Boone County Public Library: Where Imagination Takes Flight
A member of the prominent Gaines family, Abner Gaines purchased property in southern Boone County from Archibald Reid in ca.1813. Gaines continued to operate a tavern and inn, building a striking new house, preserved today, in ca.1814.
Abner Gaines was a Boone County Justice from 1805 to 1817, at which time he was appointed Sheriff. Gaines also became the proprietor of the first stagecoach line that carried mail and passengers between Cincinnati and Lexington; a thirty-four hour trip in 1818.
Abner's oldest son, James Matthews Gaines, became the first postmaster for the community referred to as Gaines Cross Roads in 1815. The Kentucky Legislature renamed the town Walton in 1840, shortly after the death of Abner Gaines.