Danville, Kentucky | |
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Nickname(s): "The City of Firsts"; "Birthplace of the Bluegrass"; "Title Town" | |
Coordinates: 37°38′45″N84°46′21″W / 37.64583°N 84.77250°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Kentucky |
County | Boyle |
Settled | 1783 |
Incorporated | 1787 |
Government | |
• Type | Council–manager |
• Mayor | James (J.H.) Atkins [1] |
• City Manager | Earl Coffey |
• Commissioners | Kevin Caudill Jennie Hollon Donna Peek Rick Serres [2] |
Area | |
• Total | 17.28 sq mi (44.76 km2) |
• Land | 17.18 sq mi (44.50 km2) |
• Water | 0.10 sq mi (0.26 km2) |
Elevation | 958 ft (292 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 17,234 |
17,303 | |
• Density | 1,003.1/sq mi (387.29/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
ZIP codes | 40422-40423 |
Area code | 859 |
FIPS code | 21-19882 |
GNIS feature ID | 2404185 [4] |
Website | www |
Danville is a home rule-class city [6] and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. [7] The population was 17,236 at the 2020 census. [8] Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of the Boyle and Lincoln counties. In 2001, Danville received a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. [9] In 2011, Money magazine placed Danville as the fourth-best place to retire in the United States. [10] Centre College in Danville was selected to host U.S. vice-presidential debates in 2000 and 2012. [11]
Within Kentucky, Danville is called the "City of Firsts":
Danville was part of the Great Settlement Area around Fort Harrod (present-day Harrodsburg), which was first settled in 1774. The site was originally known as Crow's Station for settler John Crow, but the town was surveyed and platted by Walker Daniel, Kentucky's first district attorney, who bought 76 acres (31 ha) near the Wilderness Road from Crow in 1783. The city was named for Daniel. [14] The Virginia legislature officially established Danville on December 4, 1787. [13]
Between 1784 and 1792, ten conventions were held in Danville to petition for better governance and ultimately to secure independence from Virginia. In 1786 the Danville Political Club was organized. It met each Saturday night at Grayson's Tavern to discuss the political, economic, and social concerns of the day. After a state constitution was adopted and separation was confirmed in 1792, the town ceased to be of statewide importance. Its leading citizens moved elsewhere. [15]
Transylvania University was founded in Danville in 1783. It moved to Lexington in 1789. Centre College was founded in 1819. Danville Theological Seminary was founded in 1853; in 1901 it became part of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The Caldwell Institute for Young Ladies was founded in 1860. It became Caldwell Female College in 1876, Caldwell College in 1904, Kentucky College for Women in 1913, and merged into Centre College in 1926. [13]
In November 1806, Meriwether Lewis, co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, visited Danville while traveling the Wilderness Road to Washington, D.C., to report on the expedition, which had returned from the Pacific Coast. In December 1806, William Clark visited his nephews in school in Danville before following Lewis to Washington. [16]
The first school in Danville for African-American children was founded around 1840 by Willis Russell, an emancipated slave of Robert Craddock, a Revolutionary War veteran. Craddock deeded a log house in Danville to Russell. He moved to the town after Craddock's death and started a school for children. The house on Walnut Street no longer stands, though what was once believed to be his house is now the Willis Russell Memorial Cabin. Russell's house stood across the street, opposite St. James African American Methodist Church.
