Fort Gay, West Virginia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Gay is a town in Wayne County, West Virginia, along the Tug Fork and Big Sandy Rivers. The town adjoins Louisa, Kentucky. The population was 819 at the 2000 census.

Fort Gay is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649.

The Norfolk Southern Railway's Kenova District goes through the western edge of town.

[edit] Geography

Fort Gay is located at 38°7′3″N, 82°35′41″W (38.117528, -82.594620)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.2 km² (0.9 mi²). 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (7.06%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 819 people, 345 households, and 240 families residing in the town. The population density was 400.3/km² (1,034.5/mi²). There were 394 housing units at an average density of 192.6/km² (497.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.66% White, 0.49% Asian, and 0.85% from two or more races.

There were 345 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 82.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $14,565, and the median income for a family was $20,882. Males had a median income of $29,063 versus $16,442 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,125. About 33.9% of families and 37.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 53.1% of those under age 18 and 19.4% of those age 65 or over.