West Point is a home rule-class city in Hardin County,

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 ...

, United States, near the edge of

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

military reservation on

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

. It is located in a former meander bend of 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 ...

. The population was 952 as of the 2020 Census, up from 797 from the 2010 census, but still down from 1,100 at the 2000 census. West Point is part of the Elizabethtown–Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

West Point was founded by pioneer James Young, who built a cabin at the site in 1789 and, in 1797, built a brick house and inn that is still standing today. In 1803,

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

passed nearby and recruited West Point citizen John Shields to join their Corps of Discovery. West Point sits at the confluence of the Ohio and

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

rivers, a strategic position that led Union forces to construct a fort here during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

to protect their supply routes.

Fort Duffield Fort Duffield is a Union (American Civil War), Union American Civil War fort located outside West Point, Kentucky. It saw use in 1862, and was abandoned when it appeared that the war would never come near the fort. Ironically, John Hunt Morgan wo ...

is the state's largest and best-preserved earthen fortification from the period. West Point also retains many of its other historic resources, and a large portion of the community is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as a historic district. One of the newest preservation projects in West Point is the rehabilitation of the West Point Independent Colored School (1926), one of the "Rosenwald Schools" built by philanthropist

Julius Rosenwald Julius Rosenwald (August 12, 1862 – January 6, 1932) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for establishing the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions i ...

to educate African-Americans in rural areas. Plans call for using the one-room school as a visitor, educational, and research facility. West Point commemorated the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's visit with a heritage festival that celebrated local history and drew heritage tourists. Year-round, Fort Duffield is an important tourist destination, and the city recently secured a grant to fund walking trails at the site. West Point was a childhood residence of the late

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Governor James A. Noe Sr., a wealthy oilman and landowner.

Geography

West Point is located at the northern end of Hardin County at (37.991543, -85.954540), at the confluence of the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

rivers. The Dixie Highway (U.S. Routes 31W and 60) passes through the city just east of the downtown, leading northeast to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and south to Elizabethtown, the Hardin County seat. Fort Duffield Park is located in the southern part of the city, with the remains of the fort sitting on top of a hill that rises above the downtown. The city is bordered to the south by the northern end of

. 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 city of West Point has a total area of , all land.

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 1,100 people, 439 households, and 281 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 566 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.09%

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 ...

, 0.64%

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 ...

, 0.64% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.82% of the population. There were 439 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% 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 3.09. The age distribution was 26.2% under 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,792, and the median income for a family was $35,139. Males had a median income of $23,611 versus $18,125 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 city was $13,381. About 15.9% of families and 20.3% 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 29.3% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

West Point Independent School District operated a single

K-8 school K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * K8 telephone box, designed by Bruce M ...

, while high school students attended

Elizabethtown High School Elizabethtown High School (or EHS) is a four–year public high school located in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, United States. A part of Elizabethtown Independent Schools (EIS), it is commonly referred to as E-Town High School or EHS. Elizabethtown ...

of the Elizabethtown Independent Schools. On January 28, 2020, the West Point Independent Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to begin merger negotiations with Hardin County Schools; the West Point board approved the merger on February 18 and the Hardin County board followed two days later. The merger took effect on July 1, 2020. The relocation of students sent kindergarten students to North Park Elementary, first through fifth grades to Vine Grove Elementary, and sixth through eighth grade to J.T. Alton Middle School. Students who attended Elizabethtown High before the merger completed their high school there, while West Point high school students after the meger attend

North Hardin High School North Hardin High School, located in Radcliff, Kentucky, United States, has a student population of approximately 1,600. The school, a part of Hardin County Public Schools, was founded in 1962. The athletics teams are known as the Trojans. The ...

In popular culture

West Point and neighboring town Muldraugh are featured in the open world survival horror game ''

Project Zomboid ''Project Zomboid'' is an open-world, Isometric video game graphics, isometric video game developed by British and Canadian Independent video game development, independent developer The Indie Stone. The game is set in the Zombie apocalypse, post- ...

'' as spawn points and explorable locations. The nearby city of

is also featured in the game. For the sake of in-game difficulty, the infected population is far more abundant than the population of West Point during the year in which the game takes place. Spawning in West Point is not recommended for new or intermediate players due to the sheer amount of undead that litter the town relative to its small size, making it a challenging spawn location for advanced players.

References

External links

City of West Point official website

West Point School
{{authority control Cities in Hardin County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Populated places established in 1789 Elizabethtown metropolitan area Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River 1789 establishments in Virginia