 The northern part of the county is known as the barrens , named by the early settlers for the lack timber there . For the first decades of settlement , settlers refused to purchase the land in the barrens because it was considered too far from the timber needed to build homes , fires , fences , and other necessities . The barrens were swept by annual wildfires that prevented the growth of trees . The largest barren ran from the northern edge of Corydon northward to Palmyra , and from the Floyd Knobs in the east , westward to the Blue River . The Central Barren covered most of the upper middle part of the county . As settlement expanded and farming grew in the early 19th century , settlers began to discover that the barrens were among the most fertile farmlands in the state , and they quickly filled up with landholders . As settlement increased , the wildfires were stopped and by the start of the 20th century the uninhabited parts of the barrens had become forested and have remained so until modern times . 
