Pippa Passes, Kentucky

Pippa Passes, Kentucky
City
Buildings on the Alice Lloyd campus
Nickname(s):  Caney, Caney Creek
Location in Knott County, Kentucky
Coordinates: 37°20′5″N82°52′32″W / 37.33472°N 82.87556°W / 37.33472; -82.87556
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
County	Knott
Incorporated	1983 [1]
Named for	a Robert Browning poem
Area [2]
• Total	0.45 sq mi (1.15 km2)
• Land	0.45 sq mi (1.15 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	991 ft (302 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	468
• Density	1,049.33/sq mi (405.36/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	41844
Area code	606
FIPS code	21-61374
GNIS feature ID	0500757

Pippa Passes is a home rule-class city located along Caney Fork in Knott County, eastern Kentucky, United States. Its formal name was chosen to honor benefactors of Alice Lloyd College. Residents commonly call the community "Caney" or "Caney Creek". The population was 533 at the 2010 census, ^[3] up from 297 at the 2000 census. The small city is located in the mountainous Appalachia region, an area of coal mining.

History

This settlement was known as "Caney" or "Caney Creek" before 1916, when Alice Lloyd arrived from Boston, Massachusetts. She solicited funds for the construction of a local post office and the founding of Caney Creek Junior College, which were opened in 1917 and 1923, respectively.

Members of the Methodist church were active in what they called Home Missionary work in Pippa Passes around 1930. They performed a "missionary play" about the town in Princeton, New Jersey in 1930. ^[4]

A donation from the Browning Society led to the post office's being named after Robert Browning's Pippa Passes. In this verse drama, he coined the phrase "God's in His heaven, all's right with the world." ^[5] The U.S. Postal Service's official name for this location was "Pippapass" until 1955. ^[6]

The city of Pippa Passes was incorporated by the state assembly on July 1, 1983.

Government

It is governed by a mayor elected at-large and a city council whose members are elected from single-member districts. ^[7] As of 2009, the mayor is Scott Cornett. He is the baseball and basketball coach for the college. ^[8] The local police department operates as a combined unit with the college's security organization. ^[7]

Geography

Pippa Passes is in eastern Knott County at 37°20′5″N82°52′32″W / 37.33472°N 82.87556°W / 37.33472; -82.87556 (37.334629, -82.875490), ^[9] in the valley of the Caney Fork. Kentucky Route 899 passes through the community, leading northeast down the valley of the Caney Fork 11 miles (18 km) to Wayland and southwest then northwest 8 miles (13 km) to Hindman, the Knott county seat.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Pippa Passes has a total area of 0.44 square miles (1.15 km²), all of it recorded as land. ^[3] The Caney Fork flows northeast to the Right Fork of Beaver Creek near Wayland and is part of the Levisa Fork watershed.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1990	195		—
2000	297		52.3%
2010	533		79.5%
2020	468		−12.2%
U.S. Decennial Census [10]

As of the census of 2010, there were 533 people, 44 households, and 26 families residing in the city. 439 people (82% of the population) lived in group quarters, i.e. college dormitories. The population density was 1,196 inhabitants per square mile (462/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.2% White, 1.3% African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.6% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 0.4% from two or more races. ^[11]

Of the 44 households in the city, 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were headed by married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.9% were non-families. 11.3% of households were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14, and the average family size was 2.88. ^[11]

5.1% of the city population were under the age of 18, 74.8% were from 18 to 24, 7.6% were from 25 to 44, 9.6% were from 45 to 64, and 2.8% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 20.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males. ^[11]

For the period 2013–17, the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $65,500, and the median income for a family was $76,250. Male full-time workers had a median income of $33,750 versus $21,591 for females. The per capita income for the city, including the non-household population, was $9,432. ^[12]

References

1. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Pippa Passes, Kentucky". Accessed 27 September 2013.
2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
3. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Pippa Passes city, Kentucky". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 6, 2019.^{[ dead link ]}
4. "Methodist Church Services". Princeton Herald. Vol. 7, no. 21. March 28, 1930. p. 2.
5. Rundquist, Thomas J. (August 1, 2000). Substitute Teacher Survival Activities Vol 1. Nova Media Inc. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-884239-51-9.
6. Rennick, Robert. Kentucky Place Names, p. 236. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 1 August 2013.
7. Alice Lloyd College. "Campus Safety Archived 2010-07-05 at the Wayback Machine ". Accessed 27 June 2009.
8. Kentucky League of Cities. "Pippa Passes". Accessed 30 March 2009.
9. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
10. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
11. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (DP-1): Pippa Passes city, Kentucky". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
12. "Selected Economic Characteristics: 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (DP03): Pippa Passes city, Kentucky". American Factfinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2019.