Boone County, Kentucky

Boone County, Kentucky

The old Boone County courthouse in Burlington
Map of Kentucky highlighting Boone County
Location in the state of Kentucky
Map of the United States highlighting Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded 1798
Named for Daniel Boone
Seat Burlington
Largest city Florence
Area
 • Total 256 sq mi (663 km2)
 • Land 246 sq mi (637 km2)
 • Water 10 sq mi (26 km2), 3.9%
Population
 • (2010) 118,811
 • Density 349/sq mi (135/km²)
Congressional district 4th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.boonecountyky.org

Boone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 118,811,[1] making it the fourth-most populous county in Kentucky. Its county seat is Burlington.[2] The county was formed in 1798 from land given by Campbell County.[3] and was named for frontiersman Daniel Boone.[4]

Boone County is part of the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the location of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which serves Cincinnati and the tri-state area and was the former headquarters of Comair.

History

Native Americans left a large late historic village in Petersburg that contained "at least two periods of habitation dating to 1150 A.D. and 1400 A.D."[5]

An unnamed Frenchman in 1729 drew an area on his chart where Big Bone Lick State Park in modern-day Boone County exists with a French inscription that translates to "where they found the bones of an elephant."[5] Later on, another Frenchman, Charles le Moyne de Longueuil (1687–1755) would be credited with investigating the Big Bone Lick area.[5]

Boone County was founded in 1798, and named after Daniel Boone.

On January 28, 1856, Robert and a pregnant Margaret "Peggy" Garner, together with family members, escaped and fled to Cincinnati, Ohio, along with several other slave families. Seventeen people were reported to have been in their party. In the coldest winter in 60 years, the Ohio River had frozen. The group crossed the ice just west of Covington, Kentucky at daybreak, and escaped to Cincinnati, then divided to avoid detection. They set out for Joseph Kite's house in Cincinnati.[6]

Margaret Garner would become famous for slitting her own daughter's throat (Mary) to prevent her from going back into slavery when Archibald K. Gaines and his posse, along with Federal Marshals, caught up to the fleeing slaves at Joseph Kite's house.[6]

Margaret Garner was first owned by, and may have been the daughter of, the plantation owner John Pollard Gaines himself.[7] In December 1849, the plantation was sold along with all the slaves to John P. Gaines' younger brother, Archibald K. Gaines.[7] The Gaines family lived on a farm called Maplewood in Boone County, Kentucky, just west of Richwood Presbyterian Church, of which Archibald K. Gaines was a member.[8] 3 of Margaret Garner's children, including Mary, the daughter whose throat Margaret Garner slashed, were likely the children of Archibald K. Gaines, the only adult white male at Maplewood. The timing suggests they were each conceived after his wife had become pregnant and was unavailable to him.[9]

Margaret Garner's story was the inspiration for the novel Beloved (1987) by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison (that later was adapted into a film of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey), as well as for her libretto for the early 21st century opera Margaret Garner (2005), composed by Richard Danielpour.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 256 square miles (660 km2), of which 246 square miles (640 km2) is land and 10 square miles (26 km2) (3.9%) is water.[10] Its location along the Ohio River was key to its early development, as the river was the major transportation route.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
18001,534—
18103,608135.2%
18206,54281.3%
18309,07538.7%
184010,03410.6%
185011,18511.5%
186011,1960.1%
187010,696−4.5%
188011,99612.2%
189012,2462.1%
190011,170−8.8%
19109,420−15.7%
19209,5721.6%
19309,5950.2%
194010,82012.8%
195013,01520.3%
196021,94068.6%
197032,81249.6%
198045,84239.7%
199057,58925.6%
200085,99149.3%
2010118,81138.2%
Est. 2014126,413[11]6.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[12]
1790-1960[13] 1900-1990[14]
1990-2000[15] 2010-2013[1]

As of the census[16] of 2000, there were 85,991 people, 31,258 households, and 23,443 families residing in the county. The population density was 349 per square mile (135/km2). There were 33,351 housing units at an average density of 135 per square mile (52/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 95.15% White, 1.52% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.29% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. 1.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 31,258 households out of which 39.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.60% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.00% were non-families. 20.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.70% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 33.50% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 8.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,593, and the median income for a family was $61,114. Males had a median income of $42,105 versus $27,414 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,535. About 4.40% of families and 5.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.40% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Boone County is the location of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which includes the headquarters of DHL Express, Southern Air and Delta Private Jets.[17][18]

Communities

Burlington from the air, looking East

Cities

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. ↑ Collins, Lewis (1882). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2. Collins & Company. p. 26.
  4. ↑ The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. p. 34.
  5. 1 2 3 http://www.boonecountyky.org/History.aspx
  6. 1 2 http://www.blackpast.org/aah/margaret-garner-incident-1856#sthash.74IRbsjy.dpuf
  7. 1 2 Steven Weisenburger, "A Historical Margaret Garner", Michigan Opera Theatre, accessed 20 Apr 2009
  8. ↑ http://www.nkyviews.com/boone/boone_richwood.htm
  9. ↑ Steven Weisenburger, "A Historical Margaret Garner", Michigan Opera Theatre, accessed 20 Apr 2009. "Bertram Wyatt-Brown reminds us, Southern men commonly referred to their pregnant wives' last trimester or so when they were sexually unavailable as "the gander months" because it was supposedly natural, and to some extent informally countenanced, for them to seek intimate "comfort" with unmarried women or with enslaved women, if they owned any."
  10. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  16. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  17. ↑ "Career Area." Comair. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Contact Us." Delta Private Jets. Retrieved on October 3, 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 38°58′N 84°44′W / 38.97°N 84.73°W / 38.97; -84.73

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