In 1842, Boyle County was formed from southern Mercer County and northern Lincoln County. Danville became its county seat. [13]
In 1850, Danville and Boyle County backed construction of the Lexington and Danville Railroad. Money ran out when the railroad reached Nicholasville. John A. Roebling had already built towers for a railroad suspension bridge over the Kentucky River. (Roebling lived in Danville during the construction.) Despite the railroad not being completed to Danville, the county still owed the company $150,000. It completed payment on time in 1884. [15] [17]
In 1860, a fire devastated the city, destroying 64 buildings and causing more than $300,000 in damages. Boyle County's courthouse was destroyed; its replacement was completed in 1862. [13]
After the Union Army won the Battle of Perryville in the Civil War on October 8, 1862, it appropriated many Danville buildings, including the courthouse, for use as hospitals. On October 11, a Union force drove Confederate forces from the county fairgrounds through Danville. [18]
In May 1864, the group of 250 – mostly enslaved males but including some freedmen – marched from Danville to nearby Camp Nelson in Jessamine County, where Colonel Andrew Clark allowed them to enlist In the Union Army after some initial hesitation. Arriving with wounds inflicted upon them in route, this group was the first to enlist at this site, where 10,000 United States Colored Troops trained. [19]
In 1775, Archibald McNeill planted Kentucky's first recorded hemp crop at Clark's Run Creek near Danville. By 1889 Boyle County was one of the ten Kentucky counties which together produced more than 90% of the US yield. It was the state's largest cash crop until 1915, when it lost its market to imported jute. [20]
From the turn of the 20th century through the 1960s, Danville was home to a thriving African-American business sector located on and around 2nd Street on the western edge of what is now Constitution Square Historic Site. The city demolished this business sector under urban renewal in the 1970s to provide for the expansion of Constitution Square Park. [21]
On October 5, 2000, Dick Cheney and Senator Joe Lieberman, candidates for Vice President of the United States, debated at Centre College during the 2000 presidential election. [22] On October 11, 2012, Centre College again hosted the Vice-Presidential debate, this time between Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. [11]
Danville is located in eastern Boyle County.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.9 square miles (41.2 km2), of which 15.8 square miles (41.0 km2) is land and 0.077 square miles (0.2 km2), or 0.58%, is water. [23]
Blue Grass Community Action Partnership provides DanTran bus service inside Danville. [24] [25] BGCAP also connects Danville with Lexington, Stanford, Junction City, and Lancaster. [26]
Stuart Powell Field (DVK), 3 miles (5 km) from downtown, serves as Danville's general aviation airport. Blue Grass Airport (LEX) in Lexington, 35 miles (56 km) away, provides the closest commercial service. More extensive commercial service is available from Louisville International Airport (SDF), 82 miles (132 km) away, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), 127 miles (204 km) away.
Norfolk Southern Railway operates a freight rail yard in Danville. Its Louisville-Chattanooga line intersects with its Cincinnati-Chattanooga line just north of Danville.
Danville has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with warm summers and moderately cold winters. Precipitation is abundant and well-spread, with an average of 47.85 inches (1,220 mm).
