Livermore, Kentucky
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Livermore () is a home rule-class city located at the confluence of the
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
and Rough
rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in McLean County in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 to ...
. The population was 1,365 at the 2010 census. It is included in the
Owensboro metropolitan area The Owensboro Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in Kentucky, anchored by the city of Owensboro. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 109,875. In the ...
.


Geography

Livermore is located at (37.490987, -87.135340). 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 the ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.


History


Early years

William Brown founded the city in 1837 as Brown's Landing, but the post office established the next year took the name Livermore. The origin is disputed: some historians trace it to an otherwise-unknown shopkeeper named James Livermore, others to civil engineer Alonzo Livermore who helped construct a dam across the Green River at Rumsey.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 176
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013.
The city was formally incorporated by the state assembly in 1850.Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Livermore, Kentucky". Accessed 1 August 2013.


Opera house lynching

Livermore achieved national and international notoriety in the second decade of the 20th century for a bizarre
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
. On April 20, 1911, a black man named Will Porter (or Potter) shot and wounded Clarence Mitchell, a white man, after a barroom argument. Sheriff V.P. Stabler then arrested Porter. After this, accounts vary. The ''New York Times'' account holds that a local mob of fifty overwhelmed the sheriff, who had hid Porter in the opera house basement to protect him. They then bound Porter's hands and feet, took him to the center stage, and shot him there. Another version reported by several Kentucky papers omitted the sheriff's concern and had Porter taken from the jail to the opera house, where admission was charged to witness the hanging. Those in the gallery were permitted a single shot at Porter; those in the orchestra seats were allowed to empty their guns. The
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
quickly condemned the lynching and sent letters to
President Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, the Congress, and Governor Willson of Kentucky. At Willson's insistence, Kentucky issued warrants for 18 of the lynchers; three leaders – including Mitchell's brother Lawrence – were separately indicted and tried for murder, but quickly acquitted. At the time of the indictments, it was locally reported that Clarence Mitchell, “the young white man” whose shooting had enraged the Livermore mob “has since fully recovered, and has married.” Following acquittal of the three ringleaders in fall 1911, indictments of the remaining 15 were "filed away" and appear to have never been brought to trial. In 1915, both presiding Judge T. F.Birkhead and Commonwealth Attorney Ben D. Ringo were defeated for reelection, Birkhead receiving not one vote from McLean County.


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 incl ...
of 2000, there were 1,482 people, 614 households, and 405 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 667 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.98%
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 on ...
, 0.07%
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 ...
, 0.13% Native American, 0.07%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.81% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.94% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 1.75% of the population. There were 614 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.01. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,086, and the median income for a family was $27,404. Males had a median income of $25,083 versus $19,583 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 $15,049. About 18.0% of families and 18.1% 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 19.0% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Livermore has a
lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a librar ...
, the McLean County Public Library.


References


External links


City of Livermore Website
*
Amy Louise Wood Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886 ...

"They Never Witnessed Such a Melodrama"
''Southern Spaces'', 27 April 2009. {{authority control Cities in Kentucky Cities in McLean County, Kentucky Owensboro metropolitan area Coal towns in Kentucky