Owensboro, Kentucky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Owensboro | |
| Nickname: "BBQ Capital of the world" | |
 | |
| Country | United States of America |
|---|---|
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Daviess |
| Settled | Yellow Banks, 1797 |
| Incorporated | 1817 |
| Mayor | Tom Watson |
| Mayor Pro Tem | Charlie Castlen |
| City Manager | Bob Whitmer |
| Area | |
| - City | 48.3 km² (18.7 sq mi) |
| - Land | 45.1 km² (17.4 sq mi) |
| - Water | 3.2 km² (1.2 sq mi) 6.59% |
| Population | |
| - City (2005) | 55,459 |
| - Density | 1,198.8/km² (3,107.3/sq mi) |
| - Metro | 111,599 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 42301-42304 |
| Website: http://www.owensboro.org | |
Owensboro is a city in Daviess County, Kentucky, in the United States. Owensboro is the third largest city in Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County6 and is named for Colonel Abraham Owen. It is located on U.S. Highway 60 about 30 miles southeast of Evansville, Indiana. It is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to 2005 estimates, the city had a total population of 55,459 and a metropolitan population of 111,599.
Contents |
[edit] History
Owensboro was first settled in the 1790s by frontiersman William "Bill" Smeathers. The settlement was called Yellow Banks, an allusion to the color of the banks of the Ohio River. In 1817, Yellow Banks was incorporated as a city under the name Owensborough, named after Colonel Abraham Owen (who is also the namesake of Owen County, Kentucky). In 1893, the name was shortened to its present spelling of Owensboro.
Frederick Ames came to Owensboro from Washington, Pennsylvania in 1887. He started the Carriage Woodstock Company to repair horse-drawn carriages, but in 1910 began to manufacture a line of automobiles under the Ames brand name. Ames hired industrialist Vincent Bendix in 1912, and the company became the Ames Motor Car Company. Despite being called the "best $1500" car by a Texas car dealer, production ceased in 1915. The company instead began manufacturing replacement bodies for the Ford Model T. In 1922, the company again remade itself, manufacturing furniture under the name Ames Corporation. The company finally sold out to Whitehall Furniture in 1970.<ref>CoachBuilt.com - Ames Buggy Company</ref>
On August 14, 1936, downtown Owensboro became the site of the last public hanging in the United States. Rainey Bethea was executed for the rape of 70-year-old Lischa Edwards, who was also murdered. He had confessed to her strangling but the Commonwealth indicted him only on the rape charge since that was the only capital crime for which the penalty was hanging.
In 1937, Pope Pius XI established the Roman Catholic diocese of Owensboro which spans approximately the western third of the state. It includes thirty-two counties and covers approximately 12,500 square miles<ref>Owensboro Diocese Home Page</ref>.
In 1961, a family of vacuum tubes called the Compactron was introduced by engineers from the General Electric plant in Owensboro.
[edit] Geography
Owensboro is located in the crook of a bend in the Ohio River at (37.757748, -87.118390)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 48.3 km² (18.7 mi²). 45.1 km² (17.4 mi²) of it is land and 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²) of it (6.59%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 54,067 people, 22,659 households, and 14,093 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,198.4/km² (3,102.9/mi²). There were 24,302 housing units at an average density of 538.6/km² (1,394.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.63% White, 6.90% African American, 0.51% Asian, 0.12% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population.
There were 22,659 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.7% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,867, and the median income for a family was $41,333. Males had a median income of $33,429 versus $21,457 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,968. About 12.2% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Law and government
Owensboro has operated under at City Manager form of government since 1954. The citizenry elects a mayor and four city commissioners which form the Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners is the legislative body of the city government and represents the interests of the citizens. The Board of Commissioners appoints a city manager who administers the day-to-day operations of the city.
The mayor is elected for a term of four years. Each city commissioner is elected for a term of two years. The term of the city manager is indefinite.
[edit] Education
The Owensboro Public School System, the Daviess County School System, and the Owensboro Catholic School System oversee K-12 education in and around Owensboro.
