Christian County, formed in 1797, was originally part of Logan County

When Kentucky was established in 1792, the commonwealth was divided into nine counties. Eight years later, there were 42 counties.

Editor’s Note: A version of the following Did You Know originally published in Hoptown Chronicle’s weekly newsletter, The Scoop, on Sep. 19, 2019.

Christian County, at 717.5 square miles, is the second-largest county in Kentucky. The largest by geography is Pike with 786.8 miles. The smallest is Robertson with 99.9 square miles.

Kentucky has 120 counties, and only two states have more: Texas (254) and Georgia (159).

kentucky counties map
Wikimedia Commons image
(click to enlarge)

Christian County, originally part of Logan County, was formed in 1797. In turn, Christian County was the source of five other counties.

When Kentucky was established in 1792, the commonwealth was divided into nine counties. Eight years later, there were 42 counties.

It has been argued at various times that Kentucky has too many counties and combining some would result in savings to taxpayers and overall greater efficiencies. But the proposal is also a political nightmare in many ways and generates great resistance — especially from the smaller counties that do not want to seemingly disappear and be swallowed by larger neighbors.

“Although population statistics decreed when an area should have the right to petition for the creation of a new county, this requirement was often ignored,” Ron Bryant, a Kentucky historian, wrote for an article titled “What Would Kentucky Be Like Without Its Large Number of Counties?”

Bryant noted, “Citizens naturally wanted to be at least within a day’s ride of their county seat. However, some areas of larger counties did not have the people or the financial resources to become a separate county. This fact did not deter some Kentuckians. Counties sprang up like proverbial weeds.“

The last county created in Kentucky was McCreary in 1912.

Here is a list of the order of creation for all 120 counties.

Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.