Butler County was formed on January 18, 1810, from portions of Logan and Ohio counties. It was named for Gen. Richard Butler, a Revolutionary War soldier. The county was 55th in order of formation and lies in the Western Coal Field region of Kentucky. It contains 444 square miles of land.
Descriptions from early settlers reveal a wild, untouched virgin forest with a cover of numerous species of trees, many being 100 feet high and five and six feet in diameter. Game was abundant. Wild turkeys, deer, elk, bears, and the bellowing of buffalo resounded through the woods like distant thunder. But no resource was more dominant than the Green River, which runs through Butler County. It proved to be a major factor in the growth of the county.
On June 11, 1810 a body of 11 justices of the peace, duly commissioned by Charles Scott, Governor of Kentucky, met to select officers for the newly formed Butler County. One of their first acts was to appoint a commission, which selected as the county seat two acres of land belonging to Christopher Funkhouser. The spot was first called Funkhouser Hill and would later be changed to Morgantown.
Source: www.butlercounty.ky.gov/about.htm