McCracken County, Kentucky
Encyclopedia
McCracken County is a county located in the Jackson Purchase
, the extreme western end of the U.S. state
of Kentucky
. As of 2000, the population was 65,514. The county seat
, largest city, and only incorporated community is Paducah
.
McCracken County is part of the Paducah
, KY-IL
Micropolitan Statistical Area
.
, who was killed in the Battle of Frenchtown
in southeastern Michigan
during the War of 1812
.
The Battle of Paducah
occurred in McCracken County on March 25, 1864. The skirmish between the Union and Confederate troops ended in a Confederate victory. Altogether 140 men fell in the battle.
.
of 2000, there were 65,514 people, 27,736 households, and 18,444 families residing in the county. The population density
was 261 /sqmi. There were 30,361 housing units at an average density of 121 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 86.76% White
, 10.88% Black or African American
, 0.22% Native American
, 0.51% Asian
, 0.05% Pacific Islander
, 0.40% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 1.06% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos
of any race.
There were 27,736 households out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.10% were married couples
living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.86.
The age distribution was 23.40% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 90.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,865, and the median income for a family was $42,513. Males had a median income of $36,417 versus $22,704 for females. The per capita income
for the county was $19,533. About 11.40% of families and 15.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.
s:
Several private schools also provide K-12 education.
Higher education is provided by West Kentucky Community and Technical College
in Paducah, part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
. Like all other schools in this system, WKCTC offers associate degrees. The state's largest public university, the University of Kentucky
, operates a branch campus of its College of Engineering at WKCTC. The Paducah Regional Campus of Murray State University
located on the city's south side, offers several bachelor's degree
completion programs and master's degrees. On September 12, 2008, Murray State's Board of Regents approved exercising an option to purchase 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) of land near WKCTC for the construction of a new Paducah campus. Murray State assumed ownership of the property on April 6, 2009. An agreement was reached in May, 2011, between Murray State, the City of Paducah, McCracken County Fiscal Court, and the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council to fund construction of a new facility. It is anticipated that work will begin in Fall, 2011. Murray State intends to expand upper level undergraduate and graduate programs once the new facility is completed. Mid-Continent University
operates its bachelor's degree
completion program in Paducah and also offers master's degrees. This institution is developing plans to construct a campus on 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) in Paducah near WKCTC and the new Murray State campus. Private Daymar College
/Paducah Technical College offers several technical degree programs. In addition, Lindsey Wilson College
offers a human services degree program at WKCTC and McKendree University operates a Bachelor of Science in Nursing completion degree. Western Kentucky University
provides a Master of Social Work program in Paducah.
Jackson Purchase
The Jackson Purchase is a region in the state of Kentucky bounded by the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and Tennessee River to the east. Although technically part of Kentucky at its statehood in 1792, the land did not come under definitive U.S. control until 1818, when...
, the extreme western end of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. As of 2000, the population was 65,514. The county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
, largest city, and only incorporated community is Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
.
McCracken County is part of the Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, KY-IL
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Micropolitan Statistical Area
Paducah micropolitan area
The Paducah Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties – three in the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky and one in southern Illinois – anchored by the city of Paducah, Kentucky....
.
History
McCracken County was founded in 1825, from Hickman County. The county was named for Captain Virgil McCracken of Woodford County, KentuckyWoodford County, Kentucky
Woodford County is a county located in the heart of the Bluegrass region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 23,208. Its county seat is Versailles. The county is named for General William Woodford, who was with General George Washington at Valley Forge...
, who was killed in the Battle of Frenchtown
Battle of Frenchtown
The Battle of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin or the River Raisin Massacre, was a series of conflicts that took place from January 18–23, 1813 during the War of 1812...
in southeastern Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
The Battle of Paducah
Battle of Paducah
The Battle of Paducah was fought on March 25, 1864, during the American Civil War. A Confederate force led by Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a successful raid on Paducah, Kentucky, to capture supplies....
occurred in McCracken County on March 25, 1864. The skirmish between the Union and Confederate troops ended in a Confederate victory. Altogether 140 men fell in the battle.
Law and Government
McCracken County is represented congressionally as District 1 of the Commonwealth of KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 268.08 square miles (694.3 km²), of which 251.02 square miles (650.1 km²) (or 93.64%) is land and 17.05 square miles (44.2 km²) (or 6.36%) is water.Adjacent counties
- Massac County, Illinois (north, across the Ohio RiverOhio RiverThe Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
) - Livingston CountyLivingston County, KentuckyLivingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 9,804. Its county seat is Smithland. The county is named for Robert R. Livingston...
(northeast, across the Tennessee RiverTennessee RiverThe Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
) - Marshall CountyMarshall County, KentuckyMarshall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 30,125. The 2007 Census Bureau population estimate was 31,258. Its county seat is Benton. It was a dry county until 2004, when residents of Calvert City voted to allow sales of liquor by the drink in...
(east) - Graves CountyGraves County, KentuckyGraves County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was formed in 1824. As of 2000, the population was 37,028. Its county seat is Mayfield. The county is named for Major Benjamin Franklin Graves, soldier in the War of 1812...
