Editing Livermore, Kentucky

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Livermore, Kentucky
|settlement_type          = [[list of Ky cities|City]]
|named_for                = 
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = McLean County Public Library, Livermore.jpg
|imagesize                = 250px
|image_caption            = McLean County Public Library
|image_flag               = Flag of Livermore, Kentucky.png
|image_seal               =
|image_blank_emblem       = Logo of Livermore, Kentucky.png
|blank_emblem_type        = Logo
<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = File:McLean County Kentucky Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Livermore Highlighted 2147062.svg
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location in McLean County, Kentucky
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Kentucky]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Kentucky|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[McLean County, Kentucky|McLean]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Mayor
|leader_name              = Sharon Nell Boyken
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = Incorporated
|established_date         = 1850

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022">{{cite web |title=2022 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Kentucky |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2022_Gazetteer/2022_gaz_place_21.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |accessdate=May 11, 2023}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 2.70
|area_land_km2            = 2.68
|area_water_km2           = 0.03
|area_total_sq_mi         = 1.04
|area_land_sq_mi          = 1.03
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.01

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="Census 2020">{{Cite web| url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=&g=1600000US2147062&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1| title=P1. Race – Livermore city, Kentucky: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| access-date=May 11, 2023}}</ref>
|population_total         = 1230
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
|population_density_km2   = 459.76
|population_density_sq_mi = 1190.71

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = 
|elevation_m              = 124
|elevation_ft             = 407
|coordinates              = {{coord|37|29|28|N|87|8|7|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 42352
|area_code                = [[Area code 270|270]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 21-47062
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 0496908
|website                  = {{URL|www.cityoflivermore.info}}
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Livermore''' ({{IPAc-en|local|ˈ|l|ɪ|v|ər|m|ɔər}})<ref name=ren/> is a [[list of Kentucky cities|home rule-class city]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.klc.org/UserFiles/files/ClassificationReformFACT(3).pdf |title=Summary and Reference Guide to House Bill 331 City Classification Reform |publisher=Kentucky League of Cities |access-date=December 30, 2014}}</ref> located at the confluence of the [[Green River (Kentucky)|Green]] and [[Rough River|Rough]] [[list of Kentucky rivers|rivers]] in [[McLean County, Kentucky|McLean County]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Kentucky]]. The population was 1,230 as of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]],<ref name="Census 2020"/> down from 1,365 in [[2010 United States census|2010]]. It is included in the [[Owensboro metropolitan area]].

==History==

===Early years===
William Brown founded the city in 1837 as "Brown's Landing", but the post office established the next year took the name Livermore. The origin is disputed: some historians trace it to an otherwise-unknown shopkeeper named James Livermore, others to civil engineer Alonzo Livermore who helped construct a dam across the Green River at [[Rumsey, Kentucky|Rumsey]].<ref name=ren>Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&pg=PA176 p. 176]. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013.</ref> The city was formally incorporated by the [[Kentucky Assembly|state assembly]] in 1850.<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Lewis|title=History of Kentucky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5FQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA597|year=1877|page=597|isbn=9780722249208 }}</ref><ref name=sos>Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Livermore, Kentucky". Accessed 1 August 2013.</ref>

===Opera house lynching===
Livermore achieved national and international notoriety in the second decade of the 20th century for a bizarre [[lynching]]. On April 20, 1911, a black man named Will Porter (or Potter) shot and wounded Clarence Mitchell, a white man, after a barroom argument. Sheriff V.P. Stabler then arrested Porter. After this, accounts vary. The ''New York Times'' account holds that a local mob of fifty overwhelmed the sheriff, who had hid Porter in the opera house basement to protect him. They then bound Porter's hands and feet, took him to the center stage, and shot him there.<ref>''New York Times'', reprinted in the ''Bangor Daily Commercial''. 27 April 1911. Op. cit. Brundage, W. Fitzhugh. ''Under Sentence of Death: Lynching in the South'', p. 251. U.N.C. Press (Chapel Hill), 1997. Op. cit. Goldsby, Jacqueline. ''A Spectacular Secret: Lynching in American Life and Literature'', p. 227. Uni. of Chicago Press (Chicago), 2006.</ref> Another version reported by several Kentucky papers omitted the sheriff's concern and had Porter taken from the jail to the opera house, where admission was charged to witness the hanging. Those in the gallery were permitted a single shot at Porter; those in the orchestra seats were allowed to empty their guns.<ref name=kenky>{{cite book |title=''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'' |chapter=Livermore |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=[[New York, New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0-403-09981-1}}</ref>

