Knott 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 U.S. state 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 14,251. 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 Hindman. The county was formed in 1884 and is named for James Proctor Knott,

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

(1883–1887). As of 2024 the county is now wet. Its county seat is home to the

Hindman Settlement School Hindman Settlement School is a settlement school located in Hindman, Kentucky in Knott County, Kentucky, Knott County. Established in 1902, it was the first rural settlement school in America.

, founded as America's first

settlement school Settlement schools are social reform institutions established in rural Appalachia in the early 20th century with the purpose of educating Mountain whites, mountain children and improving their isolated rural communities. Settlement schools have p ...

. The Knott County town of Pippa Passes is home to Alice Lloyd College.

History

Knott County was established in 1884 from land given by Breathitt, Floyd, Letcher, and

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

counties. The 1890s-era courthouse, the second to serve the county, burned in 1929. The first elected county officials were county clerk Lewis Hays (an early settler of The Forks of Troublesome defeating fellow early settler F. P. Allen), county judge David Calhoun, county attorney Fielding Johnson, sheriff Madison Pigman, jailer Isom Slone, and county assessor Hiram Maggard. The political lines drawn in the early politics of the county were largely along divisions between the early settler families of The Forks, inherited from

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 ...

differences. In a later election Anderson Hays ran against Clabe Jones, who had been on opposite sides in the Civil War, with Jones winning the election. This caused a feud that lasted several years, with fights and deaths in Hindman.

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 (0.4%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Magoffin County (north) * Floyd County (northeast) * Pike County (east) * Letcher County (south) * Perry County (southwest) * Breathitt County (northwest)

Summits

Big Lovely Mountain,

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 17,649 people, 6,717 households, and 4,990 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 7,579 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.27%

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 ...

, 0.73%

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 ...

, 0.11% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.12% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were

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. There were 6,717 households, out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% 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, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.70% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.00. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.50% under the age of 18, 10.80% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $20,373, and the median income for a family was $24,930. Males had a median income of $29,471 versus $21,240 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 $11,297. About 26.20% of families and 31.10% 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 39.80% of those under age 18 and 23.10% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Knott County Schools

* Knott County Central High School * Knott County Area Technology Center * Beaver Creek Elementary * Carr Creek Elementary * Cordia School * Emmalena Elementary * Hindman Elementary * Jones Fork Elementary

Private schools

* Bethel Christian Academy *

* June Buchanan School

Higher education

* Knott County Campus of Hazard Community and Technical College * Alice Lloyd College

Politics

Knott County had historically voted very strongly for the Democratic Party. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, 75% of Knott County residents voted for Democrat

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

for US president, the highest percentage for Clinton of any county in the state. However, in recent years, Knott County has voted more favorably for the Republican Party. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

became the first Republican to win Knott County in a presidential election by winning 52.6% of the vote to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's 45%. When

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician who was the List of governors of Kentucky, 60th governor of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007. He previously served three consecutive terms in the United States House ...

appointed Republican Randy Thompson as County Judge Executive in 2005, it was the first time the county ever had a Republican Judge Executive. Thompson won re-election in 2006 and again in 2010, making him the first Republican to win election in a Knott County office. Randy Thompson was later convicted in federal court of running a vote buying scheme and sentenced to 40 months in the federal prison system.

Elected officials

Economy

Coal companies in Knott County

* Alpha Natural Resources * James River Coal Company

Areas of interest

Tourism is increasing in the county, especially the popularity of elk viewing. Knott County and its surrounding counties are home to 5,700 free ranging elk, the largest elk herd east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. There is an ATV Training Center dedicated to the safety of ATV usage amongst riders and th
Knott County Sportsplex
a sports complex which has indoor basketball courts, outside baseball fields, a soccer field, and a fitness center.

Media

Television

Hometown24

Radio

* WKCB-FM * WKCB-AM * WWJD-FM

Newspapers

''Troublesome Creek Times''

Communities

Cities

* Hindman (county seat) * Pippa Passes * Vicco (part)

Unincorporated communities

* Anco *

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Bearville * Betty * Breeding Creek * Carrie * Dema (part) * Elic * Elmrock * Emmalena * Fisty * Garner * Handshoe * Hollybush * Indian Grave * Irishmans * Jones Fork *

Kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...

* Leburn * Littcarr * Mallie * Mousie * Pine Top * Raven * Redfox * Ritchie * Sassafras * Slone Fork * Soft Shell *

Spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

* Talcum * Tina * Topmost * Vest * Wiscoal

Infrastructure

Transportation

Public transportation is provided by LKLP Community Action Partnership with demand-response service and scheduled service from Hindman to Hazard.

Notable residents

* Lige Clarke (1942−1975), LGBT activist, journalist and author * Rebecca Gayheart (born 1971), actress and model *

Carl Dewey Perkins Carl Dewey Perkins (October 15, 1912 – August 3, 1984) was an American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Kentucky serving from 1949 until his death from a heart attack in Lexington, ...

(1912−1984), politician and member of the United States House of Representatives * James Still (1906–2001), author folklorist * David Tolliver, musician; member of country band Halfway to Hazard

In popular culture

* 20th Century Fox filmed several scenes in the county for a nationally released movie '' Fire Down Below''

References

External links

The Kentucky Highlands Project
{{authority control Kentucky counties 1884 establishments in Kentucky Populated places established in 1884