After canvassing the county, five commissioners met on May 29, 1811 and selected Morganfield as the county seat. The commissioners were appointed to draw plans up for the building of a courthouse, jail and a stray stock pen. The plans were later approved and called for the completion of the jail in April 1812 and the completion of the first courthouse in July 1812.

The first courthouse was described as the “Log Temple of Justice” by Nancy Houston Banks in her novel, Round Anvil Rock. A new courthouse was built in 1820 at the cost of $3,800. It was used for 52 years and torn down in 1872 to make way for yet another courthouse, which still stands. The county’s first jail served until 1827 and a third was built in 1870. The present-day jail first opened in 1974.

Most of the land that forms Union County was conveyed to military men who served during the Revolutionary War. These land grants were often 1,200 to 1,500 acres. Revolutionary War officer General Daniel Morgan was deeded 1,500 acres, much of which makes up Morganfield. He never saw the land. The land came into the possession of Presley O’Bannon who married Gen. Morgan’s granddaughter, Matilda Heard. The land was settled by Jeremiah Riddle, O’Bannon’s land agent. O’Bannon served Henderson County in the state legislature and while he did not live on the proposed land that eventually made up Union County, he did own the 1,500 acres there.

Fielding Jones is thought to be the earliest permanent settler of Union County and came into the region as early as 1790. Jones served in the Revolutionary War as a Colonel and was granted 1,000 acres of Union County land. He settled on land about five miles west of Morganfield on the old Spring Grove Uniontown Road.