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Bellefonte, Kentucky

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Country
  
United States

County
  
Greenup

Time zone
  
Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)

Elevation
  
194 m

Local time
  
Thursday 9:16 AM

State
  
Kentucky

Incorporated
  
July 3, 1951

FIPS code
  
21-05374

Zip code
  
41101

Population
  
882 (2013)

Bellefonte, Kentucky

Weather
  
3°C, Wind W at 14 km/h, 57% Humidity

Area
  
231 ha (228 ha Land / 1 ha Water)

Bellefonte is a 6th-class city in Greenup County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 888 at the 2010 census. Bellefonte is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 287,702.

Contents

Map of Bellefonte, KY 41101, USA

Locally, Bellefonte is known for its upscale neighborhoods and the private Bellefonte Country Club, which has a championship level 18-hole golf course and formal ballroom.

Bellefonte was first incorporated on July 3, 1951, beginning with only 275 residents, and developed in the latter half of the 20th century as a suburb of Ashland. The exclusive nature of the city is evident by its demographic makeup. Within the corporate limits, there are virtually no residents under the poverty line.

Nearby, Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital is named for its location, being just north of Bellefonte in Russell. In 1985, Ashland Inc. relocated its national headquarters from Winchester Avenue in downtown Ashland to a hill in Russell just north of Bellefonte. This ultra-modern business park complex was suitable for any Fortune 100 company such as Ashland, Inc. It comprised four state of the art glass office buildings: an executive building, two general office buildings and a combination warehouse/office building that contained printing presses and other service-type functions such as landscaping, etc. In 1999, the corporation moved to Covington, Kentucky. Ashland, Inc. initially retained the executive office building and the office services building and still occupies the office services building. The other structures, after a brief period as office facilities, were ultimately sold to Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, are known as Bellefonte Centre and Bellefonte Pavilion, and are used for physicians' offices and clinics, hospital business offices, and other hospital services, and are rented to other businesses.

Geography

Bellefonte is located in eastern Greenup County at 38°29′37″N 82°41′18″W (38.493560, -82.688364). It is bordered to the north by the city of Russell and to the southeast by the unincorporated community of Westwood in Boyd County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.89 square miles (2.3 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2), or 0.51%, is water. The city sits on a plateau northwest of Ashland, centered on Kentucky Route 5 and Country Club Drive. Route 5 terminates to the northeast at U.S. Route 23 near the Boyd/Greenup county line, and downtown Ashland is 3 miles (5 km) to the east.

The older section of what would become Bellefonte was laid out in town lots and sold, beginning in 1918 by the Means and Russell Iron Company. It was originally part of the several thousand-acre Wheatley farm. It was named after the iron furnace that was operated there from 1826 to 1893, named the Bellefonte Furnace. Some remnants of the old furnace remain today in Bellefonte, as its hand-cut limestone blocks are used as a retaining wall along Oxcart Road, near the Community Presbyterian Church, which is located on the original site of the iron furnace. The name "Bellefonte" is of French origin, a combination of the words "beautiful" and "fountain". A few of the original log-built dwellings from the 1800s iron furnace settlement remain along Route 5, but have been upgraded to upscale residential homes.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 837 people, 349 households, and 270 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,161.3 people per square mile (448.8/km²). There were 383 housing units at an average density of 531.4 per square mile (205.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.57% White, 0.12% African American, 0.84% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races.

There were 349 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.3% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.1% under the age of 18, 3.8% from 18 to 24, 21.1% from 25 to 44, 31.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $73,333, and the median income for a family was $81,798. Males had a median income of $56,964 versus $40,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $37,813. None of the families and 1.8% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 1.8% of those over 64.

Education

Bellefonte is part of the Russell Independent School District, which also includes the adjacent cities of Russell and Flatwoods. There are, however, no public schools within the city of Bellefonte and the city's children either attend public schools in either Russell or Flatwoods or attend private schools in Ashland or in other locations. Prior to 1993, the district operated Bellefonte Elementary School in the city which served grades K-5. The school was closed as part of the district's elementary school consolidation plan in 1993 and the building was demolished.

References

Bellefonte, Kentucky Wikipedia