| County: | Edmonson County |
| State: | Kentucky |
| Flag: | Flag of Edmonson County, Kentucky.png |
| Founded Year: | 1825 |
| Founded Date: | January 12 |
| Seat Wl: | Brownsville |
| Largest City Wl: | Brownsville |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 308 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 303 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 5.1 |
| Area Percentage: | 1.7% |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 12126 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Est: | 12448 |
| Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Web: | https://www.edmonsoncounty.org/ |
| Ex Image: | Edmonson County Courthouse.png |
| Ex Image Cap: | Edmonson County Courthouse in Brownsville |
| District: | 2nd |
Edmonson County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,126.[1] Its county seat and only municipality is Brownsville.[2] The county was formed in 1825 and named for Captain John "Jack" Edmonson (1764–1813), who was killed at the Battle of Frenchtown during the War of 1812.[3] [4] [5] [6] This is a dry county where the sale of alcohol is prohibited. Edmonson County is included in the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Edmonson County was established on January 12, 1825, from land given by Grayson, Hart and Warren counties. A courthouse built in 1873 replaced a former structure rendered unfit when its floor collapsed.[7]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (1.7%) is water.[8]
As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 11,644 people, 4,648 households, and 3,462 families residing in the county. The population density was 38/sqmi. There were 6,104 housing units at an average density of 20/sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 98.39% White, 0.58% Black or African American, 0.44% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. 0.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,648 households, out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.50% were non-families. 22.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.60% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 25.30% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 males there were 92.50 females. For every 100 males age 18 and over, there were 89.33 females.
The median income for a household in the county was $25,413, and the median income for a family was $31,843. Males had a median income of $26,770 versus $17,158 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,480. About 14.20% of families and 18.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.50% of those under age 18 and 21.00% of those age 65 or over.
Edmonson is an ancestrally Republican stronghold, last voting Democrat narrowly in 1912.
There are currently five public schools operating as part of the Edmonson County School System. They are Kyrock Elementary (in the Kyrock community in northern Edmonson County), South Edmonson Elementary (near the Chalybeate community in southern Edmonson County), the Edmonson County Fifth/Sixth Grade Center, Edmonson County Middle School, and Edmonson County High School (all in Brownsville).
There are two main routes that form the major transportation corridors through Edmonson County.
KY 70 is the primary west to east route, traversing the width of the county.
KY 259 enters Edmonson County at the border with Grayson County, near the town of Bee Spring. The highway continues on, bridging the Green River (the only bridge over the river in Edmonson County), before intersecting with KY 101. KY 259 then branches off in a southeastern direction while KY 101 continues as the main north–south route through the county, exiting into Warren County just south of the community of Chalybeate.
Additionally, KY 185 is a north–south route connecting Bowling Green with locations in the western part of the county and points north into Grayson County. I-65 passes through the southeastern tip of the county, but has no interchanges allowing access to the freeway within the county. I-65 parallels the older US 31W, which runs through a small southeastern portion of the county.
The biggest tourist attraction in Edmonson County is Mammoth Cave National Park, which usually draws almost 2 million visitors a year.[10] The park includes in its area roughly a fourth of the county.[11]
Located mostly in the northern part of Edmonson County, the Nolin Lake area was incorporated as a Kentucky State Park in 1996. The lake itself was created following the 1963 impounding of the Nolin River and construction of Nolin Dam. The lake offers fishing and other recreational opportunities.
Edmonson County is served by a weekly newspaper, the Edmonson News. The paper is sometimes referred to by its nickname, "the Gimlet", and carries the slogan "It Bores In". The paper has a circulation number of 3,704.[12]
Edmonson County is part of the Bowling Green radio and television markets, and is served mainly by that city's radio and TV outlets. Mediacom is the local cable provider serving most of the county. In 2022, Glasgow-based South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative began servicing parts of Edmonson County and Warren County with cable, phone and internet service.
The unincorporated community of Wingfield, in southwestern Edmonson County, is home to the transmitting tower of adult hits-formatted radio station WKLX (100.7 FM, officially licensed in Brownsville) and low-powered television station WCZU-LD (channel 39). Both outlets operate outside of Edmonson County.[13]
Additionally, Edmonson County is also served by an online news website, Edmonson Voice.[14] It is a multimedia platform that operates as a combination of an online newspaper, a streaming broadcaster, and video report provider. The company serves as the main media outlet in the county with a weekly readership of over 23,000.[15]
Volunteers have digitized and created a repository of video related to Edmonson County High School on YouTube. The archive contains a variety of media, including graduation ceremonies, proms, and athletic events.[16]
Edmonson County has had national exposure on two occasions. On March 6, 2007, MTV wrote an article titled "Who's Joining The Army"[17] in which they stated Edmonson County has the highest Army enlistment rate of any county in the United States. In January 2017, the Edmonson County Sheriff's Department has been featured on A&E Television's Live PD in the 14th and 15th episodes of that program's first season.
Edmonson County was one of two main locations where two faith-based films, The Prayer Box and Christmas Manger, were filmed in 2017 and 2018, respectively.[18] [19] Edmonson County is one of three other locations where the upcoming thriller film Horntak is being filmed.[20]
Source: Edmonson County Tourism Commission