Versailles, Kentucky

History

Versailles was founded on June 23, 1792, on 80 acres (320,000 m²) of land owned by Hezekiah Briscoe, at the time only a child. His guardian, Major Marquis Calmes, named the town after Versailles, France, in honor of General Lafayette, a family friend. In the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, which became known for its thoroughbred horses and other livestock, the city was officially incorporated on February 13, 1837. It was briefly occupied during the American Civil War by both Confederate and Union forces.

Economy

In the Inner Bluegrass Region, the area is a center for horse breeding and training, for thoroughbred and standardbred racehorses, and saddlebred pleasure horses.

Thoroughbred farms include

Standardbred farms include Brittany Farms. Lenore Farms is for Saddlebred horses.

The Woodford Reserve Distillery, a station on the Bourbon Trail, is located here.

Film industry

Most of the small-town scenes in the movie Elizabethtown (film) (2005) locations were filmed here. Versailles was also the setting of the movie Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005). The cemetery scene in the film, Secretariat (2010) about one of Kentucky's major horses, was filmed at Pisgah Pike Church. The Flim-Flam Man (1967) was filmed at several locations near Versailles, of them. The opening sequence was filmed at Paynes Depot and a car chase was filmed on Clifton Rd.Flim-Flam Man filming locations

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,511 people, 3,160 households, and 2,110 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,668.7 per square mile (1,030.4/km²). There were 3,330 housing units at an average density of 1,183.2 per square mile (456.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.18% White, 0.67% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.34% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.29% of the population.

There were 3,160 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89.

23.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was US $35,052, and the median income for a family was $41,567. Males had a median income of $31,056 versus $24,488 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,489. About 11.1% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.0% of those under age 18 and 20.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people