Editing Leslie County, Kentucky

{{short description|County in Kentucky, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Leslie County
 | state                = Kentucky
 | image_flag           = Flag of Leslie County, Kentucky.svg
 | seal                 = 
 | founded year         = 1878
 | founded date         = 
 | seat wl              = Hyden
 | largest city wl      = Hyden
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 404
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 401
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 3.6
 | area percentage      = 0.9
 | census yr            = 2020
 | population_total     = 10513 
 | pop_est_as_of        = 2024
 | population_est       = 
9729 {{decrease}}
 | density_sq_mi        = auto
 | time zone            = Eastern
 | footnotes            = 
 | web                  = www.lesliecounty.ky.gov
 | named for            = [[Preston Leslie]]
 | ex image             = Leslie County Kentucky Courthouse.jpg
 | ex image cap         = Leslie County courthouse in Hyden
 | district             = 5th 
}}

'''Leslie County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Kentucky]]. Its [[county seat]] and largest city is [[Hyden, Kentucky|Hyden]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the population was 10,513.<ref name="GR2" /> It was formed in 1878 from portions of [[Clay County, Kentucky|Clay]], [[Harlan County, Kentucky|Harlan]], and [[Perry County, Kentucky|Perry]] counties, and named for [[Preston Leslie]], [[governor of Kentucky]] from 1871 to 1875.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leslie County (KY) Free Blacks and Free Mulattoes, 1880-1910 · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database |url=https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2421#:~:text=Leslie%20County%20was%20formed%20in,later%20territorial%20governor%20of%20Montana. |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=nkaa.uky.edu}}</ref>

==History==
Leslie County was formed in 1878 from portions of Clay, Harlan, and Perry counties, and named for governor Preston Leslie.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leslie County Kentucky - Historical |url=http://www.trailsrus.com/lesliecounty/historical.html |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=www.trailsrus.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Around Town! |url=http://www.leslieky.com/leslie-county-main |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=Hyden & Leslie County |language=en-US}}</ref> Its county seat, Hyden, is named for state senator [[John Hyden (Kentucky politician)|John Hyden]], who was one of the commissioners that helped form the county.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hyden, Kentucky |url=https://www.kyatlas.com/ky-hyden.html |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=www.kyatlas.com}}</ref>

On December 30, 1970, a blast occurred at the [[Hurricane Creek mine disaster|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>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=McKenzie |title=Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster |url=https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/559 |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=ExploreKYHistory |language=en}}</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 {{convert|404|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|401|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|3.6|sqmi}} (0.9%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_21.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 17, 2014 |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812210847/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_21.txt |archive-date=August 12, 2014 }}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Perry County, Kentucky|Perry County]]  (northeast)
* [[Harlan County, Kentucky|Harlan County]]  (southeast)
* [[Bell County, Kentucky|Bell County]]  (southwest)
* [[Clay County, Kentucky|Clay County]]  (west)

==Demographics==

{{US Census population
| 1880 = 3740
| 1890 = 3964
| 1900 = 6753
| 1910 = 8976
| 1920 = 10097
| 1930 = 10765
| 1940 = 14981
| 1950 = 15537
| 1960 = 10941
| 1970 = 11623
| 1980 = 14882
| 1990 = 13642
| 2000 = 12401
| 2010 = 11310
| 2020 = 10513
| align-fn = center
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ky190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 17, 2014}}</ref> 2010-2021<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/21/21131.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607102613/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/21/21131.html|archive-date=June 7, 2011}}</ref>
| estimate = 9729
| estref = <ref name="USCensusEst2024">{{Cite web |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2024 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html|access-date=March 13, 2025 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>
| estyear = 2024
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 12,401 people, 4,885 households, and 3,668 families residing in the county. The [[population density]] was {{convert|31|/sqmi|/km2}}. There were 5,502 housing units at an average density of {{convert|14|/sqmi|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the county was 97.18% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 0.07% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.09% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.12% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.02% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.05% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.50% from two or more races; 0.62% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|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 [[Marriage|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>{{cite web |title=US Health Map |url=https://vizhub.healthdata.org/subnational/usa |website=Institute of Health Metrics and Evaulation |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=December 28, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Leslie County">{{cite web |title=County Profiles: Leslie County, Kentucky |url=http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/county_profiles/US/2015/County_Report_Leslie_County_Kentucky.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702073347/http://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/county_profiles/US/2015/County_Report_Leslie_County_Kentucky.pdf |archive-date=July 2, 2017 |url-status=live |website=Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=December 28, 2020}}</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>{{cite web |title=2020 Kentucky Report |url=https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/kentucky/2020/rankings/leslie/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot |website=Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |access-date=December 27, 2020}}</ref>

==Economy==

===Coal companies in Leslie County===
* James River Coal Company<ref>[http://www.jamesrivercoal.com/bluediamond.htm James River Coal Company – Blue Diamond complex]</ref><ref>[http://www.jamesrivercoal.com/bledsoe.htm James River Coal Company – Bledsoe complex]</ref>

==Infrastructure==
===Transportation===
Public transportation is provided by LKLP [[Community Action Agencies|Community Action Partnership]] with demand-response service and scheduled service from [[Hyden, Kentucky|Hyden]] to [[Hazard, Kentucky|Hazard]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = LKLP Community Action Council, Inc. > Programs > Public Transportation| access-date = May 19, 2015| url = http://www.lklp.org/Programs/Public-Transportation}}</ref>

