Greenup County, Kentucky

History

Greenup County was formed by an act of the General Assembly of Kentucky on December 12, 1803 from Mason County which covered the majority of eastern Kentucky at the time.

Three courthouses have served Greenup County. The first courthouse, built of logs, was replaced by a brick structure in 1811.

Law and government

The current officials of Greenup County are:

Greenup County is a part of the 20th Judicial Circuit (general jurisdiction) and the 20th Judicial District (limited jurisdiction) of the Kentucky Court of Justice (the state's unified court system), which also includes neighboring Lewis County. The officials in the 20th Judicial Circuit are:

The judge in the 20th Judicial District is:

Misdemeanor criminal cases brought in District Court are prosecuted by the County Attorney's office.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 354 square miles (920 km²), of which 344 square miles (890 km²) is land and 10 square miles (26 km²) (2.8%) is water.

Features

Like most eastern Kentucky counties, Greenup County is predominantly made up of rolling hills and valleys. The land in the Ohio River valley is generally flat and mostly populated by industry, commerce and residential development. Beyond this the land gives way to a series of hills and valleys that are representative of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and is relatively sparsely inhabited by farmers. Among these hills, popular fishing spots can be found among the Little Sandy River, Greenbo Lake, and Tygarts Creek. Greenup County's land is still predominantly covered by forest with minimal clear cutting of the old forests.

Greenup County's soil has long been supportive of a healthy agriculture and livestock industry. Traditionally, this has meant a sizeable tobacco base and cattle ranching, but in recent years, as traditional agriculture products have come under the dominance of agri-corporations, growth has been seen in non-traditional products such as American Quarter Horses, ostriches, and marijuana.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 23 is the primary route for travel through Greenup County. It enters Greenup County at the southeastern most point and follows the Ohio River north along the eastern border passing through Russell, Flatwoods, Raceland, Wurtland, Greenup and South Shore. It then exits just west of South Shore crossing the Ohio River via the U.S. Grant Bridge into Portsmouth, Ohio and continuing north towards Columbus, Ohio.

The AA Highway begins at U.S. Highway 23 and connects to U.S. Highway 52 in Ohio via the Jesse Stuart Memorial Bridge. The AA Highway (also known as Route 10) runs west intersecting Route 7 and eventually exiting west into Lewis County. Since its completion in 1995, the AA Highway has allowed Northeastern Kentucky residents to more easily travel to Maysville, Kentucky as well as Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.

The northern terminus of the Industrial Parkway (Kentucky Route 67) ends at U.S. Highway 23 at Wurtland. This highway serves to connect Wurtland and the surrounding towns of Greenup, Flatwoods and the unincorporated area of Argillite to the EastPark industrial park and Interstate 64 in Carter County.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 36,891 people, 14,536 households, and 11,032 families residing in the county. The population density was 107 per square mile (41/km²). There were 15,977 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.07% White, 0.57% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.15% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. 0.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 14,536 households out of which 32.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.30% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.10% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.60% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,142, and the median income for a family was $38,928. Males had a median income of $35,475 versus $21,198 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,137. About 11.60% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.60% of those under age 18 and 9.90% of those age 65 or over.

Public school districts

Places of interest

Alcohol sales

Greenup County is a moist county, meaning that sale of alcohol in the county is prohibited except in certain areas as voted on by the residents of the area, including at least one area where full retail sales are permitted. In the case of Greenup County, alcohol sales are permitted in two areas:

Notable residents