Manchester is a home rule-class city in Clay 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. It is the seat of its county and the home of a minimum- and medium-security federal prison. The city's population was 1,255 at the 2010 census.

History

The town was founded to be the seat of the newly formed Clay Co. in 1807 on a parcel near the Lower Goose Creek Salt Works. The county court stipulated that the town be named Greenville in honor of the War-of-1812

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

who gave the county its name.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 186
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013. The Greenville in

Muhlenberg County Muhlenberg County () is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,928. Its county seat is Greenville. History Muhlenberg County was formed in 1798 from the areas known as Logan and Christian c ...

had already preëmpted that name, however, and it was changed to "Manchester" in December. There was a local legend in the town that this was in honor of the hometown of

Gen Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...

. Garrard's second wife Lucy Lees, but a prominent local family, the Hollingsworth, were originally from Manchester, England. Rennick points out that Lucy Lees was born well after the naming of the city. He opines that it is more likely that the local businessmen simply wanted a name evocative of the English industrial success.

Geography

Manchester is located at (37.152818, -83.763403). 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 ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

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 2010, there were 1,255 people, 579 households, and 332 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was 836.7 people per square mile (321.8/km). There were 655 housing units at an average density of 436.7 per square mile (167.9/km). The racial makeup of the city was 92.5%

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 ...

, 6.3%

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% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.2% 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 0.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 1% of the population. There were 579 households, out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.5% were married couples living together, 19% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.84.

Education

Manchester has a lending library, the Clay County Public Library.

Media

Manchester is the

city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American br ...

cited by four

radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

: *

WWXL WWXL (1450 AM) is a radio station licensed to Manchester, Kentucky, broadcasting with a full-time signal of 1,000 watts. The station broadcasts from studios at 103 Third Street in downtown Manchester. History Established in 1956, WWXL is Clay Co ...

* WKLB *

WTBK WTBK (105.7 FM), known as K-105.7, is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Manchester, Kentucky, United States. It features programming from ABC Radio, AP Radio The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profi ...

* WWLT

Notable people

* Bert T. Combs – Former jurist and 50th Governor of Kentucky. *

Theophilus T. Garrard Theophilus Toulmin Garrard (June 7, 1812 – March 15, 1902) was a politician, Union general in the American Civil War, farmer, and businessman. Early life and career Garrard was born in Clay County, Kentucky near Manchester at the Goose C ...

– A politician and Union general in the American Civil War. *

Richie Farmer Richard Dwight Farmer (born August 25, 1969) is an American former collegiate basketball player and Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He served as the Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2012 and was the ...

– Former

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 ...

shooting guard and Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture.

References

External links

claycountykentucky.org

''The Manchester Enterprise''

Manchester News and Photos at Claylive.com
{{authority control Cities in Kentucky Cities in Clay County, Kentucky County seats in Kentucky Populated places established in 1844 1844 establishments in Kentucky