Calvert City, Kentucky

History

Calvert City was named for Potilla Willis Calvert. He built his home, Oak Hill, in 1860 and around a decade later gave a portion of his land to a new railroad, specifying that a station be built near his home. That station served as the starting point of the town, which was incorporated on March 18, 1871. The railroad station and post office long favored the shorter Calvert, but the Board on Geographic Names reversed its earlier decision in 1957 and switched to the longer form.

During the Ohio River flood of 1937, Calvert City's business district and much of the residential area was severely damaged by floodwaters.

In the 1940s, the construction of nearby Kentucky Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority brought plentiful electric power that led to many industrial plants, mostly chemical manufacturers, to locate between the city and the Tennessee River. Merchant Luther Draffen was instrumental in attracting the dam and industrial plants.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.9 square miles (36.1 km²), of which 13.9 square miles (35.9 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.1 km²) (0.36%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,701 people, 1,141 households, and 787 families residing in the city. The population density was 194.5 people per square mile (75.1/km²). There were 1,203 housing units at an average density of 86.6 per square mile (33.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.00% White, 0.26% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population.

There were 1,141 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.76.

The age distribution was 21.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,107, and the median income for a family was $48,098. Males had a median income of $43,464 versus $23,403 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,473. About 4.5% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Calvert City has 16 industrial plants that are a key source of employment for Western Kentucky. The majority are chemical manufacturers with some steel and metallurgical plants and industrial services firms.

Arts and culture

Government

Calvert City has a mayor-council form of government, as allowed by its standing as a fourth-class city under Kentucky's system of local government classification.

Despite being in an otherwise dry county, sales by the drink in restaurants seating at least 100 diners are allowed after a 2004 local option election.

Newspaper

Radio

Transportation

Calvert City is a hub for surface transportation. The city is the northern terminus of the Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway, providing a link to Memphis, Tennessee. The city is skirted on the south by Interstate 24, linking Calvert City to Nashville and St. Louis, and, via the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway, Louisville and Lexington. The city has rail access through the Paducah and Louisville Railway main line and is a commercial port on the Tennessee River.