Bonnieville: The Town That Voted Itself Out of Existence
Near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
Bonnieville, Kentucky made history in November of twenty twenty-four when its residents voted to dissolve their own city government. The margin was seven votes: sixty-seven in favor, sixty against. The town had existed since eighteen forty-nine, when it was platted as Bacon Creek Station.
It incorporated in nineteen fifty-five as a sixth-class city. The push to dissolve came largely over taxes: the petition's organizer said her city taxes, about thirty dollars a year, were not leading to visible improvements. On December eighth, twenty twenty-four, the mayor handed the keys to Hart County, and Bonnieville became an unincorporated community.
It was the first Kentucky city to voluntarily dissolve since two thousand eight, a quiet self-erasure that made national news.