Climate data for Danville, Kentucky (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1933–2020) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 79 (26) | 79 (26) | 87 (31) | 90 (32) | 95 (35) | 107 (42) | 103 (39) | 105 (41) | 104 (40) | 96 (36) | 83 (28) | 78 (26) | 107 (42) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 64.1 (17.8) | 68.0 (20.0) | 75.8 (24.3) | 82.0 (27.8) | 87.9 (31.1) | 92.6 (33.7) | 94.2 (34.6) | 93.9 (34.4) | 91.3 (32.9) | 83.9 (28.8) | 73.9 (23.3) | 66.0 (18.9) | 96.3 (35.7) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 42.7 (5.9) | 47.1 (8.4) | 56.3 (13.5) | 67.5 (19.7) | 75.4 (24.1) | 83.4 (28.6) | 86.5 (30.3) | 86.0 (30.0) | 80.2 (26.8) | 68.6 (20.3) | 55.8 (13.2) | 46.1 (7.8) | 66.3 (19.1) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 33.0 (0.6) | 36.4 (2.4) | 44.8 (7.1) | 55.5 (13.1) | 64.7 (18.2) | 72.4 (22.4) | 75.9 (24.4) | 74.8 (23.8) | 68.5 (20.3) | 56.7 (13.7) | 44.9 (7.2) | 37.1 (2.8) | 55.4 (13.0) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 23.3 (−4.8) | 25.8 (−3.4) | 33.3 (0.7) | 43.6 (6.4) | 54.1 (12.3) | 61.4 (16.3) | 65.3 (18.5) | 63.7 (17.6) | 56.8 (13.8) | 44.8 (7.1) | 34.0 (1.1) | 28.0 (−2.2) | 44.5 (6.9) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | 3.7 (−15.7) | 9.1 (−12.7) | 16.7 (−8.5) | 27.9 (−2.3) | 39.6 (4.2) | 49.6 (9.8) | 57.4 (14.1) | 55.2 (12.9) | 42.9 (6.1) | 31.1 (−0.5) | 19.2 (−7.1) | 15.3 (−9.3) | −0.2 (−17.9) |
Record low °F (°C) | −20 (−29) | −18 (−28) | −6 (−21) | 17 (−8) | 27 (−3) | 41 (5) | 47 (8) | 42 (6) | 32 (0) | 21 (−6) | −3 (−19) | −18 (−28) | −20 (−29) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.68 (93) | 3.69 (94) | 4.61 (117) | 4.21 (107) | 4.42 (112) | 4.66 (118) | 5.00 (127) | 3.18 (81) | 3.72 (94) | 3.47 (88) | 3.01 (76) | 4.20 (107) | 47.85 (1,215) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 11.2 | 10.9 | 11.7 | 11.1 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 9.0 | 7.3 | 8.7 | 9.2 | 11.5 | 123.1 |
Source: NOAA [27] [28] |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1800 | 270 | — | |
1810 | 432 | 60.0% | |
1830 | 849 | — | |
1840 | 1,223 | 44.1% | |
1850 | 2,150 | 75.8% | |
1860 | 4,962 | 130.8% | |
1870 | 2,542 | −48.8% | |
1880 | 3,074 | 20.9% | |
1890 | 3,766 | 22.5% | |
1900 | 4,285 | 13.8% | |
1910 | 5,420 | 26.5% | |
1920 | 5,699 | 5.1% | |
1930 | 6,729 | 18.1% | |
1940 | 6,734 | 0.1% | |
1950 | 8,686 | 29.0% | |
1960 | 9,010 | 3.7% | |
1970 | 11,542 | 28.1% | |
1980 | 12,942 | 12.1% | |
1990 | 12,420 | −4.0% | |
2000 | 15,477 | 24.6% | |
2010 | 16,218 | 4.8% | |
2020 | 17,234 | 6.3% | |
2022 (est.) | 17,303 | [29] | 0.4% |
U.S. Decennial Census [30] |
As of the census [31] of 2010, there were 16,218 people, 6,405 households, and 3,903 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,020.0/sq mi (393.8/km2). There were 7,180 housing units at an average density of 451.6/sq mi (174.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 83.2% White, 10.9% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 1.8% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.9% of the population.
Of the 6,405 households, 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.83.
20.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 61.8% from 18 to 64, and 18.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.4 years. Females made up 54.4% and males made up 45.6% of the population aged 18 or older.
As of 2000, the median income for a household was US $32,938, and the median income for a family was $40,528. Males had a median income of $35,327 versus $24,542 for females. The per capita income was $18,906. About 9.4% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
FBI crime statistics for 2009 list the crime rate (per 100,000 population) for Danville as follows: [32]
Crime | Danville | Kentucky | United States |
---|---|---|---|
Violent crime | 258 | 260 | 429 |
Murder | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Forcible rape | 32 | 35 | 29 |
Robbery | 84 | 84 | 133 |
Aggravated assault | 142 | 135 | 269 |
Property crime | 3,587 | 2,513 | 3,061 |
Burglary | 876 | 689 | 716 |
Larceny-theft | 2,627 | 1,683 | 2,061 |
Motor vehicle theft | 84 | 141 | 259 |
Danville Schools includes most of the city limits. [33] It operates Mary G. Hogsett Primary School, Edna L. Toliver Intermediate School, John W. Bate Middle School, and Danville High School for the city of Danville. Boyle County Schools operates Woodlawn Elementary School, Junction City Elementary School, Perryville Elementary School, Boyle County Middle School, and Boyle County High School for portions of Danville and the remainder of Boyle County. Kentucky School for the Deaf provides education to Kentucky's deaf and hard-of-hearing children from elementary through high school.