The [[NAACP]] quickly condemned the lynching and sent letters to [[President Taft]], the Congress, and [[Augustus E. Willson|Governor Willson]] of Kentucky. At Willson's insistence, Kentucky issued warrants for 18 of the lynchers; three leaders – including Mitchell's brother Lawrence – were separately indicted and tried for murder, but quickly acquitted.<ref name=kenky/> At the time of the indictments, it was locally reported that Clarence Mitchell, "the young white man" whose shooting had enraged the Livermore mob, "has since fully recovered, and has married."<ref>''Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer'', 11 July 1911, p.8.</ref> Following acquittal of the three ringleaders in fall 1911, indictments of the remaining 15 were "filed away" and appear to have never been brought to trial.<ref>''Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer'', 19 January 1912, p.8</ref> In 1915, both presiding Judge T. F. Birkhead and Commonwealth Attorney Ben D. Ringo were defeated for reelection, Birkhead receiving not one vote from McLean County.<ref>''Owensboro Daily Messenger'', 3 November 1915, p. 1</ref>

==Geography==
Livermore is located in eastern McLean County at {{coord|37|29|28|N|87|8|7|W|type:city}} (37.490987, -87.135340),<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> on the north side of the Green River and Rough River. It is bordered to the south, across the Rough River, by [[Ohio County, Kentucky|Ohio County]].

[[U.S. Route 431]] passes through the east side of Livermore as Henton Street. The highway leads north {{convert|20|mi}} to [[Owensboro, Kentucky|Owensboro]] and south {{convert|15|mi}} to [[Central City, Kentucky|Central City]]. [[Kentucky Route 136]] passes through the northern part of the city, leading west {{convert|9|mi|0}} to [[Calhoun, Kentucky|Calhoun]], the McLean [[county seat]], and east {{Convert|14|mi}} to [[Hartford, Kentucky|Hartford]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], Livermore has a total area of {{convert|1.04|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|0.007|sqmi|3}}, or 0.67%, are water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1870= 302
|1880= 399
|1890= 622
|1900= 869
|1910= 1220
|1920= 1426
|1930= 1573
|1940= 1601
|1950= 1441
|1960= 1506
|1970= 1594
|1980= 1672
|1990= 1534
|2000= 1482
|2010= 1365
|2020= 1230
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 1,482 people, 614 households, and 405 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,438.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 667 housing units at an average density of {{convert|647.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 97.98% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.07% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.13% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.07% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.81% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.94% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.75% of the population.

There were 614 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,086, and the median income for a family was $27,404. Males had a median income of $25,083 versus $19,583 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $15,049. About 18.0% of families and 18.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 19.0% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
Livermore has a [[public library|lending library]], the McLean County Public Library.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/pages/librarydirectory.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111202017/https://kdla.ky.gov/librarians/pages/librarydirectory.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 January 2019 | title=Kentucky Public Library Directory | publisher=Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives | access-date=7 June 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|www.cityoflivermore.info}}
* Amy Louise Wood, [http://www.southernspaces.org/2009/they-never-witnessed-such-melodrama "They Never Witnessed Such a Melodrama"], ''Southern Spaces'', 27 April 2009.

{{McLean County, Kentucky}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Cities in McLean County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Owensboro metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Coal towns in Kentucky]]