Beech Tree News Network

Clay County was the forty-seventh county in order of formation and is located in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains of the Appalachian Mountain Range of southeast Kentucky. The county is bordered by Jackson, Owsley, Perry, Leslie, Bell, Knox, and Laurel counties. It was created from Madison, Floyd, and Knox counties on April 1, 1807. Clay County was later divided to form parts of Jackson, Owsley, Leslie, Lee, Breathitt, Knott, Perry, and Harlan counties. It reached its present size, 471 square miles, in 1880.
Clay County was named for General Green Clay.  Clay was a member of the Virginia and Kentucky State legislatures, first cousin once removed of Henry Clay, U.S. Senator from Kentucky and Secretary of State in the 19th century. Most of the heavily wooded county, approximately 61,000 acres, falls within the Redbird Purchase Unit of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Major contributors to the economy are tobacco, timber, corn, and coal. The county's largest town and county seat is Manchester.
Clinton County, KY was formed February 20, 1835 from portions of Cumberland and Wayne counties.  It was named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York and driving force behind the Erie Canal.  Courthouse fires in 1864 and 1980 resulted in the destruction of county records.  According to the U.S. Census bureau, the county has a total area of 205 square miles, of which 197 square miles is land and 8.2 square miles is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,634 people, 4,086 households, and 2,811 families residing in the county. The population density was 49 per square mile (19/km2). There were 4,888 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (9.7/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 99.09% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.32% from two or more races. 1.22% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,086 households out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.70% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $19,563, and the median income for a family was $25,919. Males had a median income of $21,193 versus $16,194 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,286. About 20.20% of families and 25.80% of the population were below the 1.80% of those under age 18 and 29.90% of those age 65 or over.