Spring Station, Kentucky is a village in the northern part of Woodford County, Kentucky

Woodford County, Kentucky

Woodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...

 located approximately three miles west of Midway

Midway, Kentucky

Midway is a city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. Its population was 1,620 at the 2000 census. It is located midway between Frankfort and Lexington along the single-track railroad between them. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is home to a...

. The area is believed to have been settled during the early part of the 19th century and it became a station stop on the Lexington and Ohio Railroad

Lexington and Ohio Railroad

The Lexington and Ohio Railroad was the first railroad in the U.S. state of Kentucky....

 line when it was opened through the village in 1833.

According to the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

, it "was named for several nearby springs and may also have been known as Big Spring Station." http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/ky-spring-station.html A postal outlet

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

 operated at Spring Station from 1856 to 1973.

Spring Station was home to the Woodburn Stud

Woodburn Stud

Woodburn Stud was an American horse breeding farm located in Woodford County, Kentucky about ten miles from the city of Lexington. It was established in the 18th century as an original land grant property of General Hugh Mercer to whom it had been granted for his military services during the...

, a thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 and standardbred horse breeding

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 operation built by Robert A. Alexander

Robert A. Alexander

Robert Aitcheson Alexander was an American breeder of Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses. Born on a farm near Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky, he and his siblings inherited the property on his father's death....

 which became the birthplace of Kentucky's Thoroughbred industry.

In 1869, Daniel Swigert, who bred three Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

winners, built a 300 acres (1.2 km²) thoroughbred horse breeding business at Spring Station he named Stockwood Farm.