List_of_cities_in_Kentucky

List of cities in Kentucky

List of cities in Kentucky

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Kentucky, a state in the United States, has 418 active cities.[1]

Map of the United States with Kentucky highlighted

The two largest, Louisville and Lexington, are designated "first class" cities. A first class city would normally have a mayor-alderman government, but that does not apply to the merged governments in Louisville and Lexington. All other cities have a different form of government, including mayor-council, commission, and city manager, and are designated "home rule class" cities.[2][3]

Classes

Kentucky population density by census tract (2010), showing the concentration of settlement around Jefferson, Fayette and Kenton counties

The two-class system went into effect on January 1, 2015, following the 2014 passage of House Bill 331 by the Kentucky General Assembly and the bill's signing into law by Governor Steve Beshear.[4]

The new system replaced one in which cities were divided into six classes based on their population at the time of their classification. Before the enactment of House Bill 331, more than 400 classification-related laws affected public safety, alcohol beverage control, revenue options and others. Lexington and Fayette County are completely merged in a unitary urban county government (UCG); Louisville and other cities within Jefferson County have also merged into a single metro government. However, under state law, both major cities retained their pre-merger classification[5] before the new scheme took effect. The General Assembly had historically reclassified cities only when requested by the city government. If all cities had been reclassified in the pre-2015 scheme according to actual population, about one-third of classifications would have changed.[5] In particular, Lexington would have been classified as a first-class (Class 1) city.

Although basic city classification changed in 2015, the old classifications will remain relevant for some time. Because many provisions of state law applied only to cities of certain pre-2015 classes, House Bill 331 was explicitly written to address such issues. In certain areas of law, class-based distinctions between cities have been replaced by population-based distinctions. In certain other areas that were more controversial, the pre-2015 status quo is being maintained through a registry of cities that were covered by prior laws.[4]

Under the new system, Louisville and Lexington are classified as first class. All other cities in the state are in the home rule class.

Pre-2015 classifications
More information Class, Population (when class was determined) ...
Five most populous cities in Kentucky

List of cities

Click on the double triangles at the top of a column to sort the table by that column.   County seat[A][6][7]

More information Name, Population (2020) ...

Former cities

Since the 2010 census, some cities in Kentucky were disincorporated and did not appear in the next census.

