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Ohio County, Kentucky
Ohio County Courthouse Kentucky
Ohio County Courthouse in Hartford
Map of Kentucky highlighting Ohio County
Location in the state of Kentucky
Map of the U.S
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded December 17, 1798
Named for The Ohio River
Seat Hartford
Largest city Beaver Dam
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

596 sq mi (1,544 km²)
587 sq mi (1,520 km²)
9.0 sq mi (23 km²), 1.5
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

23,772
Congressional district 1st
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website ohiocounty.ky.gov

Ohio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,772.[1] Its county seat is Hartford.[2] The county is named after the Ohio River, which originally formed its northern boundary. It is a moist county, which means that the sale of alcohol is only legal within certain city limits.

History[]

Ohio County was formed in 1798 from land taken from Hardin County.[3] Ohio was the 35th Kentucky county in order of formation.[4] It was named for the Ohio River, which originally formed its northern boundary, but it lost its northern portions in 1829, when Daviess County and Hancock County were formed. The first settlements in Ohio County were Barnetts Station and Hartford. In January 1865, during the American Civil War, the courthouse in Hartford was burned by Kentucky Confederate cavalry because it was being used to house soldiers of the occupying Union Army. However, the county records were removed first and preserved. Ohio County is famous for its coal mines, and was the second place county producing coal in Kentucky.[5]

Geography[]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 596 square miles (1,540 km2), of which 587 square miles (1,520 km2) is land and 9.0 square miles (23 km2) (1.5%) is water.[6] It is the fifth-largest county by area in Kentucky.

Ohio County is part of the Western Coal Fields region of Kentucky. Much of Ohio County is farmland and the eastern and northern parts have rolling hills. Of the 120 counties in Kentucky, it is the fifth largest. The county is intersected by the Rough River[7] and the Green River runs along its southwestern border.

Adjacent counties[]

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1800 1,223
1810 3,792 210.1%
1820 3,879 2.3%
1830 4,715 21.6%
1840 6,592 39.8%
1850 9,749 47.9%
1860 12,209 25.2%
1870 15,561 27.5%
1880 19,669 26.4%
1890 22,946 16.7%
1900 27,287 18.9%
1910 27,642 1.3%
1920 26,473 −4.2%
1930 24,469 −7.6%
1940 24,421 −0.2%
1950 20,840 −14.7%
1960 17,725 −14.9%
1970 18,790 6.0%
1980 21,765 15.8%
1990 21,105 −3.0%
2000 22,916 8.6%
2010 23,842 4.0%
Est. 2021 23,688 [8] 3.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]
1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11]
1990-2000[12] 2010-2020[1]

As of the census of 2000, there were 22,916 people, 8,899 households, and 6,585 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 per square mile (15 /km2). There were 9,909 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (6.6 /km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.71% White, 0.75% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 1.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,899 households, out of which 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.00% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.90% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,557, and the median income for a family was $34,970. Males had a median income of $29,778 versus $19,233 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,317. About 13.90% of families and 17.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over.

7.1% of the workforce in the county comes from coal production.[5] In December 2019, more than half of the coal workforce, 3.5% of the counties total workforce, received WARN notices that their coal mine was closing and they would be laid off in February 2020.[13]

Communities[]

Cities[]

  • Beaver Dam
  • Centertown
  • Fordsville
  • Hartford (county seat)
  • McHenry
  • Rockport

Census-designated places[]

  • Pleasant Ridge
  • Rosine

Other unincorporated places[]

North[]

  • Adaburg
  • Beda
  • Buford
  • Haynesville
  • Heflin
  • Herbert
  • Magan
  • Narrows
  • Reynolds Station
  • Shreve
  • Silver Beach
  • Taffy

South[]

  • Baizetown
  • Ceralvo
  • Cool Springs
  • Cromwell
  • Dundee
  • Echols
  • Equality
  • Horse Branch
  • Matanzas
  • Nineteen
  • Olaton
  • Prentiss
  • Select
  • Shultztown

Media[]

Ohio County is part of the Owensboro radio market and the Evansville, Indiana television market area. Charter Communications is the county's primary cable television provider under the Spectrum name.

Locally-based media outlets in Ohio County include a weekly newspaper, The Ohio County Monitor, and Oldies-formatted radio station WXMZ.

Additionally, the transmission facility of K-Love owned-and-operated radio station WEKV is located just south of Pleasant Ridge.

