Boyle 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 in the central part 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 30,614. 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 Danville. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John Boyle (1774–1835), a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

, chief justice of the

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower 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 Illino ...

, and later federal judge for the District of Kentucky, and is part of the Danville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

In 1820, a portion of Casey County, now south of KY Route 300, was annexed to Mercer County. This became part of Boyle County when Boyle County was formed on February 15, 1842, from sections of Lincoln County and Mercer County. It is named for John Boyle,

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

, Chief Justice of the

, and

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a Justice (title), justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the J ...

John Marshall Harlan John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 – October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Disse ...

, a supporter of civil rights and the sole dissenter in the

Civil Rights Cases The ''Civil Rights Cases'', 109 U.S. 3 (1883), were a group of five landmark cases in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments did not empower Congress to outlaw racial discrimination by ...

and Plessy v. Ferguson, was born in Boyle County in 1833. A courthouse fire in 1860 resulted in the loss of some county records. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the Ame ...

took place here on October 8, 1862, fought between the Confederate Army of Mississippi and the Union

Army of the Ohio The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union Army, Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863. History 1st Army of the Ohio General Orders No. 97 appointed ...

. 7407 men fell in the battle.

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 (1.4%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Mercer County (north) * Garrard County (east) * Lincoln County (southeast) * Casey County (south) * Marion County (southwest) * Washington County (northwest)

Major highways

* U.S. Route 68 *

U.S. Route 127 U.S. Route 127 (US 127) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the eastern half of the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 27, US 27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The northern terminus is at Interstate 75 ...

* U.S. Route 150 * Kentucky Route 33 * Kentucky Route 34 * Kentucky Route 37 * Kentucky Route 52 * Kentucky Route 300

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 27,697 people, 10,574 households, and 7,348 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 11,418 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.77%

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 ...

, 9.68%

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 ...

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, 0.56% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.65% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races.

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 were 1.44% of the population. There were 10,574 households, of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.70% 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, 12.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87. By age, 22.70% of the population was under 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% were 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was

US $ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

35,241, and the median income for a family was $42,699. Males had a median income of $33,411 versus $23,635 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 $18,288. About 9.10% of families and 11.90% 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 15.80% of those under age 18 and 12.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

The county voted "No" on 2022 Kentucky Amendment 2, an anti-abortion ballot measure, by 53% to 47% despite backing

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

with 61% of the vote to

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's 37% in the 2020 presidential election.

Elected officials

State and Federal

County

Judicial

Education

Public schools

There are two school districts in the county.
Text list
- For more detailed boundaries of the independent school districts see: Boyle County Schools is the school district that serves all of Boyle County except Danville with three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Danville Schools is the school district that serves the city of Danville with three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Kentucky School for the Deaf, a state-operated school, provides education to Kentucky's deaf and hard-of-hearing children from elementary through high school

Private schools

Two private schools operate in Boyle County
Danville Christian Academy
an
Danville Montessori School

Colleges and universities

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

, a nationally recognized liberal arts college, is located in Danville. Six other colleges and universities have (or had) campuses in Boyle County: * American National University, Danville campus closed * Bluegrass Community and Technical College *

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

, Danville campus closed in May 2018 *

Midway University Midway University is a Private university, private Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian university in Midway, Kentucky. Related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), it enrolls approximately 1,900 students earnin ...

, Danville campus closed * Kentucky College for Women, merged with Centre College in 1930. *

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

, moved to Lexington Kentucky in 1789.

Communities

Cities

* Danville (county seat) * Junction City (a small portion extends into Lincoln County) * Perryville

Unincorporated places

* Aliceton * Alum Springs * Atoka * Brumfield * Clifton * Forkland * Little Needmore * Mitchellsburg * Needmore * Parksville * Wilsonville

Notes

References

External links

Boyle County, KY

Danville/Boyle County Economic Development Partnership

Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau

Danville, Boyle County Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control 1842 establishments in Kentucky Populated places established in 1842 Kentucky counties Danville, Kentucky micropolitan area