Fort Thomas, Kentucky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Thomas is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, along the Ohio River. The population was 16,495 at the 2000 census. The current mayor is Mary Brown. The city's official nickname is The City of Beautiful Homes and is known unofficially as Cake Town.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Location of Fort Thomas, Kentucky

Fort Thomas is located at 39°4′34″N, 84°27′5″W (39.076011, -84.451273)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.7 km² (6.4 mi²). 14.7 km² (5.7 mi²) of it is land and 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²) of it (11.82%) is water.

[edit] Climate

Fort Thomas is located within a climatic transition zone at the extreme northern limit of the humid subtropical climate. The local climate is a basically a blend of the subtropics to the south and the humid continental climate to the north. There are several "micro-climates" found in Fort Thomas which produce warmer than usual or cooler than usual "pockets". In the warmer niches it is not at all uncommon to find such "subtropical" novelties as the common Wall lizard, the Southern magnolia, and even the rare Needle palm; Blue spruce and Salamander tend to occur in the cooler and shaded niches. Moderating variables for the overall climate of Fort Thomas include: the Ohio River, the region's relatively large hills and valleys, and an urban heat influence due to the proximity of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (Covington, Newport, etc) metropolitan area.

[edit] History

Evidence suggests that on or around 1749, prior to settlement by Europeans, a large battle occurred between a band of Cherokee Native Americans and victorious Miami tribe and Shawnee tribe Native Americans in what is now the city of Fort Thomas. As many as 600 graves of slain warriors have been unearthed by archeologists there.

In 1887, a site was needed to house a United States Army post to replace Newport Barracks. Newport Barracks was located in the adjoining city of Newport, Kentucky. Built in 1803, Newport Barracks replaced the smaller Fort Washington, which was located just across the river in Cincinnati, Ohio. Post Newport was in Newport's lower westend at the point where the Licking River meets the Ohio River. Prone to flooding, a higher location for a post was desired.

General Philip Sheridan personally selected 11 acres of the city and dubbed the area the Highlands, predicting it to become the "West Point of the West." The new post was named Fort Thomas in honor of General George Henry Thomas.

The U.S. 6th Infantry Regiment moved to Fort Thomas, where it remained until called to action again in June 1898, in the Spanish-American War.

On February 25, 1937, Paul Tibbets enlisted here as a flying cadet in the United States Army Air Corps. During the last days of World War II, Paul became known as the pilot that dropped the first Atomic Bomb on August 6, 1945.

Information on the history is based primarily from the city's official website.

[edit] Schools

Fort Thomas has an independent public school district with 3 elementary schools (Robert D. Johnson Elementary, Ruth Moyer Elementary, and Samuel Woodfill Elementary), Highlands Middle School, and Highlands High School, which are consistently ranked among the top in the country. Highlands High School is the only public high school in the state with a Cum Laude chapter[citation needed].

Highlands High School is ranked in the top 1000 in the United States by US News & World Report.

The mascot for Highlands is the Bluebird. According to local legend, in the early twentieth century the original mascot for the school was the Highlands Blue Devil. A local clergyman objected to the association of the community to the devil. At the time, the boys' track team had an exceptionally good year and it was remarked that they "flew like birds." This gave rise to the new and current mascot.

The school has won more state championships in AAA football than any other school in Kentucky. Current New York Giants backup quarterback Jared Lorenzen starred in football at Highlands.

The school has also recently won three consecutive girls' cross country championships (2002-2004) and has won back to back girls' soccer championships (2005-2006).

The Highlands band has also received some regonition. In 2005, they placed sixth and the State quaterfinals competition in Frankfort, KY. Their show this season is entitled Masked. Their current director is Lori Hopkins who graduated from Scott High School. The band also has their own unofficial mascot originally started in 2005. He is known as the "Band Phantom." This tradtion, however, has never been recognized outside of the band itself. He first came to be as a mystery who-dun-it for the members. He now serves as an omni-present fan and scapegoat.

There are two Catholic private schools in the city, Saint Thomas Elementary and Saint Catherine Elementary.

[edit] Cake Town

Custom has it that a large cake is prepared after state championship victory for the Highlands High School football team. This custom has lent itself to the people of Fort Thomas becoming known colloquially as Cake Eaters, and the city of Ft. Thomas as Cake Town. Though positive in origin, these terms are often used derogatorily by people outside of Ft. Thomas in the spirit of Marie Antoinette's legendary, "Let them eat cake," - alluding to the slightly higher per capita incomes of Ft. Thomas residents over the surrounding areas. Frequently Highland High School Cheerleaders have a fight song that can be heard as "C--A--K--E-- C-A-K-E clap clap".

[edit] Media

Fort Thomas is situated on the southern border of the Ohio River, directly opposite of Cincinnati, Ohio. Therefore the major media market for the city is Cincinnati. Fort Thomas then uses Cincinnati's television and radio outlets.

  • Television:
  • Print Media:
    • Daily Papers
    • Weekly Paper
      • The Fort Thomas Recorder, a special edition of The Campbell County Recorder, delivered free to the city's residence but donation is suggested with the majority of the proceeds going to the delivery boy or girl.
    • Monthly Paper
      • Inside Fort Thomas, available free at newsstands and sent to every home in Fort Thomas.
    • Magazine
      • Fort Thomas Living, a monthly magazine sent through the mail as a free subscription to residents of Fort Thomas. FTL is also available at local newsstands.

[edit] Churches

Several denominations are represented in the city. The following is a complete list of the city's churches:

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 16,495 people, 6,742 households, and 4,335 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,123.2/km² (2,909.8/mi²). There were 7,028 housing units at an average density of 478.6/km² (1,239.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.61% White, 0.73% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.

There were 6,742 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $49,575, and the median income for a family was $63,006. Males had a median income of $43,733 versus $30,209 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,657. About 2.8% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../f/o/r/Fort_Thomas%2C_Kentucky_86dc.html"
In other languages