Flatwoods, Kentucky

Flatwoods is a suburban city of the larger and nearby Ashland, Kentucky, although located in a different county as Ashland, in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,605 at the 2000 census. Bobby Crager is the city's mayor. Flatwoods 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.

Locally, Flatwoods is considered to be a "bedroom community", as it has no large employer within the city. Many residents work for CSX Transportation, AK Steel, Marathon Oil, King's Daughters Medical Center, or Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital. There are five institutions of higher education located within 30–40 minutes of Flatwoods. The Ohio University Southern Campus, Marshall University, Kentucky Christian University, Ashland Community and Technical College and, Shawnee State University.

History

The area now known as the City of Flatwoods was originally named Advance; Advance Methodist Church formed a Sunday school beginning in 1860. The name was later changed to Cheap, after John Cheap, a blind Methodist minister. The original farming community returned to the name of Advance when a post office was established in 1918. In 1938, the post office was renamed Flatwoods, and the town was incorporated in 1938 under that name. Flatwoods is named for the area's unique topography, a belt of flat wooded land in the ancient Teays River Valley, on an elevation of approximately 650 feet or higher, just south of the Ohio River Valley. The availability of flat level land and low tax rates made Flatwoods a local "hot spot" of new construction in the 1950s and 60's, when many upper middle class tract housing developments were built and quickly inhabited. A main contributor to Flatwoods' growth was the fact that nearby Ashland had developed much of its available land prior to 1960, with little new construction possible within its corporation limits.^[1]

Geography

Flatwoods is located at (38.522992, -82.719556)^[2].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.5 square miles (12 km²), all of it land.

The topography of Flatwoods is uncharacteristic to eastern Kentucky in that it consists of totally flat to rolling land on a single elevated hill. In eastern Kentucky, the dissected plateau landscape often referred to as "hill and valley" is standard terrain for the surrounding region. The flat terrain found in Flatwoods was created when it was the river bed of the ancient Teays River, which traveled through the area in prehistoric times, much larger than the Ohio River that now transcends the region.

Climate

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 7,605 people, 3,114 households, and 2,282 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,691.9 people per square mile (654.0/km²). There were 3,338 housing units at an average density of 742.6 per square mile (287.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.19% White, 0.38% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.30% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.58% of the population.

There were 3,114 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,115, and the median income for a family was $39,023. Males had a median income of $36,184 versus $20,904 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,633. About 9.7% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The majority of the city sits within the Russell Independent School District, which also includes the cities of Russell and Bellefonte. The main campus for the district, which includes Russell High School, Russell Middle School, Russell Primary School and the Russell Area Technology Center, sits on the Russell/Flatwoods city line (the school's mailing addresses are Russell but they primarily receive police and fire protection from Flatwoods). In addition, one school, Russell-McDowell Intermediate School, sits firmly within the Flatwoods city limits.

In addition, a small section of Flatwoods is in the Raceland-Worthington Independent School District.

Points of interest

• The Oaks - an 18 hole public golf course.

• Greenbo Lake State Resort Park is located within 25 minutes of Flatwoods.

Notable residents

• Billy Ray Cyrus, a #1 Billboard Hot 100 artist. Father of singer Miley Cyrus. *

Dheak Gill, winner of the 13th Annual Iron Stoma ch competition. Won by eating a record 325 bull testicles in a span of 23 minutes and 13 seconds on January 12, 2011 at Huddle House.

References

1. ^ About Flatwoods Retrieved on 2010-05-29
2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
3. ^ "MONTHLY AVERAGES for Flatwoods, KY". The Weather Channel. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/USKY0904. Retrieved 2010-10-22. 
4. ^ Census Bureau Retrieved on 2011-07-05
5. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Chamber of Commerce
• Greenup County Tourism Commission