Upton is a home rule-class city in Hardin and

LaRue LaRue is a French topographic name for someone who lived beside a road, track, or pathway, Old French ''rue'' (Latin ruga ‘crease’, ‘fold’), with the definite article ''la''. It literally means "the street" in French. It is a surname and s ...

counties 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 ...

. The population was 704 as of the 2020 Census, up from 683 from the 2010 census. Its entire area is included in the Elizabethtown–Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Upton was founded in 1841, and was initially known as "Leesville." It was renamed in 1856 in honor of George Washington Upton, who had helped develop the area as a stop along the

L&N 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 ...

. Upton was one of the targets of

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

John Hunt Morgan John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Br ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Upton was on the

, one of the key north–south railroads for the Union. The train station and nearby bridges were attacked during the day on December 26, 1862. The Union forces were quickly defeated and Morgan took advantage of the telegraph station in Upton to gather intelligence on Union troop disposition. Morgan then left Upton to destroy bridges at nearby Bacon Creek in Bonnieville and on the Nolin River.''L&N Magazine'', 1932, reprinted in the ''Kentucky Explorer'', Volume 23, No.7, January 2009.

Geography

Upton is located on the Hardin County/LaRue County line at (37.462175, -85.895335), near the southeast and southwest corners, respectively, of the two counties. U.S. Route 31W passes through the center of the city and follows the county line. The two-lane highway leads north to

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

and south to Bonnieville. Much of Upton is concentrated around the intersection of US 31W and Kentucky Route 224, which runs westward in the direction of Leitchfield.

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...

runs along Upton's eastern boundary, with access from Exit 76. I-65 leads north to Elizabethtown, the Hardin County seat, and south to Cave City. 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 ...

, Upton has a total area of , of which , or 0.35%, 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 654 people, 283 households, and 189 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 322 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.79%

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 ...

, 0.76%

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%

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 ...

, 0.15% from other races, and 2.14% 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 0.46% of the population. There were 283 households, out of which 24.7% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.86. The age distribution was 22.0% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,250, and the median income for a family was $31,477. Males had a median income of $26,111 versus $19,375 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 $13,886. About 8.3% of families and 14.2% 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 17.5% of those under age 18 and 18.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Hardin County, Kentucky Cities in LaRue County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Elizabethtown metropolitan area