Knott County, Kentucky

Knott County, Kentucky
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Knott County, Kentucky
Map
Location in the state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1884
Seat	Hindman
Area - Total - Land - Water	353 sq mi (914 km²) 352 sq mi (912 km²) 1 sq mi (2 km²), 0.23%
Population - (2000) - Density	17,649 50/sq mi (19/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website: www.knottky.com
Named for: James Proctor Knott, Governor of Kentucky (1883–1887).

Knott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1884. As of 2000, the population is 17,649. Its county seat is Hindman^[1]. The county is named for James Proctor Knott, Governor of Kentucky 1883-87. It is a prohibition or dry county. Notable inhabitants include U.S. Congressman Carl D. Perkins, Appalachian author James Still, poet Albert Stewart, actress Rebecca Gayheart and country music star David Tolliver from Mercury records duo Halfway to Hazard. Its county seat, Hindman, is home to the Hindman Settlement School, founded as America's first settlement school. Nearby Pippa Passes is home to Alice Lloyd College.

Tourism is increasing in the county, especially the popularity of elk viewing. Knott County and its surrounding counties is home to 5,700 free ranging elk, the largest elk herd east of the Mississippi River.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 353 square miles (914 km²), of which, 352 square miles (912 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.23%) is water.

On June 26, 2008, four Knott County officials, including Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, were found guilty of federal vote-fraud charges. ^[2] According to federal prosecutors, the officials paved driveways to influence votes in the 2006 election. However, the officials and their attorneys claim that the paving--worth hundreds of thousands of tax dollars--was needed because it was close to winter, when inclement weather could cause problems with those who needed medical help as well as students going to and from school on buses. ^[3] Appeals are expected in the case. Thompson is the second consecutive county judge-executive convicted on vote fraud charges. Donnie Newsome, the previous judge-executive, was sent to prison on vote fraud charges in an earlier case. In spite of charges against Judge Thompson and his administration, optimism runs greatly throughout the community as Judge Thompson has brought several great establishments to the area including an ATV Training Center dedicated to the safety of ATV usage amongst riders in order to decrease ATV related fatalities in the area and the Knott County Sportsplex, a sports complex dedicated to bringing athletic opportunities to people of all ages, through the use of indoor basketball courts and outside baseball fields and soccerfield, and a healthy lifestyle to those who take advantage of the fitness center.

1 Adjacent counties
2 Demographics
3 Cities and towns
4 Educational institutions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Adjacent counties

Magoffin County (north)
Floyd County (northeast)
Pike County (east)
Letcher County (south)
Perry County (southwest)
Breathitt County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1890	5,438	—
1900	8,704	60.1%
1910	10,791	24%
1920	11,655	8%
1930	15,230	30.7%
1940	20,007	31.4%
1950	20,320	1.6%
1960	17,362	−14.6%
1970	14,698	−15.3%
1980	17,940	22.1%
1990	17,906	−0.2%
2000	17,649	−1.4%
http://ukcc.uky.edu/~census/21119.txt

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 17,649 people, 6,717 households, and 4,990 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 7,579 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.27% White, 0.73% Black or African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,717 households out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.60% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.70% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 10.80% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $20,373, and the median income for a family was $24,930. Males had a median income of $29,471 versus $21,240 for females. The per capita income for the county was $11,297. About 26.20% of families and 31.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.80% of those under age 18 and 23.10% of those age 65 or over.