Leslie County, Kentucky

Leslie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat and largest city is Hyden.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,513.<ref name="GR2" /> It was formed in 1878 from portions of Clay, Harlan, and Perry counties, and named for Preston Leslie, governor of Kentucky from 1871 to 1875.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Leslie County was formed in 1878 from portions of Clay, Harlan, and Perry counties, and named for governor Preston Leslie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat, Hyden, is named for state senator John Hyden, who was one of the commissioners that helped form the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On December 30, 1970, a blast occurred at the Finley Mine on Hurricane Creek. The blast resulted in the deaths of 38 men. Following the recovery of bodies, an investigation revealed a failure to enforce new safety laws. Traces of dynamite and Primacord were found inside the mine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After resigning the presidency, Richard Nixon made his first public appearance, in July 1978, at the Leslie County dedication of a recreation facility named for him. County Judge-Executive C. Allen Muncy claimed the Nixon invitation prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain indictments of him and his associates on vote-fraud charges; while on appeal for his conviction, he won renomination in the Republican primary but lost the 1981 general election to independent Kermit Keen.<ref>"The Big Lever," Appalshop Inc., 1982</ref>

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.9%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Adjacent counties

• Perry County (northeast)
• Harlan County (southeast)
• Bell County (southwest)
• Clay County (west)

Demographics

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 12,401 people, 4,885 households, and 3,668 families residing in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 5,502 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 97.18% White, 0.07% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races; 0.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,885 households, out of which 35.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were married couples living together, 12.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.90% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.60% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $18,546, and the median income for a family was $22,225. Males had a median income of $28,708 versus $18,080 for females. The per capita income for the county was $10,429. About 30.20% of families and 32.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.80% of those under age 18 and 27.00% of those age 65 or over.

Life expectancy and health

Of 3,142 counties in the United States in 2014, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation ranked Leslie County 3,120 in the average life expectancy at birth of male residents and 3,130 in the life expectancy of female residents. Life expectancy in Leslie county ranked in the bottom 10 percent among U.S. counties. Males in Leslie County lived an average of 70.0 years and females lived an average of 74.7 years compared to the national average for life expectancy of 76.7 for males and 81.5 for females. In the 1980-2014 period, the average life expectancy in Leslie County for females decreased by 4.0 years while male longevity decreased by 0.1 years compared to the national average for the same period of an increased life expectancy of 4.0 years for women and 6.7 years for men. Factors contributing to the short, and declining, life expectancy of residents of Leslie county included obesity, smoking, and low amounts of exercise.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Leslie County">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2020, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked Leslie country 107 of 120 counties in Kentucky in "health outcomes," as measured by length and quality of life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Economy

Coal companies in Leslie County

• James River Coal Company<ref>James River Coal Company – Blue Diamond complex</ref><ref>James River Coal Company – Bledsoe complex</ref>

Infrastructure

Transportation

Public transportation is provided by LKLP Community Action Partnership with demand-response service and scheduled service from Hyden to Hazard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

City

• Hyden (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

• Asher
• Bear Branch
• Big Rock
• Causey
• Chappell
• Cinda
• Confluence
• Cutshin
• Essie
• Frew
• [[Grassy, Kentucky (Leslie County)
• Hals Fork, Kentucky
• Hare
• Hell for Certain
• Helton
• Hoskinston
• Kaliopi
• Middlefork
• Mozelle
• Roark
• Sizerock
• Smilax
• Stinnett
• Thousandsticks
• Toulouse
• Warbranch
• Wendover
• Wooton
• Yeaddis

Politics

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot Leslie County is one of forty-four United States countiesTemplate:Efn to have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since its creation in 1878. In 1892,<ref>Góelections; Popular Vote at the Presidential Election of 1892</ref> 1908, and 1916<ref>Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; 1916 Presidential Election Statistics</ref> it was the most Republican county in the nation. Leslie's fierce Unionist sympathies, so strong that areas surrounding it contributed more troops to the Union Army relative to population than any other part of the United States,<ref>Marshall, Anne E.; Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State, pp. 114-115 Template:ISBN</ref> meant that between 1896 and 1928 no Democrat could receive even ten percent of the county's vote,<ref name="Presidential">Robinson, Edgar Eugene; The Presidential Vote 1896-1932, p. 270 Template:ISBN</ref> and none received so much as twenty-five percent until Lyndon Johnson managed over 47 percent in his landslide national triumph against Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Despite Goldwater's relatively poor performance, every Republican candidate since the county's formation has obtained an absolute majority in Leslie County, and only William Howard Taft in the divided 1912 election,<ref name="Presidential"/> George H. W. Bush in 1992, and Bob Dole in 1996 have otherwise received under seventy percent for the GOP. Both Mitt Romney and Donald Trump received almost ninety percent of the vote in this county, making Leslie the strongest GOP county in Kentucky (see chart below).

Elected officials

Elected officials as of January 3, 2025<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
U.S. House	Template:Party shading/Republican|Hal Rogers (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|Template:Ushr
Ky. Senate	Template:Party shading/Republican|Brandon Smith (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|30
Ky. House	Template:Party shading/Republican|Derek Lewis (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|90

Notable people

• Elmer Begley, secretary of state of Kentucky from 1968 to 1970
• Roger Bowling, songwriter
• Hugh X. Lewis, country music singer-songwriter
• William Lewis, former U.S. Representative from Kentucky
• Bobby Osborne, bluegrass musician
• Sonny Osborne, bluegrass musician
• Willie Sandlin, soldier in the U.S. Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War I

See also

• Dry counties
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Leslie County, Kentucky

External links

• The Kentucky Highlands Project
• LeslieCounty.Net - oldest and largest site dealing with Leslie County