Hardin County, Kentucky

Hardin County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Elizabethtown.[1] The county was formed in 1792.[2] Hardin County is part of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Louisville/Jefferson County—Elizabethtown-Bardstown, KY-IN Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 110,702.[3]

Not to be confused with Hardin, Kentucky.

Hardin County
County
Hardin County courthouse in Elizabethtown
Hardin County courthouse in Elizabethtown
Map of Kentucky highlighting Hardin County
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Map of the United States highlighting Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 37°42′N 85°58′W
Country United States
State Kentucky
Founded1792
Named forJohn Hardin
SeatElizabethtown
Largest cityElizabethtown
Area
 • Total630 sq mi (1,600 km2)
 • Land623 sq mi (1,610 km2)
 • Water6.9 sq mi (18 km2)  1.1%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total110,702
 • Estimate 
(2022)
111,862 Increase
 • Density180/sq mi (68/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district2nd
Websitewww.hcky.org

Hardin County is known for being the birthplace of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, though the location is now part of neighboring LaRue County.

History

Hardin County was established in 1792 from land partitioned from Nelson County. Hardin was the 15th Kentucky county in order of formation.[4] The county is named for Col. John Hardin, a Continental Army officer during the American Revolution and a brother of the Capt. William Hardin who founded Hardinsburg.[5]

Courthouse fires destroyed county records in 1864 and again in 1932. The present courthouse dates from 1934.[6]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 630 square miles (1,600 km2), of which 623 square miles (1,610 km2) is land and 6.9 square miles (18 km2) (1.1%) is water.[7] It is the fourth-largest county by area in Kentucky.

Adjacent counties

Hardin County borders nine counties, more than any other county in Kentucky.

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
18003,653—
18107,531106.2%
182010,49839.4%
183012,84922.4%
184016,35727.3%
185014,525−11.2%
186015,1894.6%
187015,7053.4%
188022,56443.7%
189021,304−5.6%
190022,9377.7%
191022,696−1.1%
192024,2877.0%
193020,913−13.9%
194029,10839.2%
195050,31272.8%
196067,78934.7%
197078,42115.7%
198088,91713.4%
199089,2400.4%
200094,1745.5%
2010105,54312.1%
2020110,7024.9%
2022 (est.)111,862[8]1.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]
1790–1960[10] 1900–1990[11]
1990–2000[12] 2010–2020[3]

As of the census[13] of 2010, there were 105,543 people, 39,853 households, and 28,288 families residing in the county. The population density was 167.5 per square mile (64.7/km2). There were 43,261 housing units at an average density of 68.7 per square mile (26.5/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 80.5% White (77.8% non-Hispanic), 11.6% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American or Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 5.0% of the population.

There were 39,853 households, out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 29.0% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04.

The age distribution was 25.97% under 18, 9.93% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 25.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.41 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.54 males.

Complete economic data from the 2010 Census has not yet been released. According to the 2010 Census, the median income for a household in the county was $43,421, and the median income for a family was $55,151. The per capita income for the county was $23,744. Remaining economic data is from the 2000 Census. At that time, males had a median income of $30,743 versus $22,688 for females. About 8.20% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.50% of those under age 18 and 8.60% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Aerial view of the U.S. Gold Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Godman Army Airfield and the fort can be seen in the background.

The economy of Hardin County is largely dominated by the adjacent Fort Knox Military Installation.[14]

The Army Human Resource Center, the largest construction project in the history of Fort Knox, began in November 2007. It is a $185 million, three-story, 880,000-square-foot (82,000 m2) complex, sitting on 104 acres (0.42 km2). As many as 2,100 new permanent human resources, information technology, and administrative white-collar civilian professionals will be working there.

Officials expect that as many as 12,000 people, including the families of soldiers and civilian workers to relocate to the area as a result of the Fort Knox realignment of 2005.

Approximately $1 billion in new federal and state construction, and infrastructure funds were committed to Fort Knox, and in the surrounding areas by the end of 2011 for Fort Knox realignment of 2005.

Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky announced the creation of a task force to help Hardin County, and the surrounding counties prepare for the Fort Knox realignment. The group is "designed to meet specific needs" in areas such as transportation, economic development, education, water and sewer availability, and area wide planning.

Hardin County is classified by the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) as both a moist county and a "limited dry county". Under ABC terminology, a "moist county" is an otherwise dry county in which at least one city has voted to allow sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption. The word "limited" means that at least one city within the county, or the county as a whole, has voted to allow alcohol sales in qualifying restaurants. In the case of Hardin County, Elizabethtown, Radcliff, and Vine Grove all voted to allow off-premises sales in October 2011. West Point has voted to allow sale of alcohol by the drink in restaurants that seat at least 50 and derive at least 70% of their revenue from food (including non-alcoholic beverages).

Government

The formal government structure of Hardin County consists of a Fiscal Court along with six incorporated cities.[15] Elizabethtown is the county seat. In 2010, the Hardin County Government, led by Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry Berry, commissioned a study entitled, "Hardin County Vision Project," in part to explore the benefits of consolidated government in the county. The growth of the area and the changes expected due to the realignment of Fort Knox led to the study. Hardin County United, a volunteer-led organization, was established to consider the findings of this project and develop recommendations for the future of government in the county.[16]

Law enforcement and property tax collection are provided by the Hardin County Sheriff's Office.[17]

United States presidential election results for Hardin County, Kentucky[18][19]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 29,832 60.96% 18,101 36.99% 1,008 2.06%
2016 26,971 62.50% 13,944 32.31% 2,241 5.19%
2012 23,357 59.56% 15,214 38.79% 647 1.65%
2008 23,896 59.75% 15,650 39.13% 444 1.11%
2004 24,627 67.58% 11,507 31.58% 307 0.84%
2000 18,964 61.79% 11,095 36.15% 631 2.06%
1996 12,642 47.50% 11,031 41.44% 2,944 11.06%
1992 12,299 47.38% 9,417 36.28% 4,242 16.34%
1988 13,240 64.27% 7,262 35.25% 97 0.47%
1984 14,293 68.81% 6,329 30.47% 149 0.72%
1980 9,779 52.19% 8,339 44.50% 620 3.31%
1976 6,965 45.87% 7,977 52.53% 243 1.60%
1972 8,740 65.93% 4,060 30.63% 456 3.44%
1968 5,329 41.84% 4,470 35.09% 2,938 23.07%
1964 3,744 33.24% 7,460 66.23% 60 0.53%
1960 6,191 54.63% 5,141 45.37% 0 0.00%
1956 5,050 53.55% 4,325 45.86% 55 0.58%
1952 3,914 45.73% 4,599 53.74% 45 0.53%
1948 2,297 34.77% 3,990 60.39% 320 4.84%
1944 2,831 38.81% 4,436 60.82% 27 0.37%
1940 2,351 33.16% 4,718 66.54% 21 0.30%
1936 2,284 33.52% 4,480 65.75% 50 0.73%
1932 2,801 31.40% 6,047 67.79% 72 0.81%
1928 4,624 58.92% 3,210 40.90% 14 0.18%
1924 2,735 38.00% 4,296 59.68% 167 2.32%
1920 3,334 37.96% 5,382 61.28% 66 0.75%
1916 1,887 36.38% 3,272 63.08% 28 0.54%
1912 632 13.69% 2,656 57.51% 1,330 28.80%
1908 1,913 38.34% 3,010 60.32% 67 1.34%
1904 1,671 36.83% 2,714 59.82% 152 3.35%
1900 2,053 39.43% 3,059 58.75% 95 1.82%
1896 1,885 38.68% 2,848 58.44% 140 2.87%
1892 1,075 30.58% 1,909 54.31% 531 15.11%
1888 1,421 38.70% 2,175 59.23% 76 2.07%
1884 901 36.26% 1,531 61.61% 53 2.13%
1880 962 32.62% 1,677 56.87% 310 10.51%

