I-69, and Madisonville is to the south. According to the United States Census Bureau, Robards has a total area of , of which , or 0.55%, are water. Robards sits on a low height of land between the watershed of Canoe Creek, which flows north to the Ohio River, and Grane Creek, which flows south via Graves Creek to the Green River, also a tributary of the Ohio.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  770
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  690
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  601
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  492
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  491
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  467
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  451
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  429

Largest nearby schools

• Niagara Elementary School
  Elementary · Henderson · 284 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Cairo Elementary School
  Elementary · Henderson · 251 students · 16.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.58 — 2025-08-09
  2 km ESE of Cynthiana, Indiana
• M 2.52 — 2023-06-03
  7 km N of Nebo, Kentucky
• M 2.51 — 2023-05-30
  7 km W of Calhoun, Kentucky
• M 3.03 — 2023-05-30
  6 km W of Calhoun, Kentucky
• M 2.57 — 2022-04-13
  3 km SE of Springerton, Illinois
• M 2.61 — 2020-02-27
  5 km SW of Bremen, Kentucky