Powderly is a home rule-class city in

Muhlenberg County Muhlenberg County () is a county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,928. Its county seat is Greenville and its largest city is Central City. History Muhlenberg County was formed in 1798 from ...

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 788 as of the 2020 census.

History

The city developed around a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

opened by the Cooperative Coal Company in 1887. The community was named for Terence Powderly, an early labor leader, when the post office was established the next year.Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names''
p. 241
University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 27 September 2013.

Geography

Powderly is located in central Muhlenberg County at (37.240274, -87.157042). The city is situated along

U.S. Route 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) is an east–west United States Highway in the southern and northeastern United States. It runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian b ...

between Central City to the northeast and Greenville to the southwest.

Kentucky Route 189 Kentucky Route 189 (KY 189) is a state highway in Kentucky that runs from Kentucky Route 507 and Flat Rock Road west of Allegre to U.S. Route 62 northeast of Powderly via Fearsville. Route description KY 189 starts at an i ...

serves as a bypass route around Powderly. 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 , of which , or 2.50%, are water. The city drains south to Caney Creek and north to Little Cypress Creek, both part of the Green River watershed.

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 846 people, 342 households, and 235 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 396 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.10%

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 ...

, 2.96%

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 ...

, 0.24% Native American, and 0.71% 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 0.24% of the population. There were 342 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% 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, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $28,063. Males had a median income of $29,250 versus $16,591 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 $11,705. About 10.3% of families and 15.6% 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 21.5% of those under age 18 and 18.6% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

Muhlenberg County Agriculture and Convention Center

The Convention Center is frequently the site of horse shows,

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

es,

tractor pull Truck and tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a form of a motorsport competition in which antique or modified tractors pull a heavy drag or sled along an , track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the drag the farth ...

s, cattle auctions, and go-kart races. It is also the site for Muhlenberg County's annual

Relay for Life Relay For Life is a community-based walkathon and the largest fundraising event of the American Cancer Society (ACS). Teams of people, varying in size, alternate between walking laps and interacting with other aspects of the fundraiser. Each year ...

event.

Paradise Park

Located near the Muhlenberg County Agriculture and Convention Center on the Highway 189 bypass, Paradise Park is the site of weekly "Pickin' in the Park" events during the months of June through September. Several historic buildings have been moved or constructed in Paradise Park, including: * Coal Mines Shotgun House *

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born in Rosewood, Kentucky, his songs' lyrics were often about the lives and the economic exploitation of Ameri ...

Birthplace - moved to Paradise Park and renovated * Paradise Park Museum - a replica of a 1920s coal mining town * Springridge School - a two-room schoolhouse built in 1935 and moved to the park

Notable native

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

, American character actor best known as

Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane Rosco Purvis Coltrane is a fictional sheriff character who first appeared in the 1975 film '' Moonrunners'', which inspired the creation of the American TV series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (and related spin-off films). In ''Moonrunners'', he was p ...

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Coal towns in Kentucky