Earlington is a
home rule-class city in
Hopkins County,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, in the United States. As of the
2010 census, the city had a population of 1,413,
down from 1,649 at the 2000 census.
History
Founded in 1870 by the St. Bernard Coal Co., Earlington was named a year later, upon its incorporation, for John Baylis Earle, the man who stuck the first pick into the hillside at the opening of Hopkins County's first commercial coal mine. Earle was a lawyer who was central to developing the coal industry in the region. Shortly after the town was founded, the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad completed its line from
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to Earlington, and became the primary hauler in the area. The town boomed as a coal center and as the center of L&N operations on the Evansville line.
The early development of Earlington can most readily be credited to St. Bernard Coal Company's second president, John B. Atkinson. Originally from New Jersey, Atkinson taught school before becoming a civil engineer. He relocated to Kentucky from Boston in 1871 to take charge of mining operations at Earlington and eventually became president of the company.
Because of his background in education, Atkinson placed a great deal of emphasis on schools in Earlington, and modern buildings for the grade schools and high schools were built and furnished at the expense of St. Bernard. Other amenities offered at Earlington included housing, a library, an
arboretum, and churches. Unusual for Western Kentucky at the time was the firm's electric generating plant, which made Earlington one of the first fully electrified towns in the region.
Earlington boomed for its first 40 years, and was largely worked by black coal miners. Around World War I, consolidation in the mining industry sent coal company headquarters and profits to companies based in St. Louis, New York and other major cities, including the West Kentucky Coal Co. (based in New Jersey), which took over much of the Earlington operation. This drain of resources and severing of local control deeply affected Earlington and other mining towns nationwide, as did automation of many mining jobs. For Earlington, the closure of the L&N depot in the 1960s was another major blow.
[Boom to Bust: The History of Earlington, Kentucky, wkms. org, 3/3/2013, https://www.wkms.org/post/boom-bust-history-earlington-kentucky]
Like many coal towns, Earlington's population has declined by more than half over the past century, particularly since the mines played out in the 1980s. Today, the sleepy town is primarily a local service center, with some trade to pass-through traffic along its
I-69
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...
interchange and its
U.S. Hwy. 41 (Dixie Hwy.) commercial center.
Education
Until the mid-1970s, the city of Earlington operated an independent school system. The system served students from the primary grades until high school graduation. In 1967, the Earlington Yellowjackets won the state "Sweet 16" basketball tournament. During the 1960s, the champions of the Sweet 16 were typically from
Jefferson County (Louisville) or
Fayette County (Lexington), the largest population centers in the state. Earlington remains one of the smallest schools ever to win the "Sweet 16" in the modern era. The team was coached by Bob Fox, who was a native of Earlington and played basketball for Earlington in the late 1940s. He amassed an impressive coaching record at Earlingon at 141-26 and was inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2001.
When the city school board decided to merge with the
Hopkins County School System, the community was divided. Half of the students were enrolled at South Hopkins High School, about to the south, and the others went to West Hopkins High School, to the west. The division was made along the
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line that bisects the town.
Earlington also had a private school that operated until the 1970s. Immaculate Conception, the only
Roman Catholic
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parish in Earlington and the oldest parish in Hopkins County, operated a school periodically from the 1890s until the school was closed because of the building's condition. The school had served students from kindergarten to the sixth grade. Located across the street from the parish building, the old school building has now been demolished.
Geography
![Loch Mary Reservoir Earlington KY jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Loch_Mary_Reservoir_Earlington_KY_jeh.jpg)
Earlington is located southeast of the center of Hopkins County at (37.274050, -87.511388).
It is bordered to the north by
Madisonville, the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
.
U.S. Route 41 (Hopkinsville Road) passes through the center of Earlington, leading north to the center of Madisonville and southeast to
Nortonville.
Interstate 69 passes east of town, with access from Exit 111.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, Earlington has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.55%, are water.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 1,649 people, 681 households, and 439 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 798 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.80%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 23.29%
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
or
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.18%
Native American, 0.06%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.06% from
other races
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, and 0.55% from two or more races.
Hispanic
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The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
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* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 0.73% of the population.
There were 681 households, out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were
married couples living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $21,696, and the median income for a family was $24,167. Males had a median income of $27,344 versus $20,341 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $12,088. About 25.7% of families and 30.1% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 54.8% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.
Notable residents
*
Dr. Lee Todd, President
Emeritus,
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
References
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Cities in Kentucky
Cities in Hopkins County, Kentucky
Populated places established in 1870
1870 establishments in Kentucky