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Russell County, Kentucky
Russell County Courthouse, Jamestown
Russell County courthouse in Jamestown
Map of Kentucky highlighting Russell County
Location in the state of Kentucky
Map of the U.S
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded December 14, 1825
Named for William Russell
Seat Jamestown
Largest city Russell Springs
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

283 sq mi (733 km²)
254 sq mi (658 km²)
29 sq mi (75 km²), 10
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

17,991 increase
Congressional district 1st
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.russellcountyky.com

Russell County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Its county seat is Jamestown.[1] The county was formed on December 14, 1825, from portions of Adair, Cumberland and Wayne Counties and is named for William Russell.[2]

In 2015, the cities of Jamestown and Russell Springs became two of the first gigabit Internet communities in Kentucky with the completion of a state-of-the-art optical fiber network by the local telephone cooperative.[3]

Wolf Creek Dam is located in southern Russell County. The dam impounds Cumberland River to form Lake Cumberland, a major tourism attraction for the county. Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery is also located in Russell County just below the dam.

Until relatively recently Russell County was a dry county, meaning that the sale of alcohol was prohibited. It voted to go "wet" in a referendum held on January 19, 2016, by a margin of 3,833 to 3,423 votes.[4][5]

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 283 square miles (730 km2), of which 254 square miles (660 km2) is land and 29 square miles (75 km2) (10%) is water.[6] The highest point is 1,140 feet (350 m) atop Dickerson Ridge in the extreme northern part of the county and the lowest point is 530 feet (160 m) along the Cumberland River.

Major highways[]

  • Cumberland Parkway
  • U.S. Route 127 in Kentucky
  • Kentucky Route 80

Adjacent counties[]

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1830 3,879
1840 4,238 9.3%
1850 5,349 26.2%
1860 6,024 12.6%
1870 5,809 −3.6%
1880 7,591 30.7%
1890 8,136 7.2%
1900 9,695 19.2%
1910 10,861 12.0%
1920 11,854 9.1%
1930 11,930 0.6%
1940 13,615 14.1%
1950 13,717 0.7%
1960 11,076 −19.3%
1970 10,542 −4.8%
1980 13,708 30.0%
1990 14,716 7.4%
2000 16,315 10.9%
2010 17,565 7.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790–1960[8] 1900–1990[9]
1990–2000[10] 2010–2020[11]

As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 16,315 people, 6,941 households, and 4,796 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 per square mile (25 /km2). There were 9,064 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile (14 /km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.34% White, 0.58% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.86% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,941 households, out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 10.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.50% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 25.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $22,042, and the median income for a family was $27,803. Males had a median income of $24,193 versus $18,289 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,183. About 20.40% of families and 24.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.80% of those under age 18 and 27.30% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[]

Russell County is part of the historically and currently rock-ribbed Republican bloc of southeastern Kentucky that also includes such counties as Clinton, Cumberland, Casey, Pulaski, Laurel, Rockcastle, Monroe, McCreary, Clay, Jackson, Owsley and Leslie. These counties were opposed to secession during the Civil War era, and consequently became and have remained intensely Republican ever since.[13] The last Democrat to win Russell County was Grover Cleveland in 1884, and the last Republican to not gain a majority was William Howard Taft in 1912 when his party was divided.

United States presidential election results for Russell County, Kentucky[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 7,519 83.96% 1,331 14.86% 105 1.17%
2016 6,863 83.96% 1,093 13.37% 218 2.67%
2012 6,346 80.24% 1,445 18.27% 118 1.49%
2008 5,779 77.31% 1,569 20.99% 127 1.70%
2004 6,009 76.83% 1,772 22.66% 40 0.51%
2000 5,268 74.47% 1,710 24.17% 96 1.36%
1996 4,017 62.22% 1,582 24.50% 857 13.27%
1992 4,641 63.71% 1,950 26.77% 694 9.53%
1988 4,292 74.29% 1,455 25.19% 30 0.52%
1984 4,476 75.18% 1,448 24.32% 30 0.50%
1980 3,804 68.66% 1,693 30.56% 43 0.78%
1976 2,882 60.90% 1,803 38.10% 47 0.99%
1972 3,992 76.48% 1,169 22.39% 59 1.13%
1968 3,035 64.29% 961 20.36% 725 15.36%
1964 2,521 59.00% 1,729 40.46% 23 0.54%
1960 3,636 74.72% 1,230 25.28% 0 0.00%
1956 3,065 70.33% 1,284 29.46% 9 0.21%
1952 2,913 71.14% 1,171 28.60% 11 0.27%
1948 2,404 66.21% 1,191 32.80% 36 0.99%
1944 3,019 71.56% 1,185 28.09% 15 0.36%
1940 3,069 70.81% 1,250 28.84% 15 0.35%
1936 2,688 68.21% 1,235 31.34% 18 0.46%
1932 2,490 59.06% 1,699 40.30% 27 0.64%
1928 3,028 78.45% 823 21.32% 9 0.23%
1924 2,278 64.61% 1,224 34.71% 24 0.68%
1920 2,587 68.97% 1,157 30.85% 7 0.19%
1916 1,298 59.38% 859 39.30% 29 1.33%
1912 785 43.32% 713 39.35% 314 17.33%
1908 1,255 60.05% 739 35.36% 96 4.59%
1904 1,079 59.25% 671 36.85% 71 3.90%
1900 1,206 60.42% 780 39.08% 10 0.50%
1896 1,038 60.95% 612 35.94% 53 3.11%
1892 765 51.97% 646 43.89% 61 4.14%
1888 804 52.83% 697 45.80% 21 1.38%
1884 472 45.87% 530 51.51% 27 2.62%
1880 366 35.19% 531 51.06% 143 13.75%



Communities[]

  • Creelsboro
  • Jamestown (county seat)
  • Russell Springs

Notable people[]

  • Tara Conner, Miss Kentucky USA 2006, Miss USA 2006
  • Vernie McGaha, Former Kentucky State Senator
  • Doug Moseley, later a Kentucky state senator, was pastor of the Russell Springs First United Methodist Church from 1958 to 1960
  • Steve Wariner, country music singer and songwriter. Kentucky State Route 80 is named in his honor.
  • Jeff Hoover, Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, elected Speaker in late 2016.

See also[]

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

References[]

  1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  2. ^ "Russell County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. http://www.kyenc.org/entry/r/RUSSE03.html. 
  3. ^ "DUO Broadband". https://duocounty.com/news-information/25-jamestown-russell-springs-columbia-among-first-in-kentucky-to-be-gigabit-internet-communities. 
  4. ^ The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 36. https://books.google.com/books?id=luoxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA36. 
  5. ^ "Home". http://www.russellcountynewspapers.com/editionviewer/?Edition=b7e46efc-0b0d-401a-84c6-1badcd7e9a8d. 
  6. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_21.txt. 
  7. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  8. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  9. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ky190090.txt. 
  10. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  11. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/21/21207.html. 
  12. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  13. ^ Sullivan, Robert David; "How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century"; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  14. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

External links[]

Coordinates: 36°59′N 85°04′W / 36.99, -85.06


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Russell County, Kentucky. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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