==Communities==

=== City ===

* [[Hyden, Kentucky|Hyden]] (county seat)

=== Unincorporated communities ===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Asher, Kentucky|Asher]]
* [[Bear Branch, Kentucky|Bear Branch]]
* [[Big Rock, Kentucky|Big Rock]]
* [[Causey, Kentucky|Causey]]
* [[Chappell, Kentucky|Chappell]]
* [[Cinda, Kentucky|Cinda]]
* [[Confluence, Kentucky|Confluence]]
* [[Cutshin, Kentucky|Cutshin]]
* [[Essie, Kentucky|Essie]]
* [[Frew, Kentucky|Frew]]
* [[Grassy, Kentucky (Leslie County)
* Hals Fork, Kentucky  
* [[Hare, Kentucky|Hare]]
* [[Hell for Certain, Kentucky|Hell for Certain]]
* [[Helton, Kentucky|Helton]]
* [[Hoskinston, Kentucky|Hoskinston]]
* [[Kaliopi, Kentucky|Kaliopi]]
* [[Middlefork, Kentucky|Middlefork]]
* [[Mozelle, Kentucky|Mozelle]]
* [[Roark, Kentucky|Roark]]
* [[Sizerock, Kentucky|Sizerock]]
* [[Smilax, Kentucky|Smilax]]
* [[Stinnett, Kentucky|Stinnett]]
* [[Thousandsticks, Kentucky|Thousandsticks]]
* [[Toulouse, Kentucky|Toulouse]]
* [[Warbranch, Kentucky|Warbranch]]
* [[Wendover, Kentucky|Wendover]]
* [[Wooton, Kentucky|Wooton]]
* [[Yeaddis, Kentucky|Yeaddis]]
{{div col end}}

==Politics==
{{PresHead|place=Leslie County, Kentucky|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=July 3, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|3,908|382|68|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|4,321|446|46|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|4,015|400|77|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|4,439|433|81|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|3,574|766|57|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|3,661|1,266|37|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|3,159|1,210|65|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|2,296|1,466|328|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|2,879|1,591|466|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|3,280|1,105|24|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|3,385|1,075|15|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|3,536|1,327|58|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|3,770|1,478|23|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|3,299|913|24|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|2,615|828|236|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|1,971|1,795|8|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|3,894|795|0|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|3,770|531|14|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|3,239|705|15|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,397|783|62|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,679|499|0|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|3,292|626|3|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|2,716|618|3|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|2,810|569|8|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,806|159|6|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|2,052|223|33|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|2,576|142|16|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,516|133|6|Kentucky}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Republican|606|105|433|Kentucky}}
Leslie County is one of forty-four United States counties{{efn|Thirty-eight counties have never voted Democratic since the Civil War, whilst [[Clinton County, Kentucky|Clinton County]] and [[Cumberland County, Kentucky|Cumberland County]] in Kentucky last did so in 1868, while [[Mitchell County, North Carolina]] and [[Lewis County, Kentucky]] alongside Tennessee’s [[Henderson County, Tennessee|Henderson County]] and [[Wayne County, Tennessee|Wayne County]] last voted Democratic for [[Samuel J. Tilden]] in 1876.}} to have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since its creation in 1878. In 1892,<ref>Góelections; [http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1892.htm Popular Vote at the Presidential Election of 1892]</ref> 1908, and 1916<ref>Dave Leip’s U.S. Election Atlas; [http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1916&f=1&off=0&elect=0 1916 Presidential Election Statistics]</ref> it was the most Republican county in the nation. Leslie's fierce [[Union (American Civil War)|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 {{ISBN|1469609835}}</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 {{ISBN|9780804716963}}</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===
{| class=wikitable
|-
| colspan="3" |'''Elected officials as of January 3, 2025'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/smembers_county.html |title=Senate Members - County |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=apps.legislature.ky.gov |publisher=[[Kentucky General Assembly]] |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/hmembers_county.html |title=House Members - County |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=apps.legislature.ky.gov |publisher=[[Kentucky General Assembly]] |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
|- 
! scope=row|[[U.S. House]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Hal Rogers]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|{{ushr|KY|5|B}}
|- 
! scope=row|[[Kentucky Senate|Ky. Senate]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Brandon Smith (politician)|Brandon Smith]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Kentucky's 30th Senate district|30]]
|- 
! scope=row|[[Kentucky House of Representatives|Ky. House]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Derek Lewis (American politician)|Derek Lewis]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|90
|}

== Notable people ==

* [[Elmer Begley]], secretary of state of Kentucky from 1968 to 1970
* [[Roger Bowling (songwriter)|Roger Bowling]], songwriter
* [[Hugh X. Lewis]], country music singer-songwriter
* [[William Lewis (Kentucky politician)|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==
{{Portal|United States}}
* [[Dry counties]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Leslie County, Kentucky]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721111852/http://www.kentuckyhighlands.com/kh/counties/leslie_county.asp The Kentucky Highlands Project]
* [http://www.lesliecounty.net LeslieCounty.Net] - oldest and largest site dealing with Leslie County

{{Leslie County, Kentucky}}
{{Eastern Mountain Coal Fields (Kentucky)}}
{{Kentucky}}

{{Coord|37.09|-83.38|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-KY_source:UScensus1990}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Leslie County, Kentucky| ]]
[[Category:Kentucky counties]]
[[Category:1878 establishments in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1878]]