More information Name, County ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "419 Active Kentucky Cities Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine" & individual pages. Accessed June 29, 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Summary and Reference Guide to House Bill 331: City Classification Reform" (PDF). Kentucky League of Cities. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  3. [3]
    Noble, Jeff (April 30, 2014). "Corbin, other Tri-County cities now in Home Rule Class". The Times-Tribune. Corbin, KY. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  4. [4]
    "City Classification Reform Fact Sheet Now Available". Kentucky League of Cities. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  5. [5]
    "KLC Research Report: The Basics of Kentucky Cities" (PDF). Kentucky League of Cities. September 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  6. [6]
    Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "122 County Seats Archived March 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 15 July 2013.
  7. [7]
    Kleber, John (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
  8. [8]
    "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  9. [9]
    Established 1833.
  10. [10]
    Established 1838.
  11. [11]
    Established 1834.
  12. [12]
    Originally inc. 1865.
  13. [13]
    Established 1799.
  14. [14]
    Established 1812.
  15. [15]
    Originally inc. 1854.
  16. [16]
    Originally inc. as Baird's Town.
  17. [17]
    Established 1788.
  18. [18]
    Originally inc. as Barlow City.
  19. [19]
    Originally inc. 1872.
  20. [20]
    Originally est. as Beatty.
  21. [21]
    Established 1851.
  22. [22]
    Established 1816. Originally inc. 1850.
  23. [23]
    Originally inc. as Berryville. Renamed Berry Station in 1869.
  24. [24]
    Originally inc. as Middletown.
  25. [25]
    Originally inc. 1880.
  26. [26]
    Originally inc. as Bolin Green. City of Bowling Green. "History of Bowling Green: Beginnings Archived 2013-07-26 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 22 July 2013.
  27. [27]
    Established 1835.
  28. [28]
    Originally inc. as Breman.
  29. [29]
    Originally inc. 1940.
  30. [30]
    Originally inc. 1828.
  31. [31]
    Originally inc. as Calhoon.
  32. [32]
    Previously incorporated 1871 and 1946.
  33. [33]
    Established 1840.
  34. [34]
    New Campbellsburg separately inc. 1876; it later grew to include Old Campbellsburg, while taking the shorter name.
  35. [35]
    Established 1817.
  36. [36]
    Established 1818.
  37. [37]
    Originally est. as Port William.
  38. [38]
    Established 1794.
  39. [39]
    Originally inc. 1860.
  40. [40]
    Originally inc. as Centre Town.
  41. [41]
    Originally inc. as Stroud City.
  42. [42]
    Established in 1873. Originally inc. 1880.
  43. [43]
    Originally inc. 1888.
  44. [44]
    Rennick (1988) lists Clay as having been reïncorporated in 1872.
  45. [45]
    Established 1828.
  46. [46]
    Also known as Coal Run.
  47. [47]
    Established 1803.
  48. [48]
    Established 1820.
  49. [49]
    Established 1815.
  50. [50]
    Established 1837.
  51. [51]
    Established 1793.
  52. [52]
    Originally inc. 1802.
  53. [53]
    Established 1787.
  54. [54]
    Originally inc. as Dawson City.
  55. [55]
    Originally the separate cities of Brooklyn and Jamestown.
  56. [56]
    Jamestown incorporated 1848; Brooklyn inc. 1849.
  57. [57]
    Established 1836.
  58. [58]
    Summit Hills Heights incorporated 1962; Pius Heights inc. 1965; both annexed by Edgewood 1968.
  59. [59]
    Established 1797.
  60. [60]
    Also known as Eubanks.
  61. [61]
    Established 1880.
  62. [62]
    Established before 1798.
  63. [63]
    Established 1830.
  64. [64]
    South Ft. Mitchell separately incorporated 1927; annexed in 1967.
  65. [65]
    Established 1867.
  66. [66]
    Established 1786.
  67. [67]
    Originally inc. as Lebanon, then George Town.
  68. [68]
    Georgetown Archived August 23, 2013, at archive.today
  69. [69]
    Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 371. "Georgetown". University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1992. Accessed 26 July 2013. The Kentucky Land Office cannot provide a date for Georgetown's incorporation Archived August 23, 2013, at archive.today.
  70. [70]
    Rennick, Robert. Kentucky Place Names, p. 115. "Germantown". University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 26 July 2013.
  71. [71]
    Originally inc. 1876.
  72. [72]
    Graymoor originally inc. 1959. Devondale originally inc. 1958.
  73. [73]
    Established 1844.
  74. [74]
    Rennick (1987)
  75. [75]
    Originally inc. as Greenupsburg.
  76. [76]
    Established 1800.
  77. [77]
    Originally inc. as Mt. Pleasant.
  78. [78]
    Established 1785.
  79. [79]
    Originally inc. as Minor Lane Heights.
  80. [80]
    Originally inc. as District of Highlands.
  81. [81]
    Established & originally inc. 1867.
  82. [82]
    Established 1804.
  83. [83]
    Originally incorporated 1941; Indian Hills-Cherokee Section separately inc. 1955. The City of Indian Hills website claims they were merged in 1999, but the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Land Office Archived September 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine continues to list Indian Hills-Cherokee Section as an active municipality.
  84. [84]
    Originally inc. as Eden.
  85. [85]
    Originally inc. in 1888.
  86. [86]
    Actual date unknown, but a 1938 court ruling claimed incorporation of at least 30 years.
  87. [87]
    Established 1839. Originally inc. 1845.
  88. [88]
    Originally est. as Lawrence.
  89. [89]
    Originally inc. 1844.
  90. [90]
    Established 1782.
  91. [91]
    Originally inc. 1822.
  92. [92]
    Established 1778.
  93. [93]
    Annexed the cities of Keeneland and Whipps Millgate in 2001.
  94. [94]
    Originally est. as Greenville.
  95. [95]
    Originally inc. in 1844.
  96. [96]
    Established 1824.
  97. [97]
    Originally inc. 1866.
  98. [98]
    Originally inc. 1874.
  99. [99]
    Originally inc. 1846.
  100. [100]
    Actual date unknown.
  101. [101]
    Established 1847. Originally inc. 1874.
  102. [102]
    Originally inc. 1851.
  103. [103]
    Established 1792.
  104. [104]
    Originally inc. 1818.
  105. [105]
    Originally est. as Mount Vernon.
  106. [106]
    Originally inc. 1833.
  107. [107]
    Established 1822.
  108. [108]
    Established 1795.
  109. [109]
    Originally inc. as Norton.
  110. [110]
    Originally est. as Hopewell.
  111. [111]
    Established 1789. Originally inc. 1839.
  112. [112]
    Originally est. as Pike and inc. as Piketon.
  113. [113]
    Established 1781.
  114. [114]
    Originally est. as Preston's Station.
  115. [115]
    Originally inc. as Chinnville.
  116. [116]
    Although city claims 1951 incorporation.
  117. [117]
    Originally est. as Riverview.
  118. [118]
    Established 1869.
  119. [119]
    Established 1810.
  120. [120]
    Earlier establishment legalized by General Assembly in 1816.
  121. [121]
    Established 1860.
  122. [122]
    Originally inc. 1871 in Gallatin Co.
  123. [123]
    Established 1850. Originally inc. 1872 as Martinsburg. City gov't reäctivated 1930 & 1968.
  124. [124]
    Established 1825.
  125. [125]
    Originally inc. as Slaughtersville.
  126. [126]
    Established 1805.
  127. [127]
    Merged with Strathmoor Gardens 1991.
  128. [128]
    Sunny Acres separately incorporated 1953; annexed in 1959. Winston Park separately inc. 1929; annexed in 1972.
  129. [129]
    Originally inc. 1829.
  130. [130]
    Established 1819.
  131. [131]
    Originally inc. 1840.
  132. [132]
    Originally inc. as Fredericksburg.
  133. [133]
    Established c. 1814.
  134. [134]
    Originally inc. 1831.
  135. [135]
    Established 1914.
  136. [136]
    Established 1823.
  137. [137]
    Established c. 1797. Originally inc. 1838.
  138. [138]
    University of Kentucky. Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer, "Wilmore". Accessed 8 July 2013. The Kentucky Land Office cannot provide a date for Wilmore's incorporation Archived February 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  139. [139]
    City gov't reäctivated 1986.
  140. [140]
    "County Seats of Kentucky's Counties". Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. October 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  141. [141]
    "All places in Kentucky – DP-1. Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010, 2010 Demographic Profile Data". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  142. [142]
    "2010 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
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