Georgetown, Kentucky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Georgetown, Kentucky
City
Nickname(s):  G-Town
Location of Georgetown in Scott County, Kentucky.
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Counties	Scott
Established	1784
Area
• Total	17.15 sq mi (44.41 km2)
• Land	16.98 sq mi (43.99 km2)
• Water	0.17 sq mi (0.43 km2)
Elevation	846 ft (258 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	37,086
• Density	2,183.58/sq mi (843.09/km2)
• Demonym	Georgetonian
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	40324
Area code(s)	502
FIPS code	021209
GNIS feature ID	0492790
Website	http://www.georgetownky.gov

Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The 2020 population was 37,086 per the United States Census Bureau. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originally called Lebanon when founded by Rev. Elijah Craig and was renamed in 1790 in honor of President George Washington. It is the home of Georgetown College, a private liberal arts college. Georgetown is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. At one time the city served as the training camp home for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.

The city's growth began in the mid-1980s, when Toyota built Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, its first wholly owned United States plant, in Georgetown. The plant opened in 1988; it builds the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Lexus ES, and RAV4 Hybrid automobiles.

History

Ward Hall, a Greek Revival landmark

Native peoples have lived along the banks of Elkhorn Creek in what is now Scott County for at least 15,000 years. European exploration can be dated to a June 1774 surveying expedition from Fincastle County, Virginia, led by Colonel John Floyd. For his military service, he was granted a claim of 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) in the area by the state of Virginia. He named it Royal Spring but did not settle it. John McClellan was the first to settle the area and established McClellan's Station there in 1775, but the compound was abandoned following an Indian attack on December 29, 1776.

In 1782, the Baptist preacher Elijah Craig led his congregation to the site and established a new settlement which he called Lebanon. This was incorporated by the Virginia legislature in 1784. Craig established some of the first mills west of the Appalachian Mountains along the Royal Spring Branch, manufacturing cloth and paper. He also founded a distillery in 1789, as well as a school called the Rittenhouse Academy. This eventually grew into Georgetown College. The city's name was changed to George Town in honor of President George Washington in 1790. When Kentucky became the 15th U.S. state in 1792 and formed Scott County, George Town became its seat of government. The name was formally changed to Georgetown in 1846.

During the Civil War, Georgetown was raided by Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan twice, once on July 15, 1862, and the second time on July 10, 1864. Following the war, the town became a railroad hub, connected to the Cincinnati Southern, the Louisville Southern, and the Frankfort & Cincinnati. The last was considered the "whiskey route" and brought much of the region's bourbon to market. From 1896 to 1987, the Cardome Centre site was the location of a girl's academy founded by the Sisters of Visitation. It now serves as a community center for the city of Georgetown.

Throughout the 20th century, Georgetown has been in transition from an economy based primarily on agriculture, to a diversified one mixing manufacturing, small business, and the family farm. During the 1960s, the construction of Interstate 75 placed the city on one of the busiest highways in America. The selection of Georgetown as the site of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in 1985 has resulted in the greatest period of growth in the city's history. The historic Ward Hall, now the home of The Ward Hall Preservation Foundation, is located just outside Georgetown. Ward Hall was the summer home of Junius Ward. The home represents the height of the Greek Revival period of architecture in Kentucky.

The Georgetown business section has a historic district known as the Oxford Historic District.

Geography

Georgetown is located at 38°12′52″N 84°33′20″W / 38.21444°N 84.55556°W / 38.21444; -84.55556 (38.214542, -84.555496).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.85 square miles (41 km²), all land.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 29,098 people 10,733 households, and 7,452 families in the city. The population density was 1,836.4 per square mile (709.0/km²). There were 11,957 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 87.5% White, 7.0% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.3% of the population. According to the 2010 census, Georgetown is Kentucky's ninth largest city.

There were 10,733 households, out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% 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 3.09.

The age distribution was 27.9% under 18 and 8.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 31.7 years. The median income for a household in the city was $51,692. The per capita income for the city was $24,376. About 13.9% of the population was below the poverty line.

Culture

Sister city

Georgetown has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Tahara, Aichi, Japan

News publications

Georgetown's newspaper, the Georgetown News-Graphic, prints on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Residents of the area commonly subscribe to this locally geared newspaper in addition to the larger Lexington daily newspaper, the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Notable residents

