Todd County, Kentucky
|Todd County, Kentucky|
Todd County Courthouse
Location in the state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
|Named for||Colonel John Todd|
|• Total||377 sq mi (976 km2)|
|• Land||374 sq mi (969 km2)|
|• Water||2.6 sq mi (7 km2), 0.7%|
|• Density||33/sq mi (13/km²)|
|Time zone||Central: UTC-6/-5|
Todd County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,460. Its county seat is Elkton. The county is named for Colonel John Todd, who was killed at the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782 during the American Revolution.
Todd County consists of two geographical regions known historically as the high country to the north and low country to the south. The northern highlands consist of steep-sloped sandstone terrain with forests of oak, walnut and poplar. The landscape contains steep bluffs and sharp rises and falls within the terrain. The southern lowlands consist of rolling limestone flatlands void of aquifer sinks and consist of dense but sparse forests of oak, walnut poplar and ash. The first inhabitants of the region were the Cherokee, who used the lands for hunting and gathering. Todd County lies within what was originally in the western portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Many of the original settlers came when the area was still in Virginia. This part of southern Kentucky was designated to be awarded to Virginia veterans of the American Revolutionary War.
Justinian Cartwright was possibly the earliest to actually take up residence in what would become Todd County. However, the first proven immigrants are Edward Shanklin Jr., Matthew and David Rolston, John Huston and his sons James and Granville Huston. Samuel Davis, father of Jefferson Davis, and John Wilson were also early settlers of the county. Kentucky Governor Greenup granted the first Kentucky grants to William Croghan, David Logan, Edward Shanklin Jr. and John Wilson, among others.
Christian and Logan counties were called upon to contribute to the creation of Todd County due to the outlying population of both Logan and Christian's demand for a "home government" so that travel to the county seats of Logan and Christian was no longer necessary. The county was formed in 1820 by the first magisterial court consisting of members Edward Shanklin, Major John Gray, Robert Coleman, Henry Gorin, John Taylor, H. C. Ewing, John S Anderson, William Hopper, John Mann and Joseph Frazer. The petition was created and the legislature of the Commonwealth of Kentucky granted the act of legislature, enacting the creation of the county on April 1, 1820. The legislature designated that the name of the county be in remembrance of Colonel John Todd, a native of Virginia and Robertson County, Kentucky, who died at the Battle of Blue Licks near Lexington, Kentucky. Colonel John Todd died in 1782, 38 years before the formation of Todd County, Kentucky.
Agriculture is a hailed theme and revered tradition in Todd County. The lowlands of the county are of the finest of agricultural resources in the United States due to rich soil types including "Pembroke" soil. The lowlands are prized for their high growth yields. The lands that create Todd County today were originally reserved for land grants for those who fought in the Revolutionary War. The Virginia land grants attracted settlers to the area, including businessman and county founding father Major John Gray. In the early 19th century, Major John Gray established a stagecoach hub in the county with travel routes radiating to larger American cities from the central point. His widely known Stagecoach Inn located in "Graysville," now Guthrie, Kentucky, was at the center of the travel routes. Major Gray's stagecoach empire was highly successful and he soon became wealthy due to its popularity in the region. Major Gray established a home near what is now the city of Elkton, a simple two-story shed roofed brick one-pile dwelling, now known as "Halcyon," or the John Gray House.
Gray desired for a city to be established near his home that would become the county seat. Gray designed the city which included a town square from which hundreds of lots radiated that he called "Elkton" by observation of the elk herds that watered near the town center. Gray designed the town square as a trapezoid instead of a square, with the south side of the town square larger than the north so that as the sun traversed across the sky, the buildings on the east and west would benefit from prolonged periods of daily sunlight. Major John Gray contributed funding for a county courthouse which was erected at the center of his design for the town square. The brick building stood two stories with a cupola at the top. After Major Gray died, the building was deemed in a state of ruin due to improper construction methods and torn down to erect a new courthouse. The new Todd County courthouse was erected by order of the Fiscal Court in 1834. R. Rowland designed the building in the Federal Style with an integration of Greek-Revival style motifs. The brick building which still remains today stands two stories tall with tripartite windows and large Greek-Revival lintels. The building originally had a smaller federal style cupola but was later replaced with a late Victorian clock tower in the second Empire style that is still present today.
Kentucky was a source of slaves for the cotton plantations in the lower South, and the slave trade was a very profitable business for many Kentuckians. However, most Kentuckians did not own slaves. Those who did were wealthy plantation owners who stood to lose a lot if slavery were abolished. The major slave-owning areas in the state were the Bluegrass region, Henderson and Oldham counties on the Ohio River, and the western Kentucky counties of Trigg, Christian, Todd, and Warren. Many Kentuckians from these areas joined the Confederate army. Nevertheless, Kentucky's allegiance was divided during the Civil War. The state was officially neutral until September 1861, when it pledged its support to the Union. In response, a pro-Confederate Confederate government of Kentucky was formed by representatives from several Kentucky counties, with a second capital at Bowling Green.
- Muhlenberg County (north)
- Logan County (east)
- Robertson County, Tennessee (southeast)
- Montgomery County, Tennessee (southwest)
- Christian County (west)
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,971 people, 4,569 households, and 3,367 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 per square mile (12/km2). There were 5,121 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5.4/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 89.32% White, 8.75% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.87% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 1.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,569 households out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.70% were married couples living together, 11.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 23.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.60% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $29,718, and the median income for a family was $36,043. Males had a median income of $28,502 versus $20,340 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,462. About 14.70% of families and 17.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.90% of those under age 18 and 22.00% of those age 65 or over.
- Green River Female Academy
- Milliken Memorial Community House
- Old Todd County Courthouse
- Jefferson Davis State Historic Site
- Robert Penn Warren Birthplace
- Glover's Cave
- Liberty Hall
- Edwards Hall
- John Gray House, "Halcyon"
- Sunny Side Acres
- Pilot Rock
- Holly Hills
- Guthrie Transportation Museum
- George Street Boone, liberal constitutional scholar
- Benjamin Bristow, first Solicitor General of the United States and a former U.S. Treasury Secretary
- Mary Louise Milliken Childs, American philanthropist
- Jamison Covington, former singer of "JamisonParker", current singer for "E for explosion"
- Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy
- Dorothy Dix (Elizabeth Merriwether Gilmer), columnist
- Caroline Gordon, author of nine novels
- Kent Greenfield, American major league baseball player 
- James Clark McReynolds, former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
- Natachee Scott Momaday, author and poet
- Paul Rudolph, architect
- Edward Shanklin Sr., Revolutionary War soldier and county founding father
- Jess Sweetser, first American-born golfer to win the British Amateur
- David S. Terry, California jurist and politician
- Robert Penn Warren, first poet laureate of the United States
- "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
- "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 1. Kentucky State Historical Society. 1903. p. 37.
- Perrin, William Henry. History of Todd County, Kentucky. Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing, 1884. Print.
- "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
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