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Harrison County, Kentucky facts for kids

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Harrison County
Harrison County Courthouse in Cynthiana
Harrison County Courthouse in Cynthiana
Map of Kentucky highlighting Harrison County
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Map of the United States highlighting Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Kentucky
Founded December 21, 1793
Named for Benjamin Harrison (Pennsylvania)
Seat Cynthiana
Largest city Cynthiana
Area
 • Total 310 sq mi (800 km2)
 • Land 306 sq mi (790 km2)
 • Water 3.5 sq mi (9 km2)  1.1%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 18,692
 • Estimate 
(2023)
19,415 Increase
 • Density 60.3/sq mi (23.3/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district 4th

Harrison County is a special area called a county in the state of Kentucky, USA. Think of a county as a smaller region within a state, like a district. In 2020, about 18,692 people lived here. The main town, or "county seat," where the county government is located, is Cynthiana.

Harrison County was started way back in 1793. It was named after Colonel Benjamin Harrison. He was an important person who helped Kentucky become a state. He also helped write Kentucky's constitution and was a legislator.

History

Harrison County officially became a county on December 21, 1793. It was created from parts of two other counties: Bourbon and Scott. Harrison was the 17th county formed in Kentucky! As mentioned, it was named after Colonel Benjamin Harrison, who was one of the first settlers in this area.

This county saw some action during the American Civil War. Two battles happened in Cynthiana. The First Battle of Cynthiana took place on July 17, 1862. This was part of a raid led by Confederate Colonel John Hunt Morgan.

Later, on June 11–12, 1864, the Second Battle of Cynthiana was fought. This was part of Morgan's Last Kentucky Raid. On the first day, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his 1,200 cavalry soldiers captured the town. They took Union soldiers as prisoners. Even though they were low on ammunition, Morgan decided to stay and fight. The next morning, Union General Stephen G. Burbridge attacked with 2,400 soldiers. They drove the Confederates out of town and freed the prisoners.

Geography

Harrison County covers a total area of about 310 square miles. Most of this, about 306 square miles, is land. The rest, about 3.5 square miles, is water.

Major Highways

These are the main roads that go through Harrison County:

  • US 27.svg US 27
  • US 62.svg US 62
  • Elongated circle 36.svg KY 36
  • Elongated circle 32.svg KY 32
  • Elongated circle 356.svg KY 356

Adjacent Counties

Harrison County shares its borders with these other counties:

Population

Historical population
Census Pop.
1800 4,350
1810 7,752 78.2%
1820 12,278 58.4%
1830 13,234 7.8%
1840 12,472 −5.8%
1850 13,064 4.7%
1860 13,779 5.5%
1870 12,993 −5.7%
1880 16,504 27.0%
1890 16,914 2.5%
1900 18,570 9.8%
1910 16,873 −9.1%
1920 15,798 −6.4%
1930 14,859 −5.9%
1940 15,124 1.8%
1950 13,736 −9.2%
1960 13,704 −0.2%
1970 14,158 3.3%
1980 15,166 7.1%
1990 16,248 7.1%
2000 17,983 10.7%
2010 18,846 4.8%
2020 18,692 −0.8%
2023 (est.) 19,415 3.0%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2020

In 2000, there were 17,983 people living in Harrison County. There were 7,012 households, which are groups of people living together in one home. About 33.5% of these households had children under 18 living with them. The average household had about 2.53 people.

The population was spread out by age. About 25% of the people were under 18 years old. About 29.8% were between 25 and 44 years old. The median age, which is the middle age of all the people, was 37 years old.

Communities

Harrison County has a few cities and many smaller, unincorporated communities.

Cities

  • Berry
  • Cynthiana (This is the county seat, meaning it's where the county government is located.)

Unincorporated communities

These are smaller places that don't have their own city government.

  • Boyd
  • Breckinridge
  • Broadwell
  • Buena Vista
  • Colville
  • Connersville
  • Claysville
  • Hooktown
  • Lair
  • Lees Lick
  • Leesburg
  • Kelat
  • Morningglory
  • Oddville
  • Poindexter
  • Ruddels Mills
  • Rutland
  • Shadynook
  • Shawhan
  • Sunrise

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Harrison (Kentucky) para niños

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