Notable residents[]

  • Ramsey Carpenter, Miss Kentucky 2014, competitor for the title of Miss America 2015
  • James Earp, lawman, soldier, and saloon-keeper, member of the Earp family
  • Newton Earp, Civil War soldier
  • Virgil Earp, lawman and soldier
  • John Givens, first coach of Kentucky Colonels professional basketball team
  • Bill Monroe, known as the father of bluegrass music
  • George H. Tichenor, inventor of Dr. Tichenor's antiseptic
  • Pendleton Vandiver, 'Uncle Pen', who inspired the music of Bill Monroe was a resident of Rosine
  • Ray Chapman, only MLB player ever killed in a game
  • The Crabb Family, a Southern Gospel family group

Politics[]

United States presidential election results for Ohio County, Kentucky[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 8,582 77.11% 2,404 21.60% 143 1.28%
2016 7,942 76.38% 2,080 20.00% 376 3.62%
2012 6,470 67.07% 2,987 30.97% 189 1.96%
2008 5,687 57.22% 4,059 40.84% 192 1.93%
2004 6,311 62.93% 3,627 36.17% 90 0.90%
2000 5,413 60.94% 3,303 37.19% 166 1.87%
1996 3,475 43.05% 3,487 43.20% 1,110 13.75%
1992 3,385 38.18% 4,022 45.37% 1,458 16.45%
1988 4,910 57.46% 3,612 42.27% 23 0.27%
1984 5,119 60.82% 3,253 38.65% 45 0.53%
1980 5,272 59.10% 3,486 39.08% 163 1.83%
1976 3,764 51.30% 3,508 47.81% 65 0.89%
1972 2,392 71.75% 906 27.17% 36 1.08%
1968 3,504 54.16% 1,695 26.20% 1,271 19.64%
1964 2,979 47.38% 3,303 52.54% 5 0.08%
1960 5,230 68.37% 2,420 31.63% 0 0.00%
1956 4,901 64.07% 2,726 35.64% 22 0.29%
1952 4,428 62.00% 2,700 37.80% 14 0.20%
1948 3,300 53.30% 2,721 43.95% 170 2.75%
1944 4,494 58.69% 3,131 40.89% 32 0.42%
1940 4,451 54.25% 3,729 45.45% 24 0.29%
1936 4,532 52.77% 4,030 46.92% 27 0.31%
1932 4,880 49.12% 4,870 49.02% 184 1.85%
1928 5,690 66.83% 2,784 32.70% 40 0.47%
1924 4,267 50.65% 3,817 45.31% 341 4.05%
1920 5,371 56.12% 4,011 41.91% 189 1.97%
1916 3,286 52.89% 2,723 43.83% 204 3.28%
1912 1,150 19.49% 2,563 43.45% 2,186 37.06%
1908 3,337 52.96% 2,785 44.20% 179 2.84%
1904 3,063 52.79% 2,519 43.42% 220 3.79%
1900 3,251 52.06% 2,891 46.29% 103 1.65%
1896 2,653 48.16% 2,679 48.63% 177 3.21%
1892 1,581 37.10% 1,664 39.04% 1,017 23.86%
1888 2,100 49.87% 2,066 49.06% 45 1.07%
1884 1,399 45.57% 1,573 51.24% 98 3.19%
1880 702 26.08% 1,645 61.11% 345 12.82%



See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Ohio County, Kentucky

References[]

  1. ^ a b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/ohiocountykentucky/PST045221. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  3. ^ "Ohio County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. http://www.kyenc.org/entry/o/OHIOC02.html. 
  4. ^ 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. 
  5. ^ a b "Kentucky Coal Facts" (in en-us). Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. https://eec.ky.gov/Energy/Coal%20Facts%20%20Annual%20Editions/Kentucky%20Coal%20Facts%20-%2017th%20Edition%20(2017).pdf. 
  6. ^ "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. 
  7. ^ Wikisource-logo "Ohio. II. A W. county of Kentucky". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 
  8. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021". https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html. 
  9. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  10. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  11. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ky190090.txt. 
  12. ^ "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. 
  13. ^ Payton, Joseph. "Genesis coal mine employees receive WARN notices; 250 jobs affected". NBC WFIE 14News.com. https://www.14news.com/2019/12/26/genesis-coal-mine-employees-receive-warn-notices/. 
  14. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

External links[]

Coordinates: 37°28′N 86°50′W / 37.47, -86.84


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Ohio 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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