Wurtland is a home rule-class city in

Greenup County, Kentucky Greenup County is a county located along the Ohio River in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,962. The county was founded in 1803 and named in honor of Christopher Greenup. Its c ...

, United States, 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 population was 983 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area The Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in the Appalachian Plateau region of the United States. Referred to locally as the "Tri-state area, Tri-State area," and colloquially as "Kyova" (Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia), ...

. The northern terminus of the Industrial Parkway ( Kentucky Route 67) is at U.S. Route 23 in Wurtland. This highway serves to connect Wurtland and the surrounding towns of Greenup and

Flatwoods Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine–wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an ecological community in the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fir ...

to the

EastPark EastPark is a 1000-acre (4 km2) industrial park located in the state of Kentucky, United States, at the junction of Boyd, Greenup, and Carter counties, although most of the park resides in Greenup County. The park is operated by the Northea ...

industrial park and

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

, south of Wurtland.

History

The Wurtland vicinity was first settled by Alexander Fulton and his family ''circa'' 1830. The Fultons then established the Fulton's Forge Works, and the community became known as "Fulton's Forge". In 1823, William Shreve and his family had built a steam furnace nearby, and they named their settlement (the) "Old Steam Furnace". Because neither of the settlements had an acceptable name for a

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 ...

, the post office was named "Oil Works" after a local factory that made

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

. Although the Oil Works post office was established on January 14, 1864, it was closed in 1871. On February 28, 1876, the post office was reestablished as "Wurtland", named after George and Samuel Grandin Wurts who had founded the nearby Pennsylvania and Laurel Furnaces in 1848. Retrieved on 2010-04-17

Geography

Wurtland is located in eastern Greenup County at (38.549327, -82.774749), on the south bank of the

. It is bordered to the east by the cities of Worthington and Raceland, and Greenup, 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 ...

, is to the west. Directly across the river is Hamilton Township in

Lawrence County, Ohio Lawrence County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,240. Its county seat is Ironton. The county was created in 1815 and later organized in 1817. It is named for James Lawrence, t ...

. 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 ...

, Wurtland has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.23%, 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 1,049 people, 400 households, and 290 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 436 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.43%

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 ...

, 0.19%

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 ...

, 0.19% Native American, and 0.19% from two or more races. There were 400 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% 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, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.82. In the city the population was spread out, with 18.5% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 26.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $25,724, and the median income for a family was $34,063. Males had a median income of $35,104 versus $18,523 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 $15,122. About 12.7% of families and 13.9% 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 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Wurtland is governed by a city commission form of government. Its current

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

is Bobby Reynolds. The city commission consists of a panel of four members.

Policing

The city of Wurtland currently contracts primary police service with the neighboring city of Raceland. Wurtland previously maintained its own police department prior to 2013 which was dissolved due to budget cuts. Wurtland's other neighboring cities, Greenup and Worthington, provide mutual aid assistance to the Raceland Police within the city of Wurtland.Wurtland Dissolving Police Department
/ref> In addition, the Greenup County Sheriff's Department and the

Kentucky State Police The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is a department of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the official State Police force of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The department was founded in 1948 ...

maintain concurrent jurisdiction within the city and assist with policing as needed.

References

External links

Ashland Alliance
regional chamber of commerce {{authority control Cities in Greenup County, Kentucky Populated places established in 1970 Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River Cities in Kentucky