Butler County, Kentucky

Butler County, Kentucky
Butler County Courthouse in Morgantown, Kentucky
Location in the state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded	1810
Named for	Major General Richard Butler (1743–1791), Revolutionary War general.
Seat	Morgantown
Area
• Total	431.52 sq mi (1,118 km2)
• Land	428.08 sq mi (1,109 km2)
• Water	3.44 sq mi (9 km2), 0.80%
Population
• (2000)	13,010
• Density	14/sq mi (5/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.butlercounty.ky.gov

Butler County is a county located in the US state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1810, becoming Kentucky's 53rd county.^[1] As of 2000, the population was 13,010. Its county seat is Morgantown^[2]. Butler is a prohibition or dry county.

History

Numerous archaeological sites are located along the Green River in Butler County. A 1932 survey found nine sites, many of which were a group of shell mounds, including the Carlston Annis and DeWeese Shell Mounds.^[3]

The area now known as Butler County was first settled by the families of Richard C. Dellium and James Forgy, who founded a town called Berry's Lick. The first industry was salt-making.^[1]

On January 18, 1810, the Kentucky General Assembly created Butler County from portions of Logan and Ohio counties. The new county was named for Major General Richard Butler, who died at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791.^[1]

Butler County has one of only two Civil War monuments in Kentucky that honor the soldiers of both sides. The Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument in Morgantown, a zinc monument, was dedicated in 1907 on the Butler County Courthouse lawn.

Geography

Butler County is part of the Western Coal Fields region of Kentucky. According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 431.52 square miles (1,117.6 km²), of which 428.08 square miles (1,108.7 km²) (or 99.20%) is land and 3.44 square miles (8.9 km²) (or 0.80%) is water.^[4]

Adjacent counties

• Ohio County (northwest)
• Grayson County (northeast)
• Edmonson County (east)
• Warren County (southeast)
• Logan County (south)
• Muhlenberg County (west)

Demographics

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 13,010 people, 5,059 households, and 3,708 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 per square mile (12 /km²). There were 5,815 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5.4 /km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.88% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.60% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,059 households out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.30% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.70% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 29.20% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,405, and the median income for a family was $35,317. Males had a median income of $26,449 versus $19,894 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,617. About 13.10% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.50% of those under age 18 and 22.50% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

• Morgantown
• Rochester
• Woodbury

Transportation

For much of its history, Butler County's main line of transportation was the Green River. As railroads became more important economically, the county compensated by building a series of roads to major trade centers such as U.S. 231 connecting Beaver Dam with Owensboro. Green River was eventually closed to traffic after Woodbury's Lock and Dam Number 4 washed out in 1965 and Rochester's Lock and Dam Number 3 was abandoned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1980. Completion of the William H. Natcher Parkway linked the area to the national interstate system in 1970.^[1]

Notable natives

• Claude C. Bloch – Admiral who commanded the local Naval District at Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack during World War II (born in Woodbury)
• Keith Butler - baseball pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals organization. (from Morgantown).^[8]
• Sally Deweese – From April 20–21, 1834–?. Deweese gave birth to a boy at 10 years of age.
• Thomas Hines – Confederate spy during the Civil War and chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals
• Don J. Jenkins – Vietnam War soldier and Medal of Honor recipient (born in Quality)
• John Moore – bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (born in Morgantown)
• William S. Taylor – Governor of Kentucky from 1899 to 1900 (born near Morgantown)
• Pendleton Vandiver – fiddler and uncle of bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, who immortalized him in the song "Uncle Pen" and in the Country Boy music video for Ricky Skaggs

See also

• Dry counties
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Butler County, Kentucky

References

v t e Municipalities and communities of Butler County, Kentucky, United States County seat: Morgantown Cities Morgantown Rochester Woodbury Other unincorporated communities Aberdeen Dexterville Dimple Eden Love Mining City Needmore Provo Quality Welcome

v t e Bowling Green Metropolitan Area Principal city Bowling Green Other municipalities Brownsville Morgantown Oakland Plum Springs Rochester Scottsville Smiths Grove Woodburn Woodbury Counties Allen Butler Edmonson Warren

v t e  Commonwealth of Kentucky Frankfort (capital) Topics Index Cuisine Environment Geography History Music People Religion Symbols (Seal Flag) Theater Tourism Transportation Visitor attractions Category Index Portal Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports Regions Allegheny Plateau The Bluegrass Central Kentucky Cumberland Mountains Cumberland Plateau Eastern Kentucky Coal Field region Highland Rim The Knobs Mississippi Plain Northern Kentucky Pennyroyal Plateau The Purchase Ridge-and-Valley South Central Kentucky Tennessee Valley Western Coal Fields 25 largest cities Louisville Lexington Bowling Green Owensboro Covington Hopkinsville Richmond Florence Georgetown Henderson Elizabethtown Nicholasville Jeffersontown Frankfort Paducah Independence Radcliff Ashland Madisonville Winchester Erlanger Murray St. Matthews Fort Thomas Danville Metropolitan areas Ashland Bowling Green Clarksville, TN Elizabethtown Evansville Lexington–Fayette Louisville – Jefferson County Northern Kentucky Owensboro Counties Adair Allen Anderson Ballard Barren Bath Bell Boone Bourbon Boyd Boyle Bracken Breathitt Breckinridge Bullitt Butler Caldwell Calloway Campbell Carlisle Carroll Carter Casey Christian Clark Clay Clinton Crittenden Cumberland Daviess Edmonson Elliott Estill Fayette Fleming Floyd Franklin Fulton Gallatin Garrard Grant Graves Grayson Green Greenup Hancock Hardin Harlan Harrison Hart Henderson Henry Hickman Hopkins Jackson Jefferson Jessamine Johnson Kenton Knott Knox LaRue Laurel Lawrence Lee Leslie Letcher Lewis Lincoln Livingston Logan Lyon Madison Magoffin Marion Marshall Martin Mason McCracken McCreary McLean Meade Menifee Mercer Metcalfe Monroe Montgomery Morgan Muhlenberg Nelson Nicholas Ohio Oldham Owen Owsley Pendleton Perry Pike Powell Pulaski Robertson Rockcastle Rowan Russell Scott Shelby Simpson Spencer Taylor Todd Trigg Trimble Union Warren Washington Wayne Webster Whitley Wolfe Woodford

Coordinates: 37°13′N 86°41′W / 37.21°N 86.68°W / 37.21; -86.68