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Nelson County, Kentucky
Nelson County Courthouse in Bardstown
Map of Kentucky highlighting Nelson County
Location in the state of Kentucky
Map of the U.S
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded November 29, 1784
Named for Thomas Nelson Jr.
Seat Bardstown
Largest city Bardstown
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

424 sq mi (1,098 km²)
418 sq mi (1,083 km²)
6.6 sq mi (17 km²), 1.5
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

46,738 increase
Congressional district 2nd
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.nelsoncountyky.com

Nelson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Bardstown.[1] Nelson County comprises the Bardstown, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Louisville/Jefferson County-Elizabethtown-Madison, KY-IN Combined Statistical Area.

History[]

The fourth county created in what is now Kentucky, it was formed from Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1784, shortly after the Revolutionary War.[2][3] The county was named for Thomas Nelson Jr., the Virginia Governor who signed the Declaration of Independence.[4] In 1807, after Kentucky had become a state, a newly created Virginia county was named in his honor.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 424 square miles (1,100 km2), of which 418 square miles (1,080 km2) are land and 6.6 square miles (17 km2) (1.5%) are covered by water.[5]

Adjacent counties[]

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1790 11,315
1800 9,866 −12.8%
1810 14,078 42.7%
1820 16,273 15.6%
1830 14,932 −8.2%
1840 13,637 −8.7%
1850 14,789 8.4%
1860 15,799 6.8%
1870 14,804 −6.3%
1880 16,609 12.2%
1890 16,417 −1.2%
1900 16,587 1.0%
1910 16,830 1.5%
1920 16,137 −4.1%
1930 16,551 2.6%
1940 18,004 8.8%
1950 19,521 8.4%
1960 22,168 13.6%
1970 23,477 5.9%
1980 27,584 17.5%
1990 29,710 7.7%
2000 37,477 26.1%
2010 43,437 15.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2020[10]

As of the census[11] of 2010, 43,437 people inhabited the county.[12] The population density was 102.4 per square mile (39.5 /km2). Its 18,075 housing units averaged 42.6 per square mile (16.4 /km2). The racial makeup of the county was 93.48% White (90.93% non-Hispanic), 5.03% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.78% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. About 2.04% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 16,826 households, 36.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.09% were married couples living together, 13.19% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.35% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.37% were not families. Of all households, 24.41% were made up of individuals, and 8.09% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution was 25.98% under 18, 7.98% from 18 to 24, 26.47% from 25 to 44, 27.84% from 45 to 64, and 11.73% who were 65 or older. The median age was 37.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.60 males.

Income data for Kentucky locations from the 2010 Census have not yet been released. As of the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the county was $39,010, and for a family was $44,600. Males had a median income of $32,015 versus $21,838 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,120. About 10.00% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 17.40% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions and events[]

Many attractions and events are available in Bardstown. The following is outside the county seat:

  • Rooster Run is a general store located on Kentucky Route 245 halfway between Bardstown and Clermont, well known for baseball caps featuring its logo and a 13.5-foot-tall (4.1 m) fiberglass rooster statue standing in front of the store. According to The Kentucky Encyclopedia, it is "one of the best-known general stores in the country and one of Kentucky's best-known unincorporated businesses".[13]

Education[]

Two public school districts operate in the county:

  • The Nelson County School District serves K–12 students throughout the county, with the exception of most of the city of Bardstown and developed areas near the city limits. The district operates two K–8 schools, two elementary schools, two middle schools, an alternative school, a vocational-technical school, and two high schools.
  • The Bardstown City Schools serve students in most of the city of Bardstown, as well as much of the developed area immediately adjacent to the city limits. However, some areas of the city are instead served by the Nelson County district, and some of the Nelson County schools are physically within the Bardstown district. The district operates a preschool, an ungraded primary school (K–2), one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. The preschool and primary school occupy separate buildings on adjacent plots of land in the north of the city, and the other schools are adjacent to one another near downtown.

Several private schools also operate in the county. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville operates five schools in all—three K–8 schools, a fourth that educates grades 1 through 8, and one high school. Several Protestant-affiliated schools also exist.

