Pike County, Kentucky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pike County
U.S. county
Pike County courthouse in Pikeville
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Founded	December 19, 1821
Named for	Zebulon Pike
Seat	Pikeville
Largest city	Pikeville
Area
• Total	789 sq mi (2,040 km2)
• Land	787 sq mi (2,040 km2)
• Water	1.8 sq mi (5 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	58,669
• Estimate  (2023)	55,973
• Density	74.36/sq mi (28.710/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	5th

Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 58,669. Its county seat is Pikeville. The county was founded in 1821. With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county–– a county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but containing a "wet" city. There are three cities in the county, Pikeville, Elkhorn City, and Coal Run Village, where package alcohol sales are legal.

History

Pike is Kentucky's easternmost county and the commonwealth's largest county by land area. Pike County is the 11th most populous county in Kentucky, immediately preceded by Bullitt County and followed by Christian County. Pike County is Kentucky's third largest banking center, with financial institutions and holding companies with more than $1 billion in assets. In the five years spanning 1995–2000, personal income increased by 28%, and the county's per capita income exceeded the national and state average growth rates of the past decade. Pike County is the seventy-first Kentucky county in order of creation.

Pike County was founded on December 19, 1821, from a portion of Floyd County. The county was named for General Zebulon Pike, the explorer who discovered Pikes Peak, and who became a national hero and namesake after his death in the War of 1812. Between 1860 and 1891 the Hatfield-McCoy feud raged in Pike and in bordering Mingo County, West Virginia. On May 6, 1893, Pikeville officially became a city and the county seat.

Pike County is also home to Paul E. Patton, former governor of Kentucky.

The Appalachian News Express, published in Pikeville, is preserved on microfilm by the University of Kentucky Libraries. The microfilm holdings are listed in a master negative database on the university's Libraries Preservation and Digital Programs website.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 789 square miles (2,040 km²), of which 787 square miles (2,040 km²) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) (0.2%) is water. It is the largest county by area in Kentucky.

The main population areas of the county include the city of Pikeville and surrounding suburbs, Elkhorn City, and the unincorporated town of South Williamson.

Major highways

U.S. Route 23 passes through the Pikeville Cut-Through, the second largest earthmoving project in the Western Hemisphere.

Pike County has a total of 486.285 miles of classified roads.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Economy

A coal breaker in Pike County in 1938

A mountaintop removal mine just off of U.S. Route 23 in 2010

Pike County has vast fossil fuel, (coal and natural gas) reserves. Pike County is one of the nation's leading coal and natural gas producers. In April 2007, Pike County announced the first-in-the-nation comprehensive energy strategy which was developed in partnership with the Southern States Energy Board.

Pike County is the second-largest coal producing county as reported in 2013 next to Union County in the western part of the state. Adding that to the counties of Harlan County, Perry County, and Martin County, Eastern Kentucky produces nearly 3/4 of all coal produced in the entire state. Over 150 million tons are produced annually throughout the state.

The poverty level of counties in the Appalachian region of Kentucky is 24.4% compared to the United States Poverty Level of 12.4%. Of the top eight coal-producing counties in eastern Kentucky, Pike County is the only county that does not have a higher poverty rate than Appalachian Kentucky as a whole.

Coal companies in Pike County

• Alliance Resource Partners
• Alpha Natural Resources
• James River Coal Company
• Rhino Resource Partners
• TECO Coal

Economic growth

Tourism is also a major component of the economy in Pike County. In 2012, nearly 300,000 people visited the Breaks Interstate Park on the Kentucky-Virginia border.

Over 1,400 businesses exist in Pikeville. From 2005 to 2011, downtown Pikeville experienced major growth. The Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center was constructed in 2005 and seats 7,000. It features numerous events including concerts and shows. The county is also home to the Pikeville Concert Association, which secures events that usually take place at Booth Auditorium on the campus of the University of Pikeville.

The Pikeville Medical Center received a $44 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program in 2010 to construct an eleven-story office building and adjacent parking garage in downtown. Construction was completed in 2014.

The University of Pikeville broke ground on a nine-story building (the Coal Building) on Hambley Boulevard in downtown Pikeville in early 2011 to house the University of Pikeville's School of Osteopathic Medicine.

In the summer of 2011, Jenny Wiley Theatre group announced their collaboration with the city of Pikeville to construct a 200-seat indoor professional theater in downtown Pikeville. The theatre opened in May 2014.

Healthcare

Hospitals

• Pikeville Medical Center, Pikeville, Kentucky
• Appalachian Regional Healthcare, South Williamson, Kentucky

Education

University of Pikeville

Pike County colleges

• University of Pikeville (UPike), Pikeville, Kentucky
• Big Sandy Community and Technical College Pikeville Campus
• Galen College of Nursing Pikeville Campus

Pike County Schools

The Pike County School System consists of 25 high, middle, and elementary schools.

High schools

• Belfry High School, Belfry, Kentucky
• East Ridge High School, Lick Creek, Kentucky
• Phelps High School, Phelps, Kentucky
• Pike County Central High School, Pikeville, Kentucky
• Shelby Valley High School, Pikeville, Kentucky

Middle and elementary schools

The following lists of middle and elementary schools is categorized by the high school they feed:

• Belfry High School System
  • Belfry Middle School
    • Bevins Elementary
    • Belfry Elementary
• East Ridge High School System
  • Elkhorn City Elementary School
  • Feds Creek Elementary School
  • Millard Elementary School
• Phelps High School System
  • Phelps Elementary School
• Pike County Central High School System
  • Johns Creek Elementary School
  • Kimper Elementary School
  • Mullins School
• Shelby Valley High School System
  • Dorton School
  • Valley Elementary School

Shelby Valley Day Treatment Center, Phelps Day Treatment Center, are all discipline facilities. Northpoint Academy is a high school drop out prevention program that focuses on the individual needs of the student. All students at Northpoint are there on a voluntary basis.

Pikeville Independent Schools

• High School
  • Pikeville High School, Pikeville
• Elementary School
  • Pikeville Elementary School

Private schools

• St. Francis of Assisi Pikeville, Kentucky
• Christ Central Pikeville, Kentucky

Sports

Baseball

Pike County has had several minor league teams based out of Pikeville. In 1982 the Pikeville Brewers were located in the city. They were part of the Appalachian League and affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1983 the team changed to become affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, thus changing its name to the Pikeville Cubs. In 2010 Pikeville Independent's baseball team finished in the final four at the KHSAA Baseball State Tournament. In 2012 and in 2013 Pikeville Junior High baseball finished runner up in the Kentucky Middle School State Tournament both years.

Basketball

In 2007, the East Kentucky Miners came to Pike County after the opening of the Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center. The team played in Pikeville from 2007 to 2010. In 2010, the American Basketball Association opened an expansion franchise in Pikeville called the East Kentucky Energy. In 2010 Shelby Valley High School won the KHSAA Men's Basketball State Championship. In 2011, UPike Men's Basketball won the National Championship defeating Mountain State University.

Football

In 2010, the Pike County Crusaders, an Indoor Arena Football team, was announced as coming to the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center, but the initiative soon failed. In 2011, The East Kentucky Drillers, an Indoor Arena Football franchise came to the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville. In 2012, the team changed its name to the Kentucky Drillers.

Communities

Cities

• Coal Run Village
• Elkhorn City
• Pikeville (county seat)

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated places

Notable people

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Pike (Kentucky) para niños