Whitesville is a home rule-class city in Daviess 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 580 as of the 2020 Census, up from 552 as of the 2010 census. It is included in the

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city was founded in 1844 by Dr. William White, and named for him. The current mayor of Whitesville is Patsy Mayfield.

Geography

Whitesville is located in southeastern Daviess County at (37.683181, -86.870587). Kentucky Route 54 passes through the center of town, leading northwest to Owensboro, 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 ...

, and southeast to Leitchfield. 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 ...

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

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 632 people, 250 households, and 175 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 260 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.10%

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 ...

, 0.79%

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 ...

, 0.16% Asian, and 0.95% 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 0.32% of the population. There were 250 households, out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% 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, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,655, and the median income for a family was $28,667. Males had a median income of $31,000 versus $17,917 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 $13,477. About 13.4% of families and 12.8% 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 9.5% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Places of interest

Whitesville is home to Kentucky Motor Speedway, a 3/8 mile short-track facility built in 1960, with an infield figure 8 track crossover added in 1981. Several

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

greats, such as Darrell Waltrip,

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...

, and Jeremy Mayfield, got their start in racing at the speedway. The facility was idle from 2005 to 2008 due to bankruptcy issues, but reopened on April 19, 2009. It was idle again in 2022 and 2023.

Notable people

* Private David P. Nash, Medal of Honor recipient for his service during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Daviess County, Kentucky Cities in Kentucky Owensboro metropolitan area Populated places established in 1844