Hawesville is a home rule-class city on the south bank 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 ...

in Hancock 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 ...

, in the United States. It is the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of its county. The population was 945 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 th ...

Geography

Hawesville is located in northern Hancock County at (37.898865, -86.755570), on the south bank of the

and on the hills that rise south of the river. The

Lincoln Trail Bridge The Bob Cummings Lincoln Trail Bridge crosses the Ohio River and connects the towns of Cannelton, Indiana and Hawesville, Kentucky. Indiana State Road 237 becomes Kentucky Route 69 upon entering Hawesville. Construction began in June 1964 and ...

carries

Kentucky Route 69 Kentucky Route 69 (KY 69) is a state highway that traverses Ohio and Hancock Counties in northwestern Kentucky. Route description KY 69 runs from Bluff Lane in rural Ohio County to Indiana State Road 237 on the Bob Cummings – Lincoln T ...

across the Ohio at Hawesville, connecting the city with

Cannelton, Indiana Cannelton is a city in Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, Troy Township, Perry County, Indiana, Perry County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,524 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Cannelton ...

U.S. Route 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

passes through the southwest part of Hawesville, leading southeast to Cloverport and southwest to

Owensboro Owensboro is a home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest ...

. 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 ...

, Hawesville has a total area of , all land.

History

Upon the establishment of Hancock County in 1829, local landowner Richard Hawes Sr. (father of Rep.

Richard Hawes Richard Hawes Jr. (February 6, 1797 – May 25, 1877) was a United States representative from Kentucky and the second Confederate Governor of Kentucky. He was part of the politically influential Hawes family. His brother, uncle, and cousin ...

Jr.) donated land for a county seat, free to any homesteaders who settled there. The Hawesville

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established later that year. The city was formally established in 1836 and incorporated by the

state assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

in 1847.Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Hawesville, Kentucky". Accessed 29 July 2013. Despite the Immaculate Conception Church's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, it was demolished and replaced with a modern structure.

Aluminum smelter

In 1969 an aluminum smelter was built in the area.

Century Aluminum Century Aluminum Company is a US-based producer of primary aluminum, with aluminum plants in Kentucky, South Carolina and Iceland. It is the largest producer of primary aluminum in the United States. The company is a publicly held corporation lis ...

owns the smelter, which the company describes as the largest in North America, but it was idled in 2022, resulting in layoffs affecting 550 employees.

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 971 people, 409 households, and 271 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 441 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.25%

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 ...

, 1.44%

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 ...

, 0.10%

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

, and 0.21% 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 0.21% of the population. There were 409 households, out of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% 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, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,929, and the median income for a family was $45,000. Males had a median income of $39,318 versus $22,750 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 $18,985. About 12.1% of families and 11.9% 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 12.6% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Hawesville 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 ...

, a branch of the Hancock County Public Library.

References