In 1789, Richard Clough Anderson purchased 500 acres and established an estate called Soldier's Retreat, which made up much of Hurstbourne. It was owned in 1842 by John Jeremiah Jacob, who renamed it Lynnford, and by 1915 the property was known as Hurstbourne. Jacob's 1840s house is now part of the Hurstbourne Country Club's clubhouse.
Hurstbourne Parkway was created in 1935 when an earlier lane was widened. By 1965 the property was called Hindbaugh Farms, and as it was by then located on the edge of Louisville, commercial and residential development began. It incorporated as a city in 1982 to prevent annexation by Louisville. Almost all land was developed by 1990.