• Benjamin Franklin Bradley - politician, representative to the Confederate States Congress from Kentucky. Born in Georgetown in 1825.
• Stephen G. Burbridge - U.S. Army major general during the Civil War. Born in Georgetown in 1831.
• J. Campbell Cantrill - politician, U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Born in Georgetown in 1870.
• Elijah Craig - early Baptist preacher, educator and entrepreneur, worked on protecting religious freedom with James Madison of Virginia.
• Basil W. Duke - lawyer and Confederate general officer during the Civil War. Born in Georgetown in 1838.
• William H. Hatch - politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri. Born in Georgetown in 1833.
• Tom L. Johnson - U.S. Representative from Ohio 1891–95, Mayor of Cleveland 1901–1909. Born in Georgetown in 1854.
• Dallas Robinson - 2014 Olympian-soldier, sole Olympian from Kentucky in the Sochi Russia Games.
• James F. Robinson - politician, 22nd Governor of Kentucky. Federal Governor during the Civil War. Cardome in Georgetown was his family home.
• John McCracken Robinson - politician, U.S. Senator from Illinois. Born in Georgetown in 1794.
• Gustavus W. Smith - General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; Confederate Secretary of War in 1862.
• Barton W. Stone - influential Presbyterian and Restorationist preacher of the Second Great Awakening; founded the Restoration Movement with Alexander Campbell
• Steve Zahn - actor, lives on a 330-acre (1.3 km²) horse farm

Photo gallery

Economy

The best selling car in the United States, the Toyota Camry, is manufactured in Georgetown

Top employers

Education

Giddings Hall on campus of Georgetown College.

Georgetown College is a private liberal arts college located in the downtown area of Georgetown. Baptist Seminary of Kentucky is a seminary in Georgetown.

Public education in Georgetown and Scott County consists of a preschool center serving special needs and economically at-risk students aged 3–5, nine elementary schools (grades K–5), three middle schools (grades 6–8) and two high schools (grades 9–12). These schools are all part of the Scott County Schools system. Plans had been in progress for an additional high school and middle school within the city limits during the 2010s due to the expanding population. The district chose not to build a new middle school, opting instead to expand one of its three existing middle schools, but opened a new high school and a new elementary school in 2019. Scott County High School also houses a separate (though still attached) wing for students in the ninth grade, called the Ninth Grade Center, which was developed to ease the transition for students between middle school and high school. Elkhorn Crossing School, which had been a detached campus of Scott County High before the 2019 opening of Great Crossing High School, provides some sophomores and juniors at both high schools with a curriculum that integrates academic and career-based disciplines. Another unique feature, the Alternative School, is also part of the Scott County High School educational complex. The Alternative School strives to educate students who may have difficulties in a normal classroom setting (for example, those with disciplinary or other concerns).

Public schools located within Georgetown and Scott County include:

Private education in Georgetown and Scott County includes St. John elementary and middle school, Providence Christian Academy elementary and middle school, and Keystone Montessori elementary school.

Infrastructure

Healthcare

Georgetown has one hospital, Georgetown Community Hospital, operated by LifePoint Health.

UK HealthCare and Baptist Health Lexington have regional campuses in Georgetown. Georgetown also has many nursing facilities, including Signature HealthCARE of Georgetown, Windsor Gardens Retirement Community, and Dover Manor Nursing Home.

Notable people

• Benjamin Franklin Bradley (1825−1897) – politician, representative to the Confederate States Congress from Kentucky. Born in Georgetown.
• Stephen G. Burbridge (1831−1894) – U.S. Army major general during the Civil War. Born in Georgetown.
• J. Campbell Cantrill (1870−1923) – politician, US Representative from Kentucky. Born in Georgetown.
• Jean Murrell Capers (1913−2017) - Ohio state judge and Cleveland City Council member. Born in Georgetown.
• Elijah Craig (1738−1808) – early Baptist preacher, educator and entrepreneur, worked on protecting religious freedom with James Madison of Virginia.
• Basil W. Duke (1838−1916) – lawyer and Confederate general officer during the Civil War. Born in Georgetown.
• William H. Hatch (1833−1896) – politician, US Representative from Missouri. Born in Georgetown.
• Tom L. Johnson (1854−1911) – US Representative from Ohio 1891–95, Mayor of Cleveland 1901–1909. Born in Georgetown.
• Amy McGrath (1975– ) − US Marine aviator and politician
• Dallas Robinson (1982– ) − 2014 Olympian-soldier, sole Olympian from Kentucky in the Sochi Russia Games.
• James Fisher Robinson (1800−1882) – politician, 22nd Governor of Kentucky. Federal Governor during the Civil War. Cardome in Georgetown was his family home.
• John McCracken Robinson (1794−1893) – politician, US Senator from Illinois. Born in Georgetown.
• Gustavus Woodson Smith (1821−1896) – General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; Confederate Secretary of War in 1862.
• Barton W. Stone (1772−1844) – influential Presbyterian and Restorationist preacher of the Second Great Awakening; founded the Restoration Movement with Alexander Campbell
• Steve Zahn (1967− ) – actor, lives on a 330-acre (1.3 km²) horse farm near Georgetown.

See also

In Spanish: Georgetown (Kentucky) para niños