Shelby County, Kentucky

Shelby County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 33,337. The 2006 estimate put the population at 39,717. Its name is in honor of, the first. Its is.

Shelby County was historically a prohibition or completely, but the city of Shelbyville is now wet (i.e., allows retail alcohol sales), and the county has voted to allow restaurants outside Shelbyville to sell alcoholic beverages by the drink if they seat at least 100 patrons and derive at least 70% of their total sales from food. Today, Shelby County is officially classified by the Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control as a.

Shelby County's motto is "Good Land, Good Living, Good People"

Founding families
One of the first families to settle in Shelby County was the Daniel Ketcham family of, who settled in. Daniel Ketcham was a soldier during the. The Ketchams had 9 children. , Daniel's eldest son, would eventually move to and become involved in politics and in laying the groundwork for the founding of.

Another family was the Thomas Mitchell family which moved to Shelby County in. Thomas Mitchell was born on, a native of. He married Rebecca Ketcham, daughter of Daniel Ketcham. The couple then settled near the headwaters of South Fork Clear Creek (or Mulberry Creek). Mitchell was commissioned an ensign in the 18th Regiment of Militia and on January 4,, commissioned him as captain in the 18th Regiment. Thomas Mitchell became a minister of the Methodist Church and served in the. 

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 999 (386 ). 995 km² (384 sq mi) of it is land and 4 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.38%) is water. in Shelby County is the highest point in the area.

Adjacent counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 33,337 people, 12,104 households, and 9,126 families residing in the county. The was 34/km² (87/sq mi). There were 12,857 housing units at an average density of 13/km² (34/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 86.61%, 8.83% or , 0.30% , 0.40% , 0.12% , 2.39% from , and 1.34% from two or more races. 4.51% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 12,104 households out of which 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.00% were living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.60% were non-families. 20.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.00.

The age distribution was 25.20% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 31.40% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,534, and the median income for a family was $52,764. Males had a median income of $35,484 versus $25,492 for females. The for the county was $20,195. About 6.50% of families and 9.90% of the population were below the, including 11.70% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.

Resources

 * "Excerpts from the Executive Journal of Governor James Garrod," Kentucky Historical Society Register, vol. 32, p. 133.
 * Woodfill, Gabriel, "A Preacher of the Gospel," Marriage Bonds of Shelby County - 1792-1800, Kentucky Marriage Records: From the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Baltimore 1983, p. 693.
 * Willis, George L. Sr., History of Shelby County Kentucky, Shelbyville 1929, p. 115.