A portion of Danville is in the Boyle County Schools district. [34]
Two private schools operate in Danville:
Centre College, a nationally recognized liberal arts college, is located in Danville. Six other colleges and universities have (or had) campuses in Danville:
Danville has a lending library, the Boyle County Public Library. [37]
On March 2, 2010, Danville voted to go "wet" (to permit sale of packaged alcohol and sale of alcohol by the drink without restriction by size of premises). [38]
Five venues for theatrical productions live in Danville.
The Advocate-Messenger , a twice-weekly (Tuesday and Friday) newspaper, serves Danville and surrounding counties.
Local radio stations include three AM stations: WDFB-AM (1170), WHBN (1420), WHIR (1230), and three FM stations: WDFB-FM (88.1), WLAI(107.1), and WRNZ (105.1).
WDKY-TV was licensed to Danville but its facilities are located in Lexington.
Danville and Boyle County Black history is the subject of a 2022 book published by Arcadia Press, as "African Americans in Boyle County."
Martha S. Jones opens her book Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All, with her family story of three generations who resided in Danville. Great-great-great-grandmother Nancy Belle Graves was born enslaved in 1808. Nancy's daughter, Susan Davis, organized the Danville Domestic Economy Club for black women which encouraged voter participation and education. Susan and her husband, Sam, were both born enslaved. Fighting in the Civil War for the Union, Sam became emancipated upon his 1864 enlistment in the 114th United States Colored Troops at nearby Camp Nelson. After the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Sam voted in the 1870 election. Their daughter, Frances Harriet Williams, organized for the NAACP, the YMCA, and served as a presidential advisor. [59]
Danville has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:
Danville Sister Cities won the 2019 Innovation Award for Arts and Culture from Sister Cities International. [61]
The following are highly noted people from Danville. For a more complete list, see List of people from Danville, Kentucky.
Danville is hometown of Johnny Joestar, the protagonist from the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run.
Lexington is a consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous city in Kentucky, the 14th-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 59th-most populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 30th-largest city.
Fayette County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky and is consolidated with the city of Lexington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the commonwealth. Since 1974, its territory, population and government have been shared with Lexington. Fayette County is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Boyle County is a county located in the central part of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,614. Its county seat is Danville. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John Boyle (1774–1835), a U.S. Representative, chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and later federal judge for the District of Kentucky, and is part of the Danville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Perryville is a home rule-class city along the Chaplin River in western Boyle County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 751 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Lancaster is a home rule-class city in Garrard County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. As of the year 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 3,901.
Stanford is a home rule-class city in Lincoln County, Kentucky, United States. It is one of the oldest settlements in Kentucky, having been founded in 1775. Its population was 3,487 at the 2010 census and an estimated 3,686 in 2018. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. Stanford is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Richmond is a home class city in Kentucky and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. The population was 38,030 as of 2024. Richmond is the fourth-largest city in the Bluegrass region and the state's seventh-largest city. It is the ninth largest population center in the state with a Micropolitan population of 106,864. The city serves as the center for work and shopping for south-central Kentucky, with many local and chain options alike. Richmond KY is home to numerous festivals, notably the Millstone Festival. In addition, Richmond is the principal city of the Richmond-Berea, Kentucky Micropolitan Area, which includes all of Madison and Rockcastle counties.
Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census.
Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-most populous city 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. Historically, settlers were drawn to Georgetown for its Royal Spring.
