Logan County, Kentucky

Logan County is a county in the southwest Pennyroyal Plateau area of Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,432.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Russellville.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who had been second in command of the Kentucky militia during the American Revolutionary War and was a leader in bringing statehood to the area.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Created from Lincoln County on September 1, 1792, Logan was the 13th Kentucky county in order of formation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Its original territory stretched from the Mississippi in the west to the Little Barren River in the east, and from the Green and Ohio Rivers in the north to the Tennessee border on the south; since then, 28 other counties have been formed within that area.<ref name="KyEnc">Richardson, Evelyn B. Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 568. "Logan County". University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1992. Accessed July 27, 2013.</ref> The settlement of Logan Court House was made the county seat at its incorporation under the name Russellville.

Future President Andrew Jackson fought a pistol duel against Charles Dickinson at Harrison's Mill in Logan County on May 30, 1806. Jackson was seriously wounded and Dickinson was killed.<ref name=KyEnc/>

During the post-Reconstruction period, there was considerable racial violence by white mobs against black citizens in Logan County. Racist mobs lynched 12 African Americans in the county during the years between 1877 and 1908; most were killed around the turn of the 20th century. This is a higher total than in all but one other county in the state.<ref>Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynchings by CountyTemplate:Dead link, 3rd Ed. (2015) p. 5</ref> Four men were killed in a mass lynching on August 1, 1908, in Russellville, during the civil unrest associated with the Black Patch Tobacco Wars. Sharecroppers Joseph Riley, and Virgil, Robert, and Thomas Jones,<ref>"Lynching in Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky", Photographic postcard, Oshkosh Public Museum</ref> the last three members of the same family, were all hanged from the same cedar tree. They were the last persons lynched in Logan county.<ref>George C. Wright, Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865--1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings", LSU Press (1996) pp. 124-125</ref>

Logan was a major tobacco-growing county, with Dark Fired Tobacco produced by a special smoke processing. From 1906 some of its farmers became involved in the violent Black Patch Tobacco Wars, joining the Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee to mobilize against the monopoly power of the American Tobacco Company, which had driven down prices to where farmers could barely make a living. Paramilitary Night Riders threatened other tobacco planters to "persuade" them to join the PPA. In late 1907 and early 1908, hundreds of Night Riders conducted raids against tobacco warehouses in some Kentucky towns. They struck Russellville on January 3, 1908, taking over the city and dynamiting two tobacco factories.<ref>Griffin, Mark. Stand There and Tremble: When the Night Riders Came to Russellville . Pumpkin Bomb Press (2008)</ref>

21st century

In 2009, the Logan County/Russellville Little League Baseball team won the Little League World Series Great Lakes Regional Tournament as the 4th team from Kentucky to do so (as of 2017, Kentucky has had seven teams win the Great Lakes Tournament) to represent the Great Lakes Region in the Little League World Series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography

Logan County is on the south border of Kentucky; its south line abuts the north line of Tennessee. Its low hills are completely devoted to agriculture or urban development.<ref name="LCK">Logan County KY (Google Maps, accessed August 29, 2020)</ref> Its highest point (Template:Convert ASL) is Rainbow Rock Knob WSW, located Template:Convert ESE from Russellville.<ref>Logan (Highest Point) (PeakBagger.com, accessed August 29, 2020)</ref> The Red River flows northwestward through the central and west part of the county, discharging into Todd County on the west.<ref name=LCK/>

According to the United States 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>Template:Cite web</ref>

Adjacent counties

• Muhlenberg County - northwest
• Butler County - north
• Warren County - northeast
• Simpson County - southeast
• Robertson County, Tennessee - south
• Todd County - west

Lakes

• Briggs Lake
• Boy Scout Lake
• Lake Herndon
• Spa Lake
• Lake Malone (part)<ref name=LCK/>

2000 Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 26,573 people, 10,506 households, and 7,574 families in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 11,875 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 90.70% White, 7.62% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.33% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. 1.08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 10,506 households, out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.20% were married couples living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.90% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96.

The county population contained 25.70% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,474, and the median income for a family was $39,307. Males had a median income of $29,750 versus $20,265 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,962. About 10.80% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.50% of those under age 18 and 18.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Adairville
• Auburn
• Lewisburg
• Russellville (county seat)

Census-designated place

• Dunmor (mostly in Muhlenberg County)

Unincorporated places

• Chandlers Chapel
• Corinth
• Dot
• Epleys
• Gasper
• Gordonsville
• Hilltop
• Hollow Bill
• Keysburg
• Lickskillet
• Olmstead
• Richelieu<ref>Richelieu KY (Google Maps, accessed August 29, 2020)</ref><ref>Richelieu (Auburn KY). Accessed August 29, 2020)</ref>
• Schochoh
• South Union
• Whipporwill

Attractions

• Lake Malone State Park
• Red River Meeting House
• Shaker Museum at South Union

Notable people

• Peter Cartwright — 2nd Great Awakening preacher
• Alice Allison Dunnigan — African American journalist and activist
• Philip Alston — counterfeiter and early settler near Russellville<ref>Alex C. Finley. 1876, Reprint c. 2000. The History of Russellville and Logan County, Ky. Reprint: Russellville, Ky.: A. B. Willhite. 21–23, 25, 42 (numbering from reprint).</ref>
• Jim Bowie
• Green Pinckney Russell (1861–1939) — American school administrator and teacher<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Mark Thompson (baseball) — MLB pitcher

Politics

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|James Comer (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|Template:Ushr
	Template:Party shading/Republican|Brett Guthrie (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|Template:Ushr
Ky. Senate	Template:Party shading/Republican|Mike Wilson (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|32
Ky. House	Template:Party shading/Republican|Jason Petrie (R)	Template:Party shading/Republican|16

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Logan County, Kentucky
• News Democrat & Leader, local newspaper