Ravenna is a home rule-class city in Estill 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 ...

, United States. The population was 605 at the 2010 census.

History

The US Federal Census dated 7 Aug,1820 reflects a town located in Estill Co., KY as "Ravenna", but before it was incorporated, Ravenna was known only as "The Village". The

Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of t ...

was responsible for the name of Ravenna, the building of the shops, yard, office building, passenger and freight station, and many other things that were built for the establishment of a railroad terminal in Estill County just east of the county seat,

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

. After the completion of the terminal in 1915, the county decided it would call it "Ravenna", which stems from the word "ravine". It was reported by early railroad officials that an Italian foreman and interpreter, with a construction crew of approximately 60 Italian men building the railroad yards, requested that the railroad officials name the station in honor of his birthplace,

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and it was so granted by the railroad officials in charge of such matters. A thriving village sprang up in 1915, when the railroad started construction of its shops; and five years later in 1920, Ravenna was incorporated as a 6th-class City by the Estill County Circuit Court. In 1924 Ravenna was declared a 5th-class city by an act of the Kentucky State Legislature due to an increase in population. This also entitled them to have a mayor, six councilmen and city clerk, and fire and police departments. By this time in its history, Ravenna had become an almost entirely white city. In 1920, hundreds of "black railroad workers were forced to leave their jobs and their community Ravenna is home of the local VFW Post #8019; a

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

armory that is home to C Company, 1–149th Infantry (M), 149th BDE; and the Estill County Veterans Memorial in Ravenna's Veterans Memorial Park.

Ravenna Tile

In order to express sympathy following the tornado disaster of June 9, 1961, the Italian city of Ravenna donated a design on a glazed tile to Ravenna, Kentucky. A copy of a

Late Antique Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodization has since been wide ...

mosaic from the

Basilica of San Vitale The Basilica of San Vitale is a late antique church in Ravenna, Italy. The sixth-century church is an important surviving example of early Byzantine art and architecture, and its mosaics in particular are some of the most-studied works in Byzan ...

, the tile depicts Roman Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

with Maximianus, Bishop of Ravenna. The tile is displayed at the city hall.

Geography

Ravenna is located near the center of Estill County at (37.685772, −83.951399), in the valley of the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass re ...

. It is bordered to the northwest by the city of

, 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 ...

Kentucky Route 52 Kentucky Route 52 (KY 52) is a east–west state highway in Kentucky, United States, managed by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Its western terminus is at US Route 62 (US 62) near Boston. It goes through Nelson, LaR ...

passes through Ravenna as Main Street and Third Street, leading east and southeast to Beattyville, and leading west to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. 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 ...

, Ravenna has a total area of , all of it land.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Ravenna has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

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 693 people, 301 households, and 207 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 323 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.55%

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 ...

, 0.58%

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 ...

, 0.72% Native American, and 1.15% 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 0.43% of the population. There were 301 households, out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% 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, 15.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.80. In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.5% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males. The median income for a household in the citywas $30,583, and the median income for a family was $33,438. Males had a median income of $25,833 versus $17,813 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 $14,089. About 16.0% of families and 17.6% 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 12.0% of those age 65 or over.

Noted natives

* Kevin Richardson, member of the Backstreet Boys, attended and graduated Ravenna Elementary School

References

{{authority control Cities in Estill County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky