Ballard County, Kentucky

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Ballard County, Kentucky
Map
Location in the state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1842
Seat	Wickliffe
Largest city	La Center
Area - Total - Land - Water	274 sq mi (709 km²) 251 sq mi (650 km²) 22 sq mi (58 km²), 8.20%
Population - (2000) - Density	8,286 33/sq mi (13/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website: www.ballardcounty.org
Named for: Bland Ballard (1761–1853), soldier in the Battle of Fallen Timbers and Battle of River Raisin.

Ballard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1842. As of 2000, the population is 8,286. Its county seat is Wickliffe, Kentucky^[1]. The county is named for Captain Bland Ballard, a member of the Kentucky General Assembly. Ballard is a prohibition or dry county.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Adjacent counties
2 Demographics
3 Cities and towns
4 Axe Lake Swamp State Nature Preserve
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 274 square miles (709 km²), of which, 251 square miles (650 km²) of it is land and 22 square miles (58 km²) of it (8.20%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Pulaski County, Illinois (north) – across the Ohio River
McCracken County (east)
Carlisle County (south)
Mississippi County, Missouri (southwest) – across the Mississippi River
Alexander County, Illinois (west) – across the Ohio River

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	5,496	—
1860	8,692	58.2%
1870	12,576	44.7%
1880	14,378	14.3%
1890	8,390	-41.6%
1900	10,761	28.3%
1910	12,690	17.9%
1920	12,045	-5.1%
1930	9,910	-17.7%
1940	9,480	-4.3%
1950	8,545	-9.9%
1960	8,291	-3.0%
1970	8,276	-0.2%
1980	8,798	6.3%
1990	7,902	-10.2%
2000	8,286	4.9%
Est. 2006	8,245	-0.5%
http://ukcc.uky.edu/~census/21007.txt

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 8,286 people, 3,395 households, and 2,413 families residing in the county. The population density was 33 people per square mile (13/km²). There were 3,837 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.32% White, 2.87% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,395 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.60% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 25.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.70% 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 2.85.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.10% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,130, and the median income for a family was $41,386. Males had a median income of $32,345 versus $20,902 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,035. About 10.70% of families and 13.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.30% of those under age 18 and 15.40% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Cities and towns

[edit] Axe Lake Swamp State Nature Preserve

Axe Lake Swamp State Nature Preserve is a 458 acres nature preserve located in Ballard County, in the Barlow Bottoms. The preserve is part of the 3,000-acre Axe Lake Swamp wetlands complex which supports at least eight rare plant and animal species. The site has been recognized as a priority wetland in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. ^[3]