Livingston 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 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,888. 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 Smithland and its largest community is Ledbetter. The county was established in 1798 from land taken from Christian County and is named for Robert R. Livingston, a member of the

Committee of Five The Committee of Five of the Second Continental Congress was a group of five members who drafted and presented to the full Congress in Pennsylvania State House what would become the United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. Th ...

that drafted the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The county was strongly pro- Confederate during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and many men volunteered for the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

. Livingston County is part of the Paducah, KY- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is a prohibition or

dry county In the United States, a dry county is a county whose local government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. The vast majority of counties n ...

with the exception of Grand Rivers which voted to allow alcohol sales in 2016.

History

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (8.5%) is water. The western border with

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

is formed by 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 ...

Adjacent counties

* Hardin County, Illinois (north) * Crittenden County (northeast) * Lyon County (southeast) * Marshall County (south) * McCracken County (southwest) *

Massac County, Illinois Massac County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 14,169. Established in 1843 and named for a Fort Massac, French fort founded in the ...

(west) *

Pope County, Illinois Pope County is the southeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,763, making it the second-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Golconda. The county was organized ...

(northwest)

Major highways

* U.S. Route 60 * U.S. Route 62 * Interstate 24 *

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includ ...

* Kentucky Route 453

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 2010, there were 9,519 people living 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 4,772 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.49%

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 ...

, 0.14% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.03% 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 ...

, 0.28% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 0.75% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. There were 3,996 households, out of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.40% 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, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.86. The age distribution was 22.30% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 27.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,776, and the median income for a family was $39,486. Males had a median income of $33,633 versus $19,617 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 $17,072. About 7.60% of families and 10.30% 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 10.70% of those under age 18 and 15.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Carrsville * Grand Rivers * Salem * Smithland (county seat)

Census-designated places

* Burna * Ledbetter (largest community)

Other unincorporated communities

North Livingston

Bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

* Birdsville * Hampton * Joy * Lola * Mullikan Junction

South Livingston

* Cooper Landing *

Heater Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

* Iuka * Lake City * Newbern * Pinckneyville * Stanley Landing * Tiline * Vicksburg

Ghost Town

* Berry Ferry

Notable people

* Andrew Jackson Smith (September 3, 1843 – March 4, 1932) was a runaway slave, Union Army soldier during the

. He was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill. * James Ford (1775–1833), was a

civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: Civic or CIVIC can also refer to: General *Honda Civic, a car produced by the Honda Motor Co. *Civics, the science of comparative government * Civic ...

leader and businessman who was later discovered to be the secret criminal leader of a gang of Ohio River pirates and highwaymen in the early 19th century.

Politics

Elected officials

References

External links

Livingston County KY Website
{{authority control Kentucky counties Kentucky counties on the Ohio River Paducah micropolitan area 1798 establishments in Kentucky Populated places established in 1798