Owensboro is home to two private, four-year colleges, Brescia University and Kentucky Wesleyan College, and one public commmunity college, Owensboro Community and Technical College. Campuses of Draughons Junior College and Daymar College are also located in Owensboro, and Western Kentucky University maintains an extended campus presence there.
In 2006, plans were announced for a research center operated by the University of Louisville to be located at Kentucky Bioprocessing to study how to make the first ever human papilloma virus vaccine, called Gardasil, out of tobacco plants. U of L researcher Dr Albert Bennet Jenson and Dr Shin-je Ghim discovered the vaccine in 2006. If successful, the vaccine would be made in Owensboro.<ref>Two at U of L help invent vaccine - Courier Journal</ref>
[edit] Points of interest
- Ben Hawes State Park
- International Bluegrass Music Museum
- Western Kentucky Botanical Garden
- William H. Natcher Bridge
[edit] Events of interest
Owensboro considers itself the "BBQ Capital of the world"; it holds its BBQ festival and competition every second weekend in May.
Owensboro is home to the Annual Owensboro PumpkinFest held each September at the Sportscenter/Moreland Park complex. The festival consists of food vendors, crafts people, carnival rides, children and adult activities and games, and plenty of contests using pumpkins. Each year, the festival hosts a weekend long concert series featuring some of the areas top bands such as Sundown, Bad Kitty, and Downside to name a few. The event was started by The Glenmary Sisters (also based in Owensboro) as a way to raise awareness and funds for their mission work in the southeastern United States.
Owensboro is also home to the annual Hip Hop Halloween Massacre event that happens every year for established Hip Hop Artists and fans, it happens the last Saturday of October.
[edit] Notable natives
[edit] Politicians
- Wendell H. Ford, politician, former KY Governor and U.S. Senator (Majority Whip)
- John M. Spalding, WWII hero, politician
- W. Ralph Basham, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and former Director of the United States Secret Service
- Steve Henry, Lieutenant Governor of KY from 1995-2003.
[edit] Sports figures
- Rex Chapman, former NBA basketball player (born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, but raised in Owensboro)
- Cliff Hagan, former NBA basketball player
- Brad Wilkerson, MLB baseball player
- Darrell Waltrip, NASCAR driver, FOX TV Sports Commentator
- Michael Waltrip, NASCAR driver
- Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR driver
- Jeff Green, David Green, and Mark Green, NASCAR drivers
- Stuart Kirby, NASCAR driver
- Justin Miller, NFL football player
- Nick Varner, pool champion [1]
- Nicky Hayden,Motorcycle Racer, 2002 Daytona 200 Winner, 2002 AMA Superbike Champion, 2006 MotoGp World Champion
- BJ Whitmer, professional wrestler
- Mark Higgs, former NFL football player
[edit] Entertainers
- Johnny Depp, actor, director, musician
- Tom Ewell, actor
- Brian "beej" Jackson, radio/TV personality
- Phillip Kundert, KaBaL Hip Hop Artist
- Mark Stuart, vocalist for Audio Adrenaline
- William Booth Wecker, showman of the 1930s and 1940s
[edit] Authors and journalists
- Terry Bisson, author
- Chuck Clark, journalist
- Stephen Cohen, author, Russia expert (husband of The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel)
[edit] Others
- Dudley W. Morton, U.S. naval commander
[edit] Sister City
Owensboro has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- Official website
- ROMP (River Of Music Party)
- Entry about Owensboro from the Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer, a University of Kentucky website
- Messenger-Inquirer, the city's newspaper, with a special series of articles about the 20th century in Owensboro
- Owensboro Chamber of Commerce
- 1821 Advertisement for an auction for land around Owensboro, Kentucky, from the Library of Congress
- Bar-B-Q Festival
- Halloween Massacre Event in Owensboro Official Site
- Moonlite Bar-B-Q, an Owensboro tradition
- Owensboro Tourist Commission
- Summer Music Festival
- Brescia University
- Kentucky Wesleyan College
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
