Warsaw 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 Gallatin 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 United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located along 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 ...

. The name was suggested by a riverboat captain, who was reading '' Thaddeus of Warsaw'', by Jane Porter, when the city was being founded. The city had a population of 1,615 at the 2010 census, down from 1,811 at the 2000 census.

History

Warsaw began as a landing on the

in 1798 called "Great Landing". In 1805, founder Colonel Robert Johnson surveyed and built a road from this landing to his former home in

Scott County, Kentucky Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington-Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and ...

. The landing soon became a busy shipping port. In 1814, Colonel Johnson and Henry Yates purchased to establish a river town to be named "Fredericksburg", after Johnson's hometown in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. By 1815, the town plot was complete. The town extended from the river to Market Street and included 172 numbered lots, each . In 1831, the town was renamed as "Warsaw", as the US Postal Service did not want it to have the same name as the Virginia city. The post office was established July 18, 1832, with W.F. Clinton as postmaster. In 1837, the Gallatin County seat was moved from Port William (now Carrollton) to Warsaw. The courthouse is now the oldest operating one in the state. The oldest home in Warsaw is the Henry Yates House, a home built of log construction circa 1809. On December 4, 1868, 80 people died in the Ohio River steamboat collision of the ''United States'' and the ''America'' near Warsaw. The Warsaw Historic District was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. It is roughly bounded by W. High, E. Franklin, Washington, Market, Main, 3rd, 4th and Cross streets. It features

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

and

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Geography

Warsaw is located in north-central Gallatin County, along the south bank of the Ohio River. Across the river is the unincorporated community of

Florence, Indiana Florence is an unincorporated census-designated place in York Township, Switzerland County, Indiana, York Township, Switzerland County, Indiana, Switzerland County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History The community was laid out in 1817 under t ...

; the closest river crossing is the Markland Dam Bridge, to the west (downstream). U.S. Route 42 passes through the center of town, leading northeast to Covington and southwest along the Ohio River to Carrollton. Kentucky Route 35 leads south from Warsaw to

Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...

and the

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

. 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 ...

, Warsaw has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.47%, is 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 1,811 people, 737 households, and 451 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 830 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.88%

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 ...

, 4.86%

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 ...

, 0.11% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.39% from other races, and 1.27% 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 1.27% of the population. There were 737 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% 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, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% were non-families. 33.6% 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 2.31 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,179, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $30,174 versus $18,164 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 $15,340. About 16.8% of families and 20.3% 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 23.7% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education in Warsaw is administered by Gallatin County Schools, which operates Gallatin County High School. Warsaw 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 Gallatin County Public Library.

Notable people

* Eva Craig Graves Doughty, journalist. * Lucy Montz was the first woman in Kentucky to practice

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...

. * Carlotta Thompkins was born in 1844 in Warsaw. She later became one of the most well-known gamblers in the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

. * Richard Yates (1815–1873), served as the 13th

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

from 1861 to 1865.

References

External links

City of Warsaw official website

Northern Kentucky Views

KY GenWeb Gallatin County Kentucky History & Genealogy, a Repository Collection site
{{authority control Cities in Gallatin County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River County seats in Kentucky 1798 establishments in Kentucky