Cumberland County was created in 1798 from land given by Green County.[5] In 1829, the first commercial oil well in the United States was dug three miles north of Burkesville. It is usually not recognized as a commercial well because the drillers were looking for salt brine, but the oil was bottled and sold.
It was the first county in the United States to elect a female sheriff, Pearl Carter Pace.
Burkesville is the first town downstream from Wolf Creek Dam, so it is considered flood-proof, but there have been concerns about leaks at the dam. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed repairs in 2013.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 311 square miles (810 km2), of which 305 square miles (790 km2) is land and 5.7 square miles (15 km2) (1.8%) is water.[6] Major waterways include the Cumberland River and a small branch of Dale Hollow Lake which covers the southern end of the county.
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10] 1990-2000[11] 2010-2021[12]
As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 7,147 people, 2,976 households, and 2,038 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 per square mile (8.9/km2). There were 3,567 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (4.6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 95.28% White, 3.41% Black or African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. 0.60% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 2,976 households, out of which 29.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.00% were married couples living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.60% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 17.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $21,572, and the median income for a family was $28,701. Males had a median income of $21,313 versus $16,548 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,643. About 16.40% of families and 23.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.30% of those under age 18 and 33.00% of those age 65 or over.
Ancestry/ethnicity
As of 2017 the largest self-identified ancestry groups/ethnic groups in Cumberland County, Kentucky were:[14]
Like all of the heavily Unionist eastern Pennyroyal, a region of largely small farms that did not rely heavily on slavery, Cumberland County provided an exceptionally large number of soldiers for the Union Army during the Civil War.[16] Reflecting that, the county became and has remained overwhelmingly Republican following the end of the Reconstruction Era. As of 2012, Cumberland County had the fewest registered Democrats, 844, out of all of Kentucky's counties.[17]
The last Democrat to carry Cumberland County at the Presidential level was Horatio Seymour in 1868. Lyndon Johnson, in his 1964 landslide, is the only Democrat to receive 40% of the county's vote in a presidential election since 1896.
Cumberland County was a dry county prior to a special election held June 28, 2016, where the measure passed 1,441 votes to 1,069 votes.
^Copeland, James E.; ‘Where Were the Kentucky Unionists and Secessionists’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, volume 71, no. 4 (October 1973), pp. 344-363
