Ohio County, Kentucky

Ohio County, Kentucky
Ohio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,772. Its county seat is Hartford, and its largest city is Beaver Dam. 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. Ohio was the 35th Kentucky county in order of formation. 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.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water. 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 and the Green River runs along its southwestern border.
Adjacent counties
Hancock County (north)
Breckinridge County (northeast)
Grayson County (east)
Butler County (southeast)
Muhlenberg County (southwest)
McLean County (west)
Daviess County (northwest)
Demographics
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 . There were 9,909 housing units at an average density of . 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. 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.
Communities
Cities
Beaver Dam
Centertown
Fordsville
Hartford (county seat)
McHenry
Rockport
Census-designated place
Pleasant Ridge (partially in Daviess County)
Other unincorporated places
North
Adaburg
Aetnaville
Beda
Buford
Coffman
Deanefield
Haynesville
Heflin
Herbert
Magan
Narrows
Reynolds Station (partially in Hancock County)
Shreve
Silver Beach
Taffy
South
Baizetown
Ceralvo
Cool Springs
Cromwell
Dundee
Echols
Equality
Horse Branch
Matanzas
Neafus (partially in Grayson County, mostly in Butler County)
Olaton
Prentiss
Rosine
Select
Simmons
Shultztown
Smallhous
Wysox
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
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Ohio County, Kentucky
References
External links
1798 establishments in Kentucky
Kentucky counties
Populated places established in 1798