Carter County, Kentucky: History and Information

Carter County, Kentucky

Carter County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Grayson
Year Organized: 1838
Square Miles: 411

Court House:

300 West Main Street
County Courthouse
Grayson, KY 41143-1274

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Col. William Grayson Carter (?-1850), state senator.

Demographics:

History

Carter county was formed in 1838. It is located in the Eastern Coal Field region of the state. The elevation in the county ranges from 542 to 1300 feet above sea level. In 2000 the county population was 26,889 in a land area of 410.60 square miles, an average of 65.5 people per square mile. The county seat is Grayson.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Greenup County

East: Boyd County

Southeast: Lawrence County

South: Elliott County

Southwest: Rowan County

Northwest: Lewis County

Cities and Towns:

- Grayson (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Olive Hill

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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