Education

K-12

Two public school districts operate in the county.[20]

  • The Hardin County Schools, headquartered in a portion of Radcliff that has an Elizabethtown mailing address, serve K–12 students in most of the county, with the exception of (most of) Elizabethtown and Fort Knox. The district operates 13 elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools, plus one alternative school for middle and high school grades. In July 2020, the former West Point Independent School District, which operated a single K–8 school serving the West Point area (cut off from the rest of the county by Fort Knox), closed and merged into the Hardin County district after long-term declines in enrollment.[21][22]
  • The Elizabethtown Independent Schools serve students in most of the city of Elizabethtown; however, some areas are instead served by the Hardin County district. The district operates three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Before the closure of the West Point district, that area's high school students attended Elizabethtown High under a contract between the two districts. West Point students that had attended Elizabethtown High under that contract may complete their high school education there; the last such students are expected to graduate in 2023.

Fort Knox however is assigned to the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA),[20] which, through its Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools subagency, operates four schools on the Fort Knox base for military dependents. DDESS has one elementary school (grades K-5), one intermediate school (1–5), one middle school (6–8), and one high school (9–12) on base. After the Army inactivated a combat brigade, resulting in the relocation of 3,500 soldiers and their families from the base, DoDEA closed four other schools—three elementary schools and one intermediate school—at the end of the 2013–14 school year. At that time, DoDEA also restructured the grades at all of the remaining schools except the high school.[23] A new $16-million Fort Knox High School, a two-story, state-of-the-art facility that united the existing vocational school with the current gymnasium, creating a connected campus was completed in 2008, with dedication on August 7, 2008. The remaining parts of the old high school were then demolished.[24]

Five private schools also operate in the county, St. James Catholic School (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville), Gloria Dei Lutheran School (LCMS), Elizabethtown Christian Academy, North Hardin Christian School, and Hardin Christian Academy.

Postsecondary education

Elizabethtown is home to Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, a member of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

Communities

Cities

Census-designated places
  • Cecilia
  • Fort Knox, a military base (partly in Meade County and Bullitt County, although all of the base housing is in Hardin County)
  • Rineyville

Unincorporated communities

See also

References
  1. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  2. "Hardin County". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. 2000. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  3. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  4. Collins, Lewis (1882). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky, Volume 2. Collins & Company. p. 26.
  5. Rennick, Robert M. (1987). Kentucky Place Names. University Press of Kentucky. p. 130. ISBN 0813126312. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  6. Hogan, Roseann Reinemuth (1992). Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research. Ancestry Publishing. ISBN 9780916489496. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  7. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  8. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  11. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  14. "Human resource center opens at Fort Knox". American City Business Journals. May 27, 2010. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010.
  15. "Ken Howard Introduces the Governance Committee". Hardin County United. January 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  16. "Hardin County United". Hardin County United. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  17. "Hardin County Sheriff's Office". www.hcky.org. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  18. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  19. "Our Campaigns - U.S. President". Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  20. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Hardin County, KY" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022. - Text list - "Fort Knox Dependent Schools" refers to the DoDEA schools. - For more detailed boundaries of the independent school districts see: "Appendix B: Maps Of Independent School Districts In Operation In FY 2014-FY 2015 Using 2005 Tax District Boundaries – Elizabethtown ISD" (PDF). Research Report No. 415 – Kentucky's Independent School Districts: A Primer. Frankfort, KY: Office of Education Accountability, Legislative Research Commission. September 15, 2015. p. 105 (PDF p. 119/174). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 10, 2020.
  21. "West Point agrees to merger". Elizabethtown, KY: WQXE. February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  22. Sidery, Sara (February 20, 2020). "West Point schools to shut down, merge with Hardin County school district". WDRB. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  23. Jowers, Karen (March 5, 2014). "4 schools at Fort Knox to close". Army Times. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  24. The new Fort Knox High School Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

37.70°N 85.96°W / 37.70; -85.96

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