Bracken County, Kentucky

Bracken County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,488.[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.

Bracken County
U.S. county
Bracken County Courthouse in Brooksville
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38°41′N 84°05′W
Country United States
State Kentucky
Founded1796
Named forMatthew Bracken
SeatBrooksville
Largest cityAugusta
Area
 • Total209 sq mi (540 km2)
 • Land206 sq mi (530 km2)
 • Water3.3 sq mi (9 km2)  1.6%%
Population
 • Estimate 
(2018)
8,239
 • Density41/sq mi (16/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district4th
Websitewww.brackencounty.ky.gov

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 Matthew 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]

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.[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)
Presidential elections results
Presidential elections results[10]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 76.9% 2,711 20.0% 705 3.2% 111
2012 62.8% 2,029 35.5% 1,147 1.7% 56
2008 60.8% 2,066 36.5% 1,241 2.7% 92
2004 65.5% 2,363 33.6% 1,213 0.9% 34
2000 68.4% 2,065 29.4% 888 2.2% 66
1996 50.4% 1,371 38.8% 1,055 10.8% 294
1992 39.6% 1,162 42.9% 1,259 17.4% 511
1988 57.7% 1,630 41.6% 1,176 0.6% 18
1984 60.9% 1,812 38.2% 1,136 0.9% 28
1980 43.7% 1,154 53.7% 1,420 2.7% 70
1976 35.2% 879 63.2% 1,577 1.6% 39
1972 64.3% 1,628 34.5% 873 1.2% 31
1968 40.8% 1,115 39.1% 1,067 20.1% 550
1964 30.5% 861 69.5% 1,958 0.0% 0
1960 60.2% 2,002 39.8% 1,326 0.0% 0
1956 53.5% 1,754 46.3% 1,515 0.2% 7
1952 49.1% 1,690 50.9% 1,753 0.0% 1
1948 39.1% 1,239 58.8% 1,863 2.0% 64
1944 43.4% 1,483 56.0% 1,915 0.6% 19
1940 44.1% 1,551 55.7% 1,961 0.3% 9
1936 41.7% 1,436 56.8% 1,956 1.5% 52
1932 37.5% 1,471 61.4% 2,407 1.1% 43
1928 70.0% 2,820 29.8% 1,201 0.2% 9
1924 51.7% 1,779 43.1% 1,485 5.2% 179
1920 40.1% 1,791 58.7% 2,621 1.3% 56
1916 38.3% 1,082 59.4% 1,676 2.3% 65
1912 29.2% 693 55.4% 1,315 15.5% 367

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.%±
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%
2018 (est.)8,239[12]−2.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[13]
1790-1960[14] 1900-1990[15]
1990-2000[16] 2010-2013[1]

As of the census[17] 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

Communities

Notable residents

See also

References
  1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  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. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  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. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  17. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.

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