Boyd County, Kentucky

Boyd County is located in the of. It was formed in 1860. Its 160 square miles are found at the northeastern edge of the state the near the and, nestled in the verdant rolling hills of. The county seat is. Its largest municipality is the city of.

As of 2000, the county population was 49,752. Boyd County is a part of the (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. .

History


Boyd County was the 107th of 120 counties formed in the state of Kentucky. The county was established in 1860 from parts of surrounding, , and counties. It was named for of, former U.S. congressman, Speaker of the , who died in 1859 soon after being elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.

The earliest evidence of human habitation in Boyd County exists in the forms of numerous earthen mounds containing human skeletons and burial goods giving evidence that prehistoric inhabited the area. A 1973 archeological find revealed a serpent-shaped mound built of rocks dating to 2000 B.C. and stretching for nine hundred feet along a ridge parallel to the south of.

One of the early settlers in what is now Boyd County was Charles ("One-handed Charley") Smith, from Virginia. A veteran of the who had served under Col. in 1754, Smith received for that service roughly four hundred acres around, where he built a cabin in 1774. Smith died in 1776 and in 1797 this land passed to for whom the town of  is named.

The Poage family arrived from, in October 1799 and formed , later renamed the city of.

Industry
Members of the Poage family built the steam-powered Clinton iron furnace in 1832, the earliest industry in present-day Boyd County. A total of twenty-nine charcoal-fueled iron furnaces operated on the side of the, seven of them in present-day Boyd County.

The Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing Company was incorporated on, and it laid out the town of , then within. The company purchased thousands of acres of coal, timber, and ore lands throughout the county. It invested US$210,000 in bonds of the Lexington & Big Sandy River Railroad Company, with the stipulation that the eastern division of that line extend into Ashland instead of ending, as originally planned, in Catlettsburg. The early presence of the railroad in Ashland was largely responsible for this city becoming the dominant municipality of the county.

Ashland furnace was sold to in 1921, which developed into Armco Steel Corporation. In 1969 Armco constructed the Amanda furnace, one of the largest blast furnaces in the world. Known today as, the industry remains a major employer in northeastern Kentucky.

, at one time the largest corporation headquartered in Kentucky, was started in 1924 at Leach Station, south of, by Paul G. Blazer. Best known for their products, Ashland Oil relocated to  in 1999, merged with, and sold its remaining petroleum shares to Marathon in 2005, dissolving their petroleum division. The original oil refinery, located in Catlettsburg, is still in operation today and is currently owned by Marathon Oil.

Alcohol sales
Since 2007, Boyd County allows, with a permit, alcohol sales in restaurants that seat over 100 people and derive over 70% of their income from food sales. The one exception is city of Ashland, where all retail alcohol sales are allowed with a permit. This makes the county officially a limited county with a wet city. Prior to 2007, alcohol sale in all areas of Boyd County, with the exception of Ashland, was prohibited.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 419 (162 ). 415 km² (160 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (2 sq mi) of it (1.02%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (northwest)
 * (northeast – across the )
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Colleges
, in Ashland, is one of 16 two-year, open-admissions colleges of the. also has a satellite campus located in Ashland.

Public school districts

 * serves the city of and the surrounding county communities outside Ashland city and Westwood  limits.  The Boyd County Public School District consists of Cannonsburg Elementary, Catlettsburg Elementary, Summit Elementary, Ponderosa Elementary, Boyd County Middle School, and Boyd County High School.
 * serving the city of.
 * serving the of.

Private schools

 * Holy Family. Holy Family is affiliated with the Holy Family Catholic Church and currently offers K-8 education.
 * Rose Hill Christian. Rose Hill is affiliated with the Rose Hill Baptist Church and offers K-12.

Other schools

 * Ramey-Estep High School

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 49,752 people, 20,010 households, and 14,107 families residing in the county. The was 120/km² (311/sq mi). There were 21,976 housing units at an average density of 53/km² (137/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 95.97%, 2.55% or , 0.16% , 0.30% , 0.14% from , and 0.88% from two or more races. 1.12% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 20,010 households out of which 28.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were living together, 11.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.86.

The age distribution was 21.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,749, and the median income for a family was $41,125. Males had a median income of $35,728 versus $22,591 for females. The for the county was $18,212. About 11.50% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the, including 22.40% of those under age 18 and 12.10% of those age 65 or over.