Greenup County is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located along the
Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
in the northeastern part of the
U.S. state of
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 35,962.
The county was founded in 1803 and named in honor of
Christopher Greenup. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is
Greenup.
Greenup County is part of the
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Located with its northern border formed by the Ohio River, Greenup County was organized by an act of the General Assembly of Kentucky on December 12, 1803, from
Mason County, which included the majority of eastern Kentucky at the time.
Three courthouses have served Greenup County. The first courthouse, built of logs, was replaced by a brick structure in 1811.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.8%) is water.
Features
Like most eastern Kentucky counties, Greenup County is predominantly made up of rolling hills and valleys. The land in the Ohio River valley is generally flat and mostly populated by industry, commerce and residential development. Beyond this the land gives way to a series of hills and valleys that are representative of the
foothills
Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...
of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
. It is relatively sparsely inhabited by farmers. Among these hills, popular fishing spots can be found among the
Little Sandy River,
Greenbo Lake, and
Tygarts Creek. Greenup County's land is still predominantly covered by forest with minimal clear cutting of the old forests.
The soil has long supported a healthy agriculture and livestock industry. Traditionally, this has meant a sizeable
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
base and cattle ranching. Since the late 20th century, as traditional agriculture products have been dominated by industrial-scale agri-corporations, growth has been seen in non-traditional products such as
American Quarter Horse
The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to ...
s,
ostriches, and
marijuana.
Major highways
U.S. Highway 23 is the primary route for travel through Greenup County. It enters Greenup County at the southeasternmost point and follows the
Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
north along the eastern border passing through
Russell,
Flatwoods,
Raceland,
Wurtland,
Greenup and
South Shore. It then exits just west of South Shore crossing the Ohio River via the
U.S. Grant Bridge into
Portsmouth, Ohio and continuing north towards
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
.
The
AA Highway begins at U.S. Highway 23 and connects to
U.S. Highway 52 in Ohio via the
Jesse Stuart Memorial Bridge. The AA Highway (also known as Route 10) runs west intersecting Route 7 and eventually exiting west into
Lewis County. Since its completion in 1995, the AA Highway has allowed Northeastern Kentucky residents to more easily travel to
Maysville, Kentucky as well as
Northern Kentucky and
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
.
The northern terminus of the Industrial Parkway (
Kentucky Route 67) ends at U.S. Highway 23 at Wurtland. This highway serves to connect Wurtland and the surrounding towns of Greenup, Flatwoods and the unincorporated area of Argillite to the
EastPark industrial park and
Interstate 64 in
Carter County.
Adjacent counties
*
Boyd County (southeast)
*
Carter County (southwest)
*
Lewis County (west)
*
Scioto County, Ohio (north)
*
Lawrence County, Ohio (east)
Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 36,891 people, 14,536 households, and 11,032 families residing in the county. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 15,977 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.07%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.57%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.19%
Native American, 0.38%
Asian, 0.15% from
other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. 0.55% of the population were
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race.
There were 14,536 households, out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.30% were
married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.10% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.60% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,142, and the median income for a family was $38,928. Males had a median income of $35,475 versus $21,198 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the county was $17,137. About 11.60% of families and 14.10% 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 ...
, including 18.60% of those under age 18 and 9.90% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Elected officials
State and Federal
County
Judicial
Education
Public school districts
* Greenup County School District serves the cities of
Greenup,
Wurtland,
South Shore and rural Greenup County.
* Russell Independent School District serves the cities of
Russell,
Flatwoods and
Bellefonte.
* Raceland-Worthington Independent School District serves the cities of
Raceland and
Worthington.
Library
The Greenup County Public Library serves the county with three locations. The main library is located in Greenup and branch libraries are located in Flatwoods and just outside of South Shore (McKell branch). The library also operates two
bookmobiles that provide services in areas of the county not able to be served by the three libraries.
Communities
Cities
*
Bellefonte
*
Flatwoods
*
Greenup (county seat)
*
Raceland
*
Russell
*
South Shore
*
Worthington
*
Wurtland
Unincorporated communities
*
Lloyd
*
South Portsmouth
Places of interest
*
EastPark
*
Greenbo Lake State Resort Park
*
Raceland Race Course
Alcohol sales
Greenup County is a moist county, meaning that sale of alcohol in the county is prohibited except in certain areas as voted on by the residents of the area, including at least one area where full retail sales are permitted. In the case of Greenup County, alcohol sales are permitted in the following areas:
* The city of Russell has allowed the full retail sale of alcohol since 2014 after allowing, since 2008, by the drink alcohol sales at restaurants which seat at least 100 diners and derive at least 70% of their total sales from food.
*The cities of Greenup, Raceland and South Shore allow full retail sale of alcohol after voters approved local option petitions in 2020.
*The city of Flatwoods allows full retail sale of alcohol after voters approved a local option petition in 2024.
* The city of Bellefonte has allowed the full retail sale of alcohol since 2017 after allowing, since 2009, the Bellefonte Country Club to sell alcohol by the drink under a provision that allows voters of an otherwise dry precinct to allow alcohol sales at a specific, voter approved,
USGA regulation
golf course. The status change had no practical effect within the city itself as restaurants (other than the Bellefonte Country Club), liquor stores, gas stations, grocery stores and other businesses that generally sell alcohol are, by local ordinance, prohibited within the city limits of Bellefonte. The change in status allowed the Bellefonte Country Club to receive a "caterer's license" to serve alcohol by the drink at private offsite events, which was not permitted under the previous alcohol status.
*The Hunnewell election precinct in unincorporated Greenup County approved a petition in 2020 allowing the River Bend Golf Course to sell alcohol by the drink under a provision that allows voters of an otherwise dry precinct to allow alcohol sales at a specific, voter approved, USGA regulation golf course.
The sale of alcohol is prohibited in the cities of Worthington, Wurtland and in all areas of unincorporated Greenup County outside the River Bend Golf Course.
Notable people
*
Billy Ray Cyrus – singer/actor, son of
Ron Cyrus and father of
Miley Cyrus
*
Ron Cyrus – politician
*
Don Gullett –
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
*
Herb Roe – mural artist
*
John Stephenson –
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
Catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
*
Jesse Stuart – Kentucky
Poet Laureate
*
Clint "Hawk" Thomas – baseball player for the
New York Black Yankees of the
Negro leagues
* Richard Whitt - Newspaper journalist, (
The Courier-Journal
The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...
), 1978
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
for his reporting on the fire at the
Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in
Southgate, Kentucky.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Greenup County, Kentucky
References
External links
Government websiteThe Kentucky Highlands ProjectDetailed Road Map of Greenup County*
{{authority control
Kentucky counties on the Ohio River
1803 establishments in Kentucky
Populated places established in 1803