Politics[]

United States presidential election results for Nelson County, Kentucky[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 15,703 67.52% 7,188 30.91% 365 1.57%
2016 13,431 64.57% 6,434 30.93% 937 4.50%
2012 10,673 57.59% 7,611 41.07% 249 1.34%
2008 10,139 55.87% 7,654 42.18% 353 1.95%
2004 10,161 60.32% 6,524 38.73% 159 0.94%
2000 7,714 57.19% 5,481 40.64% 293 2.17%
1996 4,645 41.63% 5,392 48.32% 1,122 10.05%
1992 4,495 38.51% 5,437 46.58% 1,740 14.91%
1988 5,283 51.90% 4,788 47.04% 108 1.06%
1984 6,044 58.57% 4,199 40.69% 76 0.74%
1980 3,349 36.75% 5,514 60.50% 251 2.75%
1976 2,804 37.37% 4,454 59.36% 246 3.28%
1972 3,495 53.54% 2,828 43.32% 205 3.14%
1968 2,373 34.31% 3,420 49.45% 1,123 16.24%
1964 1,683 23.07% 5,586 76.56% 27 0.37%
1960 3,021 39.06% 4,713 60.94% 0 0.00%
1956 4,107 55.76% 3,240 43.99% 18 0.24%
1952 3,064 47.18% 3,417 52.62% 13 0.20%
1948 1,715 31.75% 3,556 65.84% 130 2.41%
1944 2,136 36.76% 3,648 62.78% 27 0.46%
1940 2,109 33.42% 4,193 66.45% 8 0.13%
1936 1,913 30.09% 4,234 66.59% 211 3.32%
1932 2,100 28.37% 5,272 71.23% 29 0.39%
1928 2,926 42.04% 4,031 57.92% 3 0.04%
1924 2,082 34.56% 3,863 64.13% 79 1.31%
1920 2,945 36.66% 5,061 63.00% 27 0.34%
1916 1,546 36.64% 2,639 62.54% 35 0.83%
1912 751 19.85% 2,275 60.12% 758 20.03%
1908 1,436 36.49% 2,452 62.31% 47 1.19%
1904 1,263 36.24% 2,160 61.98% 62 1.78%
1900 1,407 36.37% 2,438 63.01% 24 0.62%
1896 1,446 38.66% 2,223 59.44% 71 1.90%
1892 1,025 33.52% 1,858 60.76% 175 5.72%
1888 1,102 36.47% 1,876 62.08% 44 1.46%
1884 877 35.78% 1,534 62.59% 40 1.63%
1880 949 33.95% 1,758 62.90% 88 3.15%



Notable residents[]

  • William Beall; general in the Confederate Army
  • J. C. W. Beckham; Governor of Kentucky
  • Linda Bruckheimer; novelist and historic preservation activist
  • Joseph Seamon Cotter Sr.; poet
  • Henry Pierson Crowe; US Marine
  • Ephraim H. Foster; Senator of Tennessee
  • James B. Graham; Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts
  • Benjamin E. Grey; Congressman
  • Joseph Hanks; great-grandfather of US President Abraham Lincoln
  • Ben Johnson (politician); lawyer and congressman
  • Silvester Johnson; merchant
  • Monique Jones; professional bodybuilder
  • Virgil Livers; football cornerback
  • James Love (Kentucky politician); congressman
  • Joseph N. McCormack; surgeon
  • Thomas Merton; monk
  • Zachariah Montgomery; lawyer and politician
  • Charles S. Morehead; congressman and governor of Kentucky
  • Felix Newton Pitt; monsignor
  • Daniel Rudd; catholic journalist and civil rights leader
  • Catherine Spalding; religious leader
  • Horace Speed; pioneer and district attorney
  • Stith Thompson; scholar of folklore
  • Bryan Young (politician); congressman
  • William Singleton Young; congressman

Communities[]

Cities[]

  • Bardstown (county seat)
  • Bloomfield
  • Fairfield
  • New Haven

Census-designated places[]

  • Boston
  • Chaplin
  • New Hope

Other unincorporated places[]

  • Balltown
  • Cedar Creek
  • Coxs Creek
  • Culvertown
  • Deatsville
  • Highgrove
  • Howardstown
  • Icetown
  • Lenore
  • Nazareth
  • Samuels
  • Trappist
  • Woodlawn

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  2. ^ "Nelson County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. http://www.kyenc.org/entry/n/NELSO03.html. 
  3. ^ Collins, Lewis (1882). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2. Collins & Company. pp. 26. https://books.google.com/books?id=gZFQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA26. 
  4. ^ The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 36. https://books.google.com/books?id=luoxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA36. 
  5. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_21.txt. 
  6. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  7. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  8. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ky190090.txt. 
  9. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  10. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/21/21179.html. 
  11. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  12. ^ "2010 Demographic Profile Data: Nelson County, Kentucky". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_DP_DPDP1&prodType=table. 
  13. ^ Delong, Hettie (1992). "Rooster Run". In Kleber, John E.. The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. http://www.kyenc.org/entry/r/ROOST01.html. 
  14. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

Further reading[]

External links[]

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Coordinates: 37°48′N 85°28′W / 37.80, -85.47


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Nelson County, Kentucky. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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