Mortons Gap is a home rule-class city in Hopkins 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 728 at the 2020 census, down from 863 at the 2010 census.

Name

The city is named after

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 ...

native, Thomas Morton, who settled the area in 1804 with his wife Elizabeth (maiden name Davis), and children. The city is now spelled without an apostrophe by the city, the state land office, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The eponymous gap is now traversed by

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miam ...

Geography

Mortons Gap is located in southeastern Hopkins County at (37.238098, -87.473484). Via U.S. 41 it is south of Madisonville, the

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 ...

, and north of Nortonville.

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 ...

passes east of Mortons Gap, with access from Exit 37, an area which has recently been annexed by the city. I-69 leads north past Madisonville to Henderson and south to the

Western Kentucky Parkway The Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway is a controlled-access highway, freeway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown to near Nortonville, Kentucky. It intersects with Interstate 65 in Kentucky, Interstate 65 (I-65) at its e ...

Hopkinsville Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 31,180. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 ...

is south of Mortons Gap via I-69 and the

Pennyrile Parkway The Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway was the designation for a freeway from Henderson to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The parkway originally began at an interchange with the Audubon Parkway and US 41 near the city of Henderson. It travelled s ...

. 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 of Mortons Gap has a total area of , of which , or 0.63%, are water.

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 952 people, 396 households, and 283 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 447 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.59%

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 ...

, 3.26%

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% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.74% 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 0.21% of the population. There were 396 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% 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, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.87. In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,031, and the median income for a family was $34,276. Males had a median income of $28,333 versus $17,105 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 $13,875. About 10.9% of families and 13.9% 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 18.4% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

The Home of Thomas Morton

When Thomas Morton and his young family settled the area in 1804, Thomas bought a large quantity of land in the vicinity of what is now Mortons Gap and built a brick house, the first of Hopkins County,

. This lovely home stood for another 132 years until it was finally destroyed by fire on September 16, 1936. The former Morton home would soon be occupied by the Mortons Gap school, and many decades later it is now home to the Vineyard Worship Center. This historic site is located at 37.24018428546551, -87.47409897503029. Thomas Morton died 8 May 1845 in Mortons Gap, and is buried in the Old Morton Cemetery which is also located in Mortons Gap. A deed dated 15 April 1848 in Hopkins County, Kentucky indicates Thomas Morton owned land on Flat Creek in Mortons Gap. This deed also indicates said land on Flat Creek was distributed to his heirs.

Local schools

In 1936, after the former Morton home was destroyed by fire, the community had the Mortons Gap school built in its location. This school housed a high school until the high school's consolidation to South Hopkins High School in 1955. An elementary and middle school continued to be served at the same location, until the elementary school was consolidated to form Southside Elementary School and the middle school to form South Hopkins Middle School in the mid-1990s. The former school has been renovated and serves the community as a church.

References

{{authority control Cities in Kentucky Cities in Hopkins County, Kentucky Populated places established in 1804 1804 establishments in Kentucky