Bracken County
County
Bracken County Courthouse in Brooksville
Bracken County Courthouse in Brooksville
Map of Kentucky highlighting Bracken County
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Map of the United States highlighting Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38°41′N 84°05′W / 38.69°N 84.08°W / 38.69; -84.08
Country United States
State Kentucky
Founded1796
Named forWilliam Bracken
SeatBrooksville
Largest cityAugusta
Area
 • Total209 sq mi (540 km2)
 • Land206 sq mi (530 km2)
 • Water3.3 sq mi (9 km2)  1.6%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total8,400
 • Estimate 
(2022)
8,452 Increase
 • Density40/sq mi (16/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district4th
Websitewww.brackencounty.ky.gov

Bracken County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,400.[1] Its county seat is Brooksville.[2] The county was formed in 1796. Bracken County is included in the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Bracken County was organized as Kentucky's 23rd county in 1796 from parts of Mason and Campbell counties.[3][4] It was named after two creeks, the Big and Little Bracken, which in turn were named for William Bracken, an 18th-century explorer and surveyor who visited the area in 1773.[5] He was later killed by Indians during the Northwest Indian War. The county originally extended to southern Nicholas County, north to the Ohio River, west to the Licking River and east to Dover, Kentucky.[6]

Several early settlers were veterans of the American Revolutionary War, including Captain Abner Howell, who brought his family came from Pennsylvania. He died in Bracken County in 1797.

The county government moved from Augusta to Woodward's Crossing (now Brooksville) in 1833.

Bracken was the birthplace of John Gregg Fee, founder of Berea College and Kentucky's most noted abolitionist. He was a graduate of Augusta College and Lane Theological Seminary. In 1822 Augusta College was founded as the first Methodist college in the world.

Anti-slavery activists in Bracken County played a major role in the movement known as the Underground Railroad. There are several Underground Railroad sites in the Augusta area. A network of citizens sympathetic to escaping slaves helped them cross the Ohio River to nearby Ripley, Ohio and other points north.[7]

Fields at the George Barkley Farm in Bracken County, Kentucky, where Webb and Fore obtained the first white burley seed

Bracken County's economy was largely agricultural. Its chief crops before the Civil War were tobacco and corn. White burley tobacco, a light, adaptable leaf that revolutionized the industry, was first sold at the 1867 St. Louis Fair by the farmer Mr. Webb from Higginsport, Ohio. He had produced it in 1864 from Bracken County seed and developed the type.[8] It became a major product of central Kentucky and central Tennessee.

Agriculture remains vital to the economy, with farms occupying 83.8 percent of the land area in 1982. Commodities include wheat, hay, and milk. Burley tobacco production in 1988 amounted to 5,406,000 pounds. Agricultural receipts in 1986 totaled $19,158,000 (~$43.6 million in 2022).[9]

Historic schools

Augusta:

Brooksville:

  • Saint James Elementary and High School

Germantown:

  • Germantown College

Milford:

