Jeffersontown, Kentucky

Jeffersontown is a city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. Before Louisville and Jefferson County were consolidated in 2003, it was the county's largest city outside of Louisville. The population was 26,633 at the 2000 census.

History

Jeffersontown was founded in the late 18th century by Abraham Bruner as "Brunerstown". The city was chartered as Jeffersontown in 1797, after then Vice-President Thomas Jefferson.

Geography

Jeffersontown is located at (38.206102, -85.573619)^[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.0 square miles (26 km²), of which, 9.9 square miles (26 km²) of it is land and 0.10% is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 26,633 people, 10,653 households, and 7,275 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,675.9 people per square mile (1,033.5/km²). There were 11,220 housing units at an average density of 1,127.3 per square mile (435.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.74% White, 8.65% African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.54% of the population.

There were 10,653 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $51,999, and the median income for a family was $60,951. Males had a median income of $41,345 versus $29,537 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,977. About 3.7% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Bluegrass Commerce Park (formerly known as The Bluegrass Research & Industrial Park) opened on 600 acres (2.4 km²) in 1966. Created with an attractive, park-like setting, it was the first such development in the United States. Today, Bluegrass Commerce Park takes in over 1,800 acres (7.3 km²) and is home to approximately 850 businesses. The park is the largest in the state of Kentucky, and the 38,000 employees make the park and Jeffersontown the third-largest city of employment in the state.^[5] The park’s seven units include:

• Bluegrass Commerce Park
• Commonwealth Park
• Watterson Trail Industrial Park
• Plainview Office Park
• Jeffersontown Industrial Park
• Holloway Industrial Park
• Blankenbaker Crossings

Government

The city of Jeffersontown is governed by a mayor and eight city council members. The mayor serves a four year term of office while the council members serve two year terms. The city council is elected from the top eight candidates receiving the most votes in the general election.

Jeffersontown Mayor

• Bill Dieruf

Jeffersontown City Council (listed by vote count)

• Carol Pike (5,513)
• Ray Perkins (5,335)
• Vincent Grisanti (5,060)
• Daniel Ruckriegel (4,976)
• Mark Blum (4,635)
• Pam Ware (4,311)
• Tim Hall (4,006)
• Brian Abrams (3,909)

References

External links

• City website
• History of Jeffersontown
• "Jeffersontown: Huge Family Farms, Buffalo, Linn Station Fort Marked Landscape; Diseases Delayed Growth" — Article by M. David Goodwin of The Courier-Journal