Clinton County, Kentucky

Not to be confused with Clinton, Kentucky.

Clinton County
County
Clinton County courthouse in Albany
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 36°43′N 85°08′W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Founded	February 20, 1835
Named for	DeWitt Clinton
Seat	Albany
Largest city	Albany
Area
• Total	205 sq mi (530 km^2)
• Land	197 sq mi (510 km^2)
• Water	8.2 sq mi (21 km^2)  4.0%
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,253
• Estimate  (2023)	9,148
• Density	45/sq mi (17/km^2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
Website	clintoncounty.ky.gov

Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky in the Pennyrile Region along the southern border with Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,253.^[1] Its county seat is Albany.^[2] The county was formed in 1835 and named for DeWitt Clinton, the seventh Governor of New York.^[3] It is a prohibition or dry county.

History

Clinton County was formed on February 20, 1835, from portions of Cumberland and Wayne counties. It was named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York and driving force behind the Erie Canal.^[4]

Courthouse fires in 1864 (Confederate guerrillas) and 1980 resulted in the destruction of county records, but in the latter case, local volunteers' assistance successfully preserved almost all records.^[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 205 square miles (530 km²), of which 197 square miles (510 km²) is land and 8.2 square miles (21 km²) (4.0%) is water.^[6]

Adjacent counties

• Russell County (north)
• Wayne County (east/EST border)
• Pickett County, Tennessee (south)
• Clay County, Tennessee (southwest)
• Cumberland County (west)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1840	3,863		—
1850	4,889		26.6%
1860	5,781		18.2%
1870	6,497		12.4%
1880	7,212		11.0%
1890	7,047		−2.3%
1900	7,871		11.7%
1910	8,153		3.6%
1920	8,589		5.3%
1930	9,004		4.8%
1940	10,279		14.2%
1950	10,650		3.6%
1960	8,886		−16.6%
1970	8,174		−8.0%
1980	9,321		14.0%
1990	9,135		−2.0%
2000	9,634		5.5%
2010	10,272		6.6%
2020	9,253		−9.9%
2023 (est.)	9,148	[7]	−1.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10] 1990-2000[11] 2010-2021[12]

As of the census^[13] of 2000, there were 9,634 people, 4,086 households, and 2,811 families residing in the county. The population density was 49 per square mile (19/km²). There were 4,888 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (9.7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 99.09% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.32% from two or more races. 1.22% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,086 households, out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.70% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $19,563, and the median income for a family was $25,919. Males had a median income of $21,193 versus $16,194 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,286. About 20.20% of families and 25.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.80% of those under age 18 and 29.90% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

• Albany (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

• Aaron
• Abstons Corner
• Alpha
• Browns Crossroads
• Bug
• Cannons Mill
• Cartwright
• Cedar Knob
• Churntop
• Cumberland City
• Decide
• Dicken
• Fairland
• Five Springs
• Highway
• Hobart
• Hogback
• Huntersville
• Ida
• Jones Mill
• Lettered Oak
• Marlow
• Narvel
• Nora
• Pikeview
• Rolan
• Savage
• Seventy Six
• Shipley
• Snow
• Sparta
• Static‡
• Upchurch
• Wago
• Watauga
• Willis Creek
• Wolf River Dock

Politics

Clinton County, like other counties in South Central and Southeastern Kentucky, has voted overwhelmingly Republican in presidential elections ever since Reconstruction ended. Counties in the Appalachian Mountains were less conducive to large-scale plantation farming that utilized slave labor and thus were more resistant to secession from the Union. Clinton County, being located on the western foothills of the Cumberland Plateau, reflected this with its voting patterns, having voted Republican even through the several party realignments since Reconstruction. Relative to population, Clinton County was a leader in providing soldiers for the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, seeing 12.54% of its white population volunteer for Union service, exceeded only by the now-similarly Republican Owsley, Estill and Clay counties.^[14]

The last Democrat to carry Clinton County was Horatio Seymour in 1868 – when party realignment was just beginning – and the last Democrat to pass so much as 30 percent of the county's vote was Grover Cleveland in 1888. Nor has any Republican in this time span – even William Howard Taft during the divided 1912 election – fallen short of 60 percent. Jackson County is the only other county in the United States that has seen no Democrat reach 30 percent since the beginning of the 1890s, and apart from these two only Hooker County, Nebraska has seen no Democrat reach 30 percent since 1940.

United States presidential election results for Clinton County, Kentucky^[15]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	4,276	87.62%	549	11.25%	55	1.13%
2020	4,280	86.78%	603	12.23%	49	0.99%
2016	3,809	85.37%	547	12.26%	106	2.38%
2012	3,569	81.24%	752	17.12%	72	1.64%
2008	3,366	80.68%	761	18.24%	45	1.08%
2004	3,369	77.41%	952	21.88%	31	0.71%
2000	3,224	74.89%	1,032	23.97%	49	1.14%
1996	2,521	63.41%	1,072	26.96%	383	9.63%
1992	2,830	63.80%	1,241	27.98%	365	8.23%
1988	3,248	77.80%	899	21.53%	28	0.67%
1984	3,459	80.03%	838	19.39%	25	0.58%
1980	3,539	77.10%	1,000	21.79%	51	1.11%
1976	2,354	69.46%	987	29.12%	48	1.42%
1972	2,632	79.59%	659	19.93%	16	0.48%
1968	2,572	75.09%	568	16.58%	285	8.32%
1964	2,351	69.78%	994	29.50%	24	0.71%
1960	3,524	84.11%	666	15.89%	0	0.00%
1956	3,396	81.89%	747	18.01%	4	0.10%
1952	2,856	80.54%	678	19.12%	12	0.34%
1948	2,295	74.22%	709	22.93%	88	2.85%
1944	2,618	82.20%	564	17.71%	3	0.09%
1940	2,573	77.31%	755	22.69%	0	0.00%
1936	2,147	75.39%	701	24.61%	0	0.00%
1932	2,422	72.73%	908	27.27%	0	0.00%
1928	2,580	88.81%	325	11.19%	0	0.00%
1924	2,069	78.70%	543	20.65%	17	0.65%
1920	2,356	84.20%	431	15.40%	11	0.39%
1916	1,260	76.23%	379	22.93%	14	0.85%
1912	828	65.25%	310	24.43%	131	10.32%

See also

• DeWitt Clinton
• Preston Leslie
• Champ Ferguson
• Garlin Murl Conner
• Dry counties
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Clinton County, Kentucky

References

1. "Census - Geography Profile: Clinton County, Kentucky". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. "Clinton County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
4. The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. pp. 34.
5. Hogan, Roseann Reinemuth (1992). Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research. Ancestry Publishing. p. 219. ISBN 9780916489496. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
6. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
7. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
8. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
9. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
10. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
11. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
12. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
14. Copeland, James E.; ‘Where Were the Kentucky Unionists and Secessionists’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, volume 71, no. 4 (October 1973), pp. 344–363
15. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". USElectionAtlas.org. Retrieved July 29, 2017.

36.72°N 85.13°W / 36.72; -85.13