(south) - Carlisle CountyCarlisle County, KentuckyCarlisle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1886 and as of 2000, had a population of 5,351. Its county seat is Bardwell, Kentucky. The county is named for John Griffin Carlisle, a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky...
(southwest) - Ballard CountyBallard County, KentuckyBallard County is a county located in west of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was created by the Kentucky State Legislature in 1842, and is named for Captain Bland Ballard, a soldier, statesman, and member of the Kentucky General Assembly. He was one of the few Kentucky volunteers to survive the...
(west)
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 65,514 people, 27,736 households, and 18,444 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 261 /sqmi. There were 30,361 housing units at an average density of 121 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 86.76% White
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, 10.88% Black or African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.22% Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, 0.51% Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, 0.05% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
, 0.40% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 1.06% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
of any race.
There were 27,736 households out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.10% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.86.
The age distribution was 23.40% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 90.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,865, and the median income for a family was $42,513. Males had a median income of $36,417 versus $22,704 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $19,533. About 11.40% of families and 15.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 12.30% of those age 65 or over.
Census-designated places
- HendronHendron, KentuckyHendron is a census-designated place in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,239 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Hendron is located at ....
- MassacMassac, KentuckyMassac is a census-designated place in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,888 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Massac is located at ....
- ReidlandReidland, KentuckyReidland is a census-designated place in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,353 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Reidland is located at ....
- Woodlawn-OakdaleWoodlawn-Oakdale, KentuckyWoodlawn-Oakdale is a census-designated place in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,937 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
Other unincorporated areas
- Lone OakLone Oak, KentuckyLone Oak is an unincorporated community in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 454 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a city. It is a part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
- West PaducahWest Paducah, KentuckyWest Paducah is an unincorporated community in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. Its elevation is 361 feet .-History:The Heath High School shooting occurred at Heath High School in West Paducah on Monday, December 1, 1997...
Education
Public elementary and secondary education in the county is provided by two school districtSchool district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
s:
- McCracken County Public SchoolsMcCracken County Public SchoolsMcCracken County Public Schools is a school district headquartered in Hendron, unincorporated McCracken County Kentucky.The district serves all of McCracken County except for most of the area within the city limits of Paducah, which is served by its own school district...
, which serves the entire county except for the bulk of the city of Paducah, served by: - Paducah Public SchoolsPaducah Public SchoolsPaducah Public Schools is a school district located in Paducah, Kentucky. The district serves most, but not all, of the city of Paducah; significant areas within the city limits lie in the surrounding McCracken County school district....
Several private schools also provide K-12 education.
Higher education is provided by West Kentucky Community and Technical College
West Kentucky Community and Technical College
West Kentucky Community and Technical College , located in Paducah, KY, is one of 16 two-year, open-admissions colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System . It was formed by the 2003 consolidation of Paducah Community College and West Kentucky Technical College...
in Paducah, part of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
Kentucky Community and Technical College System
Headquartered in Versailles, Kentucky, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System comprises 16 colleges with over 68 campuses. Programs offered include associate degrees, pre-baccalaureate education to transfer to a public 4-year institution; adult education, continuing and developmental...
. Like all other schools in this system, WKCTC offers associate degrees. The state's largest public university, the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, operates a branch campus of its College of Engineering at WKCTC. The Paducah Regional Campus of Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
located on the city's south side, offers several bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
completion programs and master's degrees. On September 12, 2008, Murray State's Board of Regents approved exercising an option to purchase 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) of land near WKCTC for the construction of a new Paducah campus. Murray State assumed ownership of the property on April 6, 2009. An agreement was reached in May, 2011, between Murray State, the City of Paducah, McCracken County Fiscal Court, and the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council to fund construction of a new facility. It is anticipated that work will begin in Fall, 2011. Murray State intends to expand upper level undergraduate and graduate programs once the new facility is completed. Mid-Continent University
Mid-Continent University
Mid-Continent University is a four-year, liberal arts Christian institution located near Mayfield, Kentucky.- History :The university opened in January 1949 in Clinton, Kentucky. The University is now located four miles north of Mayfield....
operates its bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
completion program in Paducah and also offers master's degrees. This institution is developing plans to construct a campus on 19 acres (76,890.3 m²) in Paducah near WKCTC and the new Murray State campus. Private Daymar College
Daymar College
Daymar College is a for-profit career training school based in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA. Founded in 1963 and operated as Owensboro Business College until 2001, Daymar offers over 35 career tracks in 13 different academic programs...
/Paducah Technical College offers several technical degree programs. In addition, Lindsey Wilson College
Lindsey Wilson College
Lindsey Wilson College is a private four-year college affiliated with the United Methodist Church in an open ecumenical atmosphere. The 45 acre campus is located in Columbia, Kentucky. The school currently offers associate degrees in 11 areas of study, bachelor degrees in 20 areas of study and...
offers a human services degree program at WKCTC and McKendree University operates a Bachelor of Science in Nursing completion degree. Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University
Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
provides a Master of Social Work program in Paducah.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in McCracken County, KentuckyNational Register of Historic Places listings in McCracken County, KentuckyThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in McCracken County, Kentucky. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in McCracken County, Kentucky, United States...