Mason 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 17,120. 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 Maysville. The county was created from Bourbon County, Virginia in 1788 and named for

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

, a Virginia delegate to the

U.S. Constitutional Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights". Mason County comprises the Maysville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

- Wilmington-Maysville, OH-KY- IN Combined Statistical Area.

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 (2.6%) is water. The county's northern border with

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

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

Brown County, Ohio Brown County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 43,676. The county seat is Georgetown. The county was created in 1818 and is named for Major General Jacob Brown, an officer in th ...

(north) *

Adams County, Ohio Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,477. Its county seat and largest village is West Union. The county is named after John Adams, the second President of the United States. Geogr ...

(northeast) * Lewis County (east) * Fleming County (south) * Robertson County (southwest) * Bracken 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 16,800 people, 6,847 households, and 4,697 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 7,754 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.88%

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 ...

, 7.16%

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 ...

, 0.15% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.57% from other races, and 0.85% from two or more races. 0.95% 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 6,847 households, out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% 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, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.40% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.92. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,195, and the median income for a family was $37,257. Males had a median income of $30,718 versus $21,216 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 $16,589. About 12.90% of families and 16.80% 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 23.60% of those under age 18 and 13.70% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

* Germantown * Maysville *

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

Census-designated place

* Mays Lick

Other unincorporated places

* Fernleaf *

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

* Lewisburg *

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

* Old Washington * Orangeburg * Shannon *

Somo Joseph Anthony Somers-Morales (born September 11, 1987), known professionally as SoMo, is an American singer and songwriter. Career In 2009, SoMo started recording covers in Denton, Texas. A successful 2011 mash-up of Drake's ''Take Care'' le ...

* Weedonia

Politics

Mason County was at the time of the Civil War the easternmost of the strongly secessionist Bluegrass bloc. Mason was in fact the most easterly Kentucky county to be represented at the

Russellville Convention The Confederate government of Kentucky was a shadow government established for the Commonwealth of Kentucky by a self-constituted group of Confederate sympathizers and delegates sent by Kentucky counties, during the American Civil War. The ...

of 1861 to discuss the secession of Kentucky from the Union. Mason County's secessionist sentiment meant that it voted Democratic consistently up until the 1950s, with the exception of the 1928 election when strong local anti-Catholic sentiment against

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

allowed Herbert Hoover to carry the county. Since 1996 the county has shifted more strongly Republican in US presidential elections.

Elected officials

Education

Mason County Schools operates public schools. Schools: *

Mason County High School Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

* Mason County Middle School * Mason County Intermediate School * Straub Elementary School In 1990 the Maysville Independent School District merged into the Mason County school district.

Notable residents

Joshua Bean Joshua H. Bean (c. 1818 – November 7, 1852) was an American political figure. Joshua Bean was born c. 1818 in Mason County, Kentucky, to Phantly Roy Bean and his wife Anna Gore. His paternal grandparents were Benjamin Bean and his wife Fernet ...

, first

mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

(1850–1851). *

Albert Sidney Johnston General officer, General Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was an American military officer who served as a general officer in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States ...

, Commander of the Army of the Republic of Texas, Secretary of War for Texas, Commander of the Western Department for the Confederacy. Died at the Battle of Shiloh. *

Judge Roy Bean Phantly Roy Bean Jr. (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos". According to legend, he held court in his saloon along ...

, Famous "Hanging Judge" of Texas (Law West of the Pecos). * Deron Feldhaus, member of "The Unforgettables". *

Chris Lofton Christopher Franklin Lofton (born March 27, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the University of Tennessee Volunteers. High school Chris Lofton is from Maysville, Kentucky, where he le ...

, Played basketball for the University of Tennessee. 2003 Ky. "Mr. Basketball". *

Darius Miller Darius Tiyon Miller (born March 21, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and finished his senior season by winning the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament ...

, Played basketball for University of Kentucky. 2012 NCAA Champion, 2008 Ky. "Mr. Basketball." Played for the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

References

External links

Mason County government's website

Historical Texts and Images of Mason County

Mason County school district's website
{{authority control Kentucky counties Kentucky counties on the Ohio River Maysville, Kentucky micropolitan area 1788 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1788 Former counties of Virginia