Lincoln County is a county located in south-central

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 24,275. 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 Stanford. Lincoln County is part of the Danville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Lincoln County—originally Lincoln County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

—was established by the Virginia General Assembly in June 1780, and named in honor of Revolutionary War general Benjamin Lincoln. It was one of three counties formed out of Virginia's Kentucky County (The other two were Fayette and Jefferson), and is one of Kentucky's nine original counties. The county's original seat was at Harrodsburg; but in 1785, Lincoln County was partitioned, and Harrodsburg became the seat of the new Mercer County. Afterward, Stanford became Lincoln County's permanent seat.

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 (0.7%) is water. Lincoln County is located in south-central Kentucky astride the southern part of the ring of Knobs, which separate the Bluegrass region from the Eastern Pennyroyal Plateau, the Lincoln County part of which includes the source and headwaters of the Green River. Lincoln County is part of Appalachia.

Adjacent counties

* Boyle County (northwest) * Garrard County (northeast) * Rockcastle County (east) * Pulaski County (south) * Casey County (west)

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 23,361 people, 9,206 households, and 6,729 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 10,127 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.2%

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 ...

, 2.53% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.72% from two or more races. 0.89% 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 9,206 households, out of which 33.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.90% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.95. By age, 25.70% of the population was under 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% were 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $39,833, and the median income for a family was $32,284. Males had a median income of $26,395 versus $20,517 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 $13,602. About 16.40% of families and 21.10% 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 27.10% of those under age 18 and 22.90% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Crab Orchard * Eubank (shared with Pulaski County) * Hustonville * Junction City (mostly in Boyle County) * Stanford (county seat)

Census-designated place

* McKinney

Other unincorporated places

* Blue Lick * Chicken Bristle * Dog Walk * Halls Gap *

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

* Hubble *

Jumbo Jumbo (December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then tr ...

* Kings Mountain *

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

* Moreland * Ottenheim * Preachersville * Rowland * Turkeytown * Walnut Flat * Waynesburg

Politics

Lincoln County has been reliably Republican for several decades now, last voting for a Democratic candidate for president in 1976.

Elected officials

References

External links

Lincoln County Kentucky Web Site

The Kentucky Highlands Project
{{authority control Kentucky counties Danville, Kentucky micropolitan area 1780 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1780 Former counties of Virginia