I've read in many threads that Kentucky has too many counties and that some of them should be consolidated. So my question is, which ones do my fellow BGPers believe should be consolidated? And why?

I actually was going to draw up something when I got some time...sort of a proposed realignment of counties.

 

Probably be later in the week before I can get to it though, pretty busy Sunday and Monday.

This was talked about a while back and I did a little figuring then. By square mileage if KY were the same size as TX we would have over 700 counties assuming the current ratio stayed constant. TX I think has about 250 or so. Yes KY has too many counties, and its all about small town political power.

Martin needs absorbed into Pike/Johnson.

This is obviously a tough sell in the Commonwealth. Strong county identities.

 

First place to look is adjoining low-population counties. For example, Robertson and Nicholas. Lee and Owsley. Hickman/Fulton/Carlisle.

 

http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/kentucky/population#map

Northern Kentucky County, Louisville County and the rest of the state county. That should about do it.

Had to memorize all the county names in 8th grade Civics class. Fortunately I grew up in Maryland.

 

Even so, I wished at the time that I lived in Delaware.

Didn't we have a thread on this a while back? I seem to remember discussion about this.

 

At least it's about merging counties and not schools. :sssh:

Didn't we have a thread on this a while back? I seem to remember discussion about this.

 

At least it's about merging counties and not schools. :sssh:

 

Brackerson.

Brackleton.

I was thinking Bramasertson

Some of the new name possibilities are intriguing.

 

Flembath.

Clarkette.

Oldhen.

This was talked about a while back and I did a little figuring then. By square mileage if KY were the same size as TX we would have over 700 counties assuming the current ratio stayed constant. TX I think has about 250 or so. Yes KY has too many counties, and its all about small town political power.

 

When the counties were formed is was more about the difficulty getting around the state. As late as in my Grandpa's days if you were coming east to west or visa versa in the southern part of the state you had to drive through the Cumberland River above Cumberland Falls...not across the river on a bridge but through it on the river bottom. Of course that was only good when the water was down.

 

Getting to the county seat to do business would have been difficult enough in Kentucky in the 1800's based on the geography, imagine if there were a half or a third of the counties...it would have been a couple of days journey by horse or wagon one way. That is why my 8th Grade Ky Geography teacher said there were so many counties.