The county was formed in 1858 from land given by Madison, Estill, Owsley, Clay, Laurel, and Rockcastle counties. It was named after the former seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. A fun fact about the county, one fourth of the county (56,000 acres to be exact) is made up of Daniel Boone National Forest therefore making it a represnetative of Eastern Kentuclys’ Appalachia heritage. Jackson County is also made up of many national recreational areas such as, S-Tree Campground, Turkey Foot Campground, Flat Lick Falls and Sheltowee Trace National Rereational Trail so while the county has a total area of 347 square miles, it is home to (accordeing to the U.S. census bureau) 13,442 residents.