Stanton is a home rule-class city in and 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 ...

of Powell 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 3,251 in the 2020 census. Stanton is the birthplace of

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse trainer Woody Stephens.

History

The first

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

to be located in present-day Stanton was established on July 7, 1849, and was named Beaver Pond, because of the settlement's proximity to a small body of water resulting from a

beaver dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers; it creates a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, alligators, cougars, foxes, eagles, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify th ...

. In 1852, both the post office and the settlement were renamed Stanton for Richard H. Stanton, who served in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from 1849 to 1855 and later as a

U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-05 In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Stanton (and nearby Clay City) were booming logging centers for Eastern Kentucky. The city was also connected to much of the country by a railroad that went through the city and county. Since then the railroad has been removed. The original train depot still exists and is home to the Powell County Tourism Association.

Geography

Stanton is located at (37.847610, -83.859250). Stanton lies in the floodplain of the Red River. 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 , all land.

Education

Public education in Stanton is administered by Powell County School District. The district operates Bowen Elementary School, Stanton Elementary School, Powell County Middle School, Powell County High School, and Powell County Alternative School. Stanton has a

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a librar ...

, the Powell County Public Library.

Government

Stanton is governed by a Mayor–council form of government. The current mayor is Willie Means. The representative body of the city of Stanton is the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. The council members include: Jenell Brewer, Dixie Lockard, Mark Merriman, Rhonda Roe, Tara Gilbert-Wells, and Tommy Mays.BARR DEFEATS CHANDLER, ROMNEY BEATS OBAMA IN POWELL AND THE STATE , Clay City Times
2012-11-09. Retrieved on 2013-02-11 The Stanton Police Department (SPD) is a 24-hour department. The current Chief of Police is Grant Faulkner. SPD is a fully functioning police department that is involved in multiple facets of the community and other law enforcement agencies in the area including Clay City Police Department, Powell County Sheriffs Office, Kentucky State Police, surrounding county agencies, and federal agencies.

Events

During the first weekend in August, Stanton conducts the annual Corn Festival. The Corn Festival has been a tradition in Stanton since the first festival on August 5–6, 1989. The festival has events such as corn eating contests, talent shows, beauty competitions, car shows, and corn hole tournaments. The festival also includes booths with local artisans exhibiting and selling art. The festival draws around 5,000 people annually. Another event that happens near Stanton is the Powell County Fair in the second week in September. It is held at the local Lion's Club Park (Powell County Fairgrounds). The fair includes many booths of people advertising their businesses and political groups. It also includes a few rides and many events including truck/tractor pulls, greased pig competition and baby pageants.

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 2,733 people, 1,048 households, and 667 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,048 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.5%

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 ...

, 2.4%

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 ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.4% 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 3.1% of the population. There were 1,048 households, out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.0% 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, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 8.9% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.04. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,750, and the median income for a family was $29,781. Males had a median income of $25,081 versus $20,432 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 $13,521. About 19.5% of families and 31.9% 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 29.2% of those under age 18 and 21.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Cities in Powell County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky County seats in Kentucky Populated places established in 1854 1854 establishments in Kentucky