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Wolfe County, Kentucky
Wolfe County, Kentucky courthouse
Wolfe County courthouse in Campton
Map of Kentucky highlighting Wolfe County
Location in the state of Kentucky
Map of the U.S
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded 1860
Named for The Wolfe family out of Western North Carolina
Seat Campton
Largest city Campton
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

223 sq mi (578 km²)
222 sq mi (575 km²)
0.6 sq mi (2 km²), 0.3
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

6,562 decrease
Congressional district 6th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Wolfe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,562.[1] Its county seat is Campton.[2] The county is named for Nathaniel Wolfe.

History[]

Wolfe County was formed on March 5, 1860, from portions of Breathitt County, Morgan County, Owsley County and Powell County. It was named for Nathaneal Wolfe, a member of the legislative assembly.[3]

Campton, the county's seat was reportedly formed from camp town in Wolfe County. A small creek winding through Campton, Swift Creek, is named after Jonathan Swift of the legend of Swift's silver mine. Swift supposedly buried treasure in the area which has never been recovered.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 223 square miles (580 km2), of which 222 square miles (570 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) (0.3%) is water.[4]

Adjacent counties[]

National protected area[]

  • Daniel Boone National Forest (part)

State protected area[]

  • Natural Bridge State Resort Park, home to Torrent falls

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1870 3,603
1880 5,638 56.5%
1890 7,180 27.4%
1900 8,764 22.1%
1910 9,864 12.6%
1920 8,783 −11.0%
1930 8,425 −4.1%
1940 9,997 18.7%
1950 7,615 −23.8%
1960 6,534 −14.2%
1970 5,669 −13.2%
1980 6,698 18.2%
1990 6,503 −2.9%
2000 7,065 8.6%
2010 7,355 4.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]
1790-1960[6] 1900-1990[7]
1990-2000[8] 2010-2020[1]

As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 7,065 people, 2,816 households, and 1,976 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 per square mile (12 /km2). There were 3,264 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (5.8 /km2). The racial makeup of the county was 99.24% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.06% from other races, and 0.33% from two or more races. 0.51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,816 households, out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.30% were married couples living together, 12.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.80% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.90% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $19,310, and the median income for a family was $23,333. Males had a median income of $23,859 versus $18,952 for females. The per capita income for the county was $10,321. About 29.90% of families and 35.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.20% of those under age 18 and 26.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[]

Wolfe County, like most of Eastern Kentucky is historically Democratic. In 2000, George W. Bush narrowly won the county and became the first Republican to do so, but the county still proved its Democratic loyalty by supporting John Kerry by a comfortable margin in the next election. However, the county has indeed drifted away from the Democrats at the presidential level as Mitt Romney won the county 60% to 30% in 2012, and Donald Trump with an even wider margin of 68% to 28%.

Wolfe remained reliably Democratic at the state level for some time after ceasing to favor the Democratic Party at the presidential level; it voted against Matt Bevin in both of his gubernatorial elections, and, along with nearby Elliott County, it was, until 2020, one of only two counties in Kentucky to have voted against Senator Mitch McConnell in each of his elections. In 2020, however, both counties voted for McConnell over his Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath.[10]

United States presidential election results for Wolfe County, Kentucky[11]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 2,097 70.39% 839 28.16% 43 1.44%
2016 1,804 68.46% 753 28.58% 78 2.96%
2012 1,542 60.26% 976 38.14% 41 1.60%
2008 1,408 47.44% 1,493 50.30% 67 2.26%
2004 1,385 43.90% 1,744 55.28% 26 0.82%
2000 1,267 52.25% 1,136 46.85% 22 0.91%
1996 772 33.61% 1,297 56.46% 228 9.93%
1992 697 25.97% 1,674 62.37% 313 11.66%
1988 916 36.94% 1,516 61.13% 48 1.94%
1984 1,257 46.68% 1,394 51.76% 42 1.56%
1980 951 33.90% 1,814 64.67% 40 1.43%
1976 659 26.81% 1,777 72.29% 22 0.90%
1972 936 48.83% 957 49.92% 24 1.25%
1968 758 34.35% 1,162 52.65% 287 13.00%
1964 562 21.64% 2,018 77.71% 17 0.65%
1960 1,259 44.76% 1,554 55.24% 0 0.00%
1956 1,059 38.62% 1,683 61.38% 0 0.00%
1952 876 35.98% 1,557 63.94% 2 0.08%
1948 813 29.73% 1,918 70.13% 4 0.15%
1944 889 37.98% 1,450 61.94% 2 0.09%
1940 1,032 31.88% 2,205 68.12% 0 0.00%
1936 972 38.13% 1,577 61.87% 0 0.00%
1932 909 28.13% 2,321 71.81% 2 0.06%
1928 1,270 48.36% 1,356 51.64% 0 0.00%
1924 821 33.72% 1,597 65.59% 17 0.70%
1920 939 38.61% 1,476 60.69% 17 0.70%
1916 645 36.67% 1,108 62.99% 6 0.34%
1912 395 25.92% 873 57.28% 256 16.80%
1908 818 42.01% 1,101 56.55% 28 1.44%
1904 676 37.64% 1,114 62.03% 6 0.33%
1900 712 42.31% 959 56.98% 12 0.71%
1896 583 36.69% 981 61.74% 25 1.57%
1892 386 33.68% 658 57.42% 102 8.90%
1888 444 35.15% 805 63.74% 14 1.11%
1884 403 36.80% 688 62.83% 4 0.37%
1880 348 37.79% 572 62.11% 1 0.11%



Events[]

The annual Swift Silver Mine Festival is held on Labor Day weekend each year. It includes a parade and vendors in the downtown Campton area.

Communities[]

City[]

  • Campton (county seat)

Census-designated place[]

  • Hazel Green

Other unincorporated places[]

  • Baptist
  • Bear Pen
  • Bethany
  • Flat
  • Lee City
  • Olivia
  • Pence
  • Pine Ridge
  • Trent

Notable people[]

  • Pete Center, who pitched for the Cleveland Indians in the 1940s.
  • Folk artist Edgar Tolson; Ralph Rinzler of the Smithsonian Institution was impressed by Tolson's figures, and included them in the 1971 Festival of American Folklife.
  • South Trimble, politician, born near Hazel Green
  • Tyler Booth, Country singer, grew up near the city Campton, Kentucky, population 424, on a farm where he begin playing guitar and writing songs from an early age. Booth signed a major record deal with Sony Music Nashville in early 2020. His voice and song writing talents were discovered while attending college at Morehead State University his freshman year.

See also[]

  • Hazel Green Academy
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Wolfe County, Kentucky
  • Red River Gorge

References[]

Template:Eastern Mountain Coal Fields (Kentucky)

Coordinates: 37°44′N 83°29′W / 37.74, -83.49


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Wolfe 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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