The City of Campbellsville, Kentucky, founded in 1817 and laid out by Andrew Campbell, was designated by the state legislature as the seat of Taylor County in 1848 after it separated from Green County. It is known for the Civil War Battle of Tebbs Bend fought here in 1863, Campbellsville University, Taylor Regional Hospital health care system, Amazon, Heartland Commerce and Technology Park, historic downtown with over 109 businesses and services, and its close proximity to Green River Lake State Park.

A series of Historic Resource Surveys have been conducted and numerous properties have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Campbellsville and Taylor County since 1975. A complete list of Campbellsville/Taylor County Historic Sites can be found here. In 1983, the Campbellsville Historic Commercial District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In October 2002, the Campbellsville City Council appointed members to the Campbellsville Historic Preservation Commission and three years later, the City of Campbellsville was designated a Certified Local Government. Campbellsville’s Local Historic District Design Guidelines 2006 were funded in part with a Certified Local Government grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council. They were based on the “Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation“. The Local Historic District Design Guidelines were updated in 2018 and were adopted on July 1, 2019.

In December 2006, the City adopted Campbellsville’s Historic Preservation Ordinance 5-07 that was amended January 8, 2015 and again January 4, 2016. Under Section VII, Approval of Changes to Landmarks, Landmark Sites, and Property in Historic Districts, Item A. Requirement for Certificate of Appropriateness (C of A), it requires that a “C of A form shall be required before a person may undertake exterior alterations visible to the public, new construction, demolition or relocation” following the process and procedures for the Certified Local Government/Historic Preservation Commission to review. These Design Guidelines provide recommendations for exterior alterations, demolition, new construction and relocation for property owners to prepare their C of A application.