Henderson County, Kentucky

The Transylvania Co., also known as Richard Henderson & Co., in 1775 purchased from the Cherokees a large swath of wilderness between the Kentucky River and Cumberland River, encompassing approximately half of what would become Kentucky as well as a portion of northern Tennessee. Their intention was to establish a 14th colony to be called Transylvania Colony. To help attract people to purchase land and populate the region, Henderson & Co. hired pioneer, explorer, woodsman, and frontiersman Daniel Boone to lead settlers through Cumberland Gap and direct woodsmen to cut the Wilderness Road through the Kentucky forest. However, the Continental Congress declined to act on Transylvania Co.'s petition without the consent of Virginia and North Carolina, which laid claim to the disputed lands.

In December 1778, Virginia's Assembly finally declared the Transylvania claim void. In compensation, Henderson and his partners received a grant of 12 square miles (31 km²) on the Ohio River below the mouth of Green River. In 1797, the surviving Transylvania Co. investors and heirs directed Samuel Hopkins (congressman), a Revolutionary War colonel, and a surveyor to the Henderson Grant land to lay out a town and mark off land for the respective investors. Hopkins and his surveyor selected a site called Red Banks, Kentucky that sat high above the Ohio River. The town was named Henderson.[5]

Henderson County was established in 1798, using land taken from Christian County.[6]

During the 19th century, a cultivar of dark tobacco raised in Henderson County became very popular in Great Britain and continental Europe. Henderson became the largest dark-tobacco market in the world, generating considerable wealth in Henderson County. Around 1880, Henderson had 17 stemmeries in the city and 18 in the county. Stemmeries were where tobacco was stripped from its stem and made ready for use. [7] However, tobacco production in Henderson County declined through the 20th century and early 21st century, with few farmers still raising the labor-intensive crop. [8]

A peninsula across the Ohio from Henderson, which now forms Union Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, was the subject of Handly's Lessee v. Anthony, a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1820.[9] An area known as "Green River Island" is part of Kentucky, even though it is on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. The Ellis Park Race Course is located there.

A workplace shooting occurred at an Atlantis Plastics factory in Henderson, Kentucky, United States on June 25, 2008. The gunman, 25-year-old Wesley Neal Higdon, shot and killed five people and critically injured a sixth, before taking his own life.[10] The mass murder is the worst in the history of Henderson County, surpassing the triple homicides that took place in 1799 and 1955.[11]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 466 square miles (1,210 km²), of which 437 square miles (1,130 km²) is land and 30 square miles (78 km²) (6.4%) is water.[12] The county's northern border with Indiana is mostly formed by the Ohio River, though some of the county lies north of the river.

As of the census[18] of 2000, there were 44,829 people, 18,095 households, and 12,576 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 per square mile (39/km²). There were 19,466 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile (17/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.16% White, 7.10% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population.

There were 18,095 households, out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.40% were married couples living together, 11.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 26.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.60% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 30.00% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,892, and the median income for a family was $44,703. Males had a median income of $33,838 versus $22,572 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,470. About 9.70% of families and 12.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 10.10% of those age 65 or over.

• Happy Chandler, 44th and 49th governor of Kentucky; and Commissioner of Baseball from 1945 to 1951. Chandler was born in the farming community of Corydon, Kentucky, in 1898.
• John James Audubon, who went on to fame as an ornithologist, painter and naturalist, lived in Henderson with his young family from 1810 to 1819. John James Audubon State Park, located on the north side of Henderson, is named in his memory.
• W. C. Handy, a musician and composer who became known as the Father of the Blues, lived in Henderson during the 1890s, performing in bands. Handy met his future wife, Elizabeth Price, while performing at a barbecue in Henderson. The annual W. C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival, a free event presented in mid-June and launched in 1990, is named in his memory.
• Ewing Galloway, a journalist and one-time county prosecutor, was born in Little Dixie, Kentucky, 1880. He in 1920 founded the Ewing Galloway Agency in New York City, a stock photography agency. By the time of his death 33 years later, his catalog of photos had grown to 400,000 images. Although most, if not all, of the photographs were either purchased from other agencies or shot by employees, the name "Ewing Galloway" appeared beside photos that appeared in books, encyclopedias, schoolbooks and magazine, making his name world-famous. .[19]
• Kentucky clergyman and university president LaVerne Butler was born in Henderson County in 1926.[20]
• Country entertainer Grandpa Jones, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, was born in 1913 in the small farming community of Niagara, Kentucky.
• Marine Corporal Luther Skaggs Jr., Medal of Honor recipient for his service during World War II, was born in Henderson, Kentucky, in 1923.
• Command Sergeant Major Gary L. Littrell, Medal of Honor recipient for his service during the Vietnam War, was born in Henderson in 1944.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Henderson County, Kentucky