Lewisport is a home rule-class city in the floodplain 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. The population was 1,670 at the 2010 census, and is also the most populous community in the county. It is included in the Owensboro metropolitan area.

History

Lewisport was originally a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

landing site known as "Little Yellow Banks", in allusion to Owensboro's original name of "Yellow Banks". The first settler was James Prentis, who platted the current town in 1837 with his brother John. An attempt to rename the city "Prentisport" failed, though, when James insisted the town be named after his friend Dr. John Lewis instead. The town was chartered as "Lewisport" in 1839, and the post office was established under that name in 1844.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 171
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013. The city was formally incorporated by the state assembly the same year, but needed to be reincorporated in 1882.Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Lewisport, Kentucky". Accessed 6 August 2013. Logging and

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

construction were the initial chief industries. The river has flooded the city repeatedly, and the importance of lumber construction and industry has sparked several major fires.Handcock County.
Lewisport
.

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

won his first case – ''Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Abraham Lincoln'' – in Lewisport's Pate House, at the time the site of the local circuit court. He was tried in the east room of the log house before Squire Pate for operating a ferry across the Ohio River without a license, but the justice of the peace dismissed the case against him. The house is now a county landmark and is open for tours throughout the year. During the

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 ...

, Bill Davison and Isaac Coulter captured and robbed the steamship ''Morning Star'' here on December 23, 1864, killing three Union soldiers. The town's only bank was shuttered during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Upon its founding in 1938, the Lewisport School System comprised eight local one-room schools; today it is part of the Hancock County Consolidated School System.

Geography

Lewisport is located in northwestern Hancock County at (37.935023, -86.905270), on the south bank of the

. The closest river crossings are by road to the east, at Hawesville, and the same distance to the west, at

U.S. Route 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S highway that is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31, US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, US&nbs ...

near Rockport, Indiana. U.S. Route 60 passes east–west through the southern end of Lewisport. 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.

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 1,639 people, 648 households, and 452 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 748 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.40%

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 ...

, 1.89%

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 ...

, 0.37% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.24% from other races, and 0.49% 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 1.65% of the population. There were 648 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% 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, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,774, and the median income for a family was $42,321. Males had a median income of $39,318 versus $21,705 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 $16,413. About 15.6% of families and 17.0% 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 24.7% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Lewisport 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. It was home to Lewisport Elementary School, later replaced by North Hancock Elementary School in 2006.

References

External links