Junction City is a home rule-class city in Boyle County on its border with Lincoln 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 so ...

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 ...

. Junction City's population was 2,241 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Junction City began when the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

reached the area. It was originally known as "Goresburg" for the proprietors of the Gore Hotel. The Gore post office opened in 1880, and was renamed Goresburg in 1882. The town was renamed "Junction City" when the Cincinnati Southern Railway reached town later that year, its tracks intersecting those of the L&N. The city was formally incorporated April 8, 1882, by the state assembly.Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Junction City, Kentucky". Accessed 1 August 2013. The L&N station there was known as "Danville Junction" for its proximity to the larger city of Danville. The southeastern part of Junction City was once the separate town of Shelby City, incorporated in 1867, and named for Kentucky's first governor

Isaac Shelby Isaac Shelby (December 11, 1750 – July 18, 1826) was an American politician and military officer who was the List of governors of Kentucky, first and fifth Governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Ca ...

, who lived and was buried nearby. This community's separate post office was known as "South Danville" when it was established April 26, 1866, renamed Shelby City the next year (the eastern portion of Junction City is still known as Shelby City), and closed in 1926. It was also known as "Briartown" and its L&N station was called "Danville Station". The tomb of Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby, and his homestead Traveler's Rest, is located across the Lincoln County line, just south of this part of town.

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 city has a total area of , all land. The city lies in a broad valley south of Danville, and just north of the border between Boyle and Lincoln counties. Much of Junction City is concentrated along Shelby Street between the Cincinnati Southern tracks on the west and

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 ...

on the east. The part of town east of US 127 is known as "Shelby City." Kentucky Route 37 and Kentucky Route 300 intersect in northwestern Junction City.

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 2,184 people, 876 households, and 617 families residing in the city. 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 945 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.53%

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 ...

, 1.05%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.73% from other races, and 0.32% 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 3.85% of the population. Junction-City-caboose-ky

There were 876 households, out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% 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, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.5% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.93. 27.3% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the city 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 ...

29,569, and the median income for a family was $32,609. Males had a median income of $25,700 versus $21,688 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 $13,258. About 14.5% of families and 16.9% 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 19.5% of those under age 18 and 20.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Cities in Boyle County, Kentucky Cities in Lincoln County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Danville, Kentucky micropolitan area