Thomas Arthur Spragens was an American administrator who was the 17th president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Spragens worked for the state and federal government early in his career, before joining the staff at Stanford University as a presidential advisor. He was the president of Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, for a five-year term, and left Stephens to go to Centre in 1957.
The Advocate-Messenger is a newspaper published Tuesday and Saturday in Danville, Kentucky. The printed version of the newspaper is delivered by US mail. The newspaper serves central Kentucky, with distribution primarily in Boyle, Lincoln, Casey, Mercer, and Garrard counties.
Boyle County High School is a public high school located in Danville, Kentucky, United States. It serves nearly 900 students in grades 9–12. The school opened to students in the 1963–1964 school year. The school was created to merge the area's high school students into one school. Students came from four county schools that served grades 1–12 in the same building. Additionally, eighth graders from East End Elementary became part of the new high school.
Parksville is a small unincorporated community on the Chaplin River in south central Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the eastern end of Ky Route 300, where it intersects with Ky Route 34, near the US Post Office. The global position of Parksville is 37.597N latitude and -84.891W longitude. Elevation is 1,083 feet (330 m) above sea level. Current population is approximately 900 people. The ZIP Code for Parksville is 40464.
Constitution Square Historic Site is a 3-acre (0.012 km2) park and open-air museum in Danville, Kentucky. From 1937 to 2012, it was a part of the Kentucky state park system and operated by the Kentucky Department of Parks. When dedicated in 1942, it was known as John G. Weisiger Memorial State Park, honoring the brother of Emma Weisiger, who donated the land for the park. Later, it was known as Constitution Square State Shrine and then Constitution Square State Historic Site. On March 6, 2012, the Department of Parks ceded control of the site to the county government of Boyle County, Kentucky, and its name was then changed to Constitution Square Historic Site.
Northpoint Training Center is a medium-security prison located in unincorporated Boyle County, Kentucky, with a Burgin postal address, and near Danville. It opened in 1983 and had a prison capacity of 1,256 as of 2006.
The Confederate Monument in Danville, originally located between Centre College and the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Main and College Streets in Danville, Kentucky, was a monument dedicated to the Confederate States of America that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The monument was dedicated in 1910 by the surviving veterans of the Confederacy of Boyle County, Kentucky and the Kate Morrison Breckinridge Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). In 2021, it was relocated to a museum in Meade County, Kentucky.
The Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of Boyle and Lincoln counties in Kentucky, anchored by the city of Danville. As of the 2000 census, the μSA had a population of 51,058. A July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 54,435.
The Confederate Monument in Perryville is a historic monument located by the visitor center of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, in the vicinity of Perryville, Kentucky, in Boyle County, Kentucky, USA. It was built in 1902, forty years after the Battle of Perryville, the bloodiest battle in Kentucky history, on October 8, 1862. In total, 532 Confederates died at the battle, but it is unknown how many of this number are buried here. A small cemetery is by the monument; local farmers had to bury the Confederate dead as the Confederate Army, despite a tactical victory, had to leave Perryville quickly, and hogs were beginning to feast on the soldiers' remains.
Harry "Gippy" Graham is a retired American politician and educator who served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and as mayor of Frankfort, Kentucky.
Ormond Beatty was an American educator and academic administrator. He was the seventh president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. An 1835 graduate of Centre, Beatty became a professor the following year and taught chemistry, natural philosophy, mathematics, metaphysics, biblical history, and church history over the course of his career. He was selected to fill the position of president pro tempore following the resignation of William L. Breckinridge in 1868 and was unanimously elected president by the board of trustees in 1870. He was Centre's first president who was not a Christian minister, and he led the school until his resignation in 1888, at which point he taught for two additional years before his death in 1890. Beatty also involved himself in religious affairs, serving as a ruling elder in the First and Second Presbyterian Churches in Danville, as a commissioner to three Presbyterian Church General Assemblies, and as a trustee of the Danville Theological Seminary.
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