Law and government

Judge Executives
  1. Earl Bush (2011–Present)
  2. Gary Riggs (2007–2011)
  3. Leslie Newman (2002–2007)
  4. Dwayne "Pie" Jett (1987–2002)
United States presidential election results for Bracken County, Kentucky[10]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 3,398 80.03% 800 18.84% 48 1.13%
2016 2,711 76.86% 705 19.99% 111 3.15%
2012 2,029 62.78% 1,147 35.49% 56 1.73%
2008 2,066 60.78% 1,241 36.51% 92 2.71%
2004 2,363 65.46% 1,213 33.60% 34 0.94%
2000 2,065 68.40% 888 29.41% 66 2.19%
1996 1,371 50.40% 1,055 38.79% 294 10.81%
1992 1,162 39.63% 1,259 42.94% 511 17.43%
1988 1,630 57.72% 1,176 41.64% 18 0.64%
1984 1,812 60.89% 1,136 38.17% 28 0.94%
1980 1,154 43.65% 1,420 53.71% 70 2.65%
1976 879 35.23% 1,577 63.21% 39 1.56%
1972 1,628 64.30% 873 34.48% 31 1.22%
1968 1,115 40.81% 1,067 39.06% 550 20.13%
1964 861 30.54% 1,958 69.46% 0 0.00%
1960 2,002 60.16% 1,326 39.84% 0 0.00%
1956 1,754 53.54% 1,515 46.25% 7 0.21%
1952 1,690 49.07% 1,753 50.90% 1 0.03%
1948 1,239 39.13% 1,863 58.84% 64 2.02%
1944 1,483 43.40% 1,915 56.04% 19 0.56%
1940 1,551 44.05% 1,961 55.69% 9 0.26%
1936 1,436 41.70% 1,956 56.79% 52 1.51%
1932 1,471 37.52% 2,407 61.39% 43 1.10%
1928 2,820 69.98% 1,201 29.80% 9 0.22%
1924 1,779 51.67% 1,485 43.13% 179 5.20%
1920 1,791 40.09% 2,621 58.66% 56 1.25%
1916 1,082 38.33% 1,676 59.37% 65 2.30%
1912 693 29.18% 1,315 55.37% 367 15.45%

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 209 square miles (540 km2), of which 206 square miles (530 km2) is land and 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2) (1.6%) is water.[11]

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18002,606—
18103,70642.2%
18205,28042.5%
18306,51823.4%
18407,0538.2%
18508,90326.2%
186011,02123.8%
187011,4093.5%
188013,50918.4%
189012,369−8.4%
190012,137−1.9%
191010,308−15.1%
192010,210−1.0%
19309,616−5.8%
19409,389−2.4%
19508,424−10.3%
19607,422−11.9%
19707,227−2.6%
19807,7387.1%
19907,7660.4%
20008,2796.6%
20108,4882.5%
20208,400−1.0%
2022 (est.)8,452[12]0.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[13]
1790-1960[14] 1900-1990[15]
1990-2000[16] 2010-2021[17]

As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 8,279 people, 3,228 households, and 2,346 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 per square mile (16/km2). There were 3,715 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (6.9/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.48% White, 0.62% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. 0.47% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,228 households, out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were married couples living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 23.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,823, and the median income for a family was $40,469. Males had a median income of $31,503 versus $21,139 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,478. About 7.60% of families and 10.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over.

Education

School districts include:[19]

Private schools:

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated Communities

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Census - Geography Profile: Bracken County, Kentucky". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ Collins, Lewis (1882). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2. Collins & Company. p. 26.
  4. ↑ "Bracken County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 34.
  6. ↑ "Bracken County History", Kentucky Historical Society
  7. ↑ "Underground Railroad" Archived September 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Augusta, Kentucky Website
  8. ↑ J.M. Stoddart, Encyclopædia Britannica. American Supplement (Stoddart's Encyclopaedia Americana: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, and Companion to the Encyclopædia Britannica. (9th ed.) and to All Other Encyclopaedias, Volume 1), 1883, pp. 120-123, accessed February 5, 2011
  9. ↑ "Bracken County, KY", Genealogy Inc
  10. ↑ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  11. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  13. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  17. ↑ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  18. ↑ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  19. ↑ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Bracken County, KY" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022. - Text list - For more detailed boundaries of the independent school districts see: "Appendix B: Maps Of Independent School Districts In Operation In FY 2014-FY 2015 Using 2005 Tax District Boundaries – Augusta ISD" (PDF). Research Report No. 415 – Kentucky's Independent School Districts: A Primer. Frankfort, KY: Office of Education Accountability, Legislative Research Commission. September 15, 2015. p. 88 (PDF p. 102). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 10, 2020.

38°41′N 84°05′W / 38.69°N 84.08°W / 38.69; -84.08

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