Clay County, Kentucky

Clay County, Kentucky
Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 20,345. Its county seat is Manchester. The county was formed in 1807 and named in honor of Green Clay (1757–1826). Clay was a member of the Virginia and Kentucky State legislatures, first cousin once removed of Henry Clay, U.S. Senator from Kentucky and Secretary of State in the 19th century.
History
Clay County was established in 1807 from land given by Floyd, Knox and Madison counties. The courthouse burned in January 1936.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.
Adjacent counties
Owsley County (north)
Perry County (northeast)
Leslie County (east)
Bell County (southeast)
Knox County (southwest)
Laurel County (west)
Jackson County (northwest)
Watercourses
Sexton Creek
Bullskin Creek
South Fork of Kentucky River
Red Bird River
Big Creek
Bear Creek
Goose Creek
Horse Creek
Laurel Creek
Little Goose Creek
Wildcat Creek
Collins Creek
South Fork of Rockcastle River
Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 21,730 people, 8,556 households, and 6,442 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,439 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.9% White, 4.8% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.1% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. 1.4% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
There were 8,556 households, out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.06.
The age distribution was 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.6 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $16,271, and the median income for a family was $18,925. Males had a median income of $24,164 versus $17,816 for females. The per capita income for the county was $9,716. About 35.4% of families and 39.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 47.6% of those under the age of 18 and 31.3% of those age 65 or over.
The county's per-capita income and median household income make it one of the poorest counties in the United States. Among counties whose population contains a non-Hispanic white majority, Clay County was once the poorest by per-capita income and second to another county in the same Kentucky region, Owsley County, by median household income. However, in recent years the economic status of Clay County, Kentucky has improved relative to other lower income counties.
Communities
City
Manchester (county seat)
Census-designated places
Littleton
Oneida
Unincorporated towns and villages
Big Creek
Fall Rock
Garrard
Goose Rock
Hubbardsville
Sibert
Post offices
Many former post offices were, and some current ones are, located along the waterways, which are paralleled by modern roads.
Arrows denote renamings.
Alger
Bernice
Barcreek
Barger
Bessie → Mill Pond
Big Creek
Bluehole
Botto
Brightshade
Brutus
Bullskin
Bullskin Creek
Burning Springs
Caution
Cedral
Chesnut Hill → Chesnut
Chesnutburg
Potters Choice → Choice
Cottongim
Disappoint
Eriline
Eros
Ethal → Ethel
Fall Rock
Garrard
Goose Rock
Grace
Hacker → Hensley
Hollingsworth
Hooker
Crawfish → Hima
Laurel Creek
Lincoln
Lipps
Lockards
Malcom
Marcum
Martins Creek
Mount Welcome
Adela → Murray → Muncie Fork
Ogle
Annalee → Redbird River → Peabody
Panco
Pancone
Pigeonroost
Plank
Rockgap
Seth
Sibert
Sory
Spurlock
Tanksley
Tinker
Treadway
Wildcat
Sacker Gap
Seeley
Sextons Creek
Smallwood
Sourwood
Urban
Vine
Wages
Other places
Benge
Brooks
Buzzard
Datha
Fogertown
Greenbriar
Hector
Hubbardsville
Larue
Philpot
Pinhook
There are also places named in early censuses, some still identifiable today: Ammie, Ashers Fork, Creekville, Deer Lick, Felty, Gardner, Jacks Creek, McWhorter, Portersburg, Queendale, Shepherdtown, Sidell, Spring Creek, Teges, and Trixie.
Politics
Clay County has been rock-ribbed Republican since the Civil War, having last voted for a Democratic nominee for president in 1860 when it supported Kentucky native and Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. In the last one hundred years the only Republicans to receive less than sixty percent were Bob Dole, who still won the county by nearly 25 percent, and Barry Goldwater, who held the county by seventy-five votes amidst a Democratic landslide in 1964. In 2008 John McCain received 77.5% of the vote.
The county is located in Kentucky's 5th congressional district represented by Representative Hal Rogers.
Health
In July 2010, The Washington Post named Clay County the unhealthiest county in Kentucky, and one of the unhealthiest in the nation. Clay County also featured prominently in a June 2014 article in The New York Times about the difficulty of living in poverty in eastern Kentucky, ranking last in overall ratings for counties in the United States. The factors which accounted for Clay county's low ranking were unemployment, prevalence of disabilities, obesity, income, and education. The Times declared Clay County the "hardest place to live in the U.S."
Life expectancy
Of 3,142 counties in the United States in 2014, Clay County ranked 3,137 in the longevity of female residents and 3,109 in the longevity of male residents. Males in Clay County lived an average of 68.6 years and females lived an average of 73.6 years compared to the national average for longevity of 76.5 for males and 81.2 for females. Moreover, the average longevity in Clay County declined by 0.4 years for males and 3.4 years for females between 1985 and 2014 compared to a national average for the same period of an increased life span of 5.5 years for men and 3.1 years for women. High rates of smoking and obesity and a low level of physical activity appear to be contributing factors to the lowered longevity for both sexes.
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, Kentucky
Red Bird River Petroglyphs
References
Further reading
External links
Clay County News and Photos at Claylive.com
1807 establishments in Kentucky
Populated places established in 1807
Kentucky counties
Counties of Appalachia