Taylor County, KY

Settlement & growth (pre-1960)

The land that is now Taylor County was originally inhabited by the Shawnee and Cherokee peoples, who used the area for hunting grounds. European-American settlement began in earnest after the American Revolution, with pioneers moving through the Cumberland Gap. The first permanent settlers were primarily of English, Scots-Irish, and German descent, arriving in the late 1700s and early 1800s. They were drawn by the promise of fertile land for tobacco and livestock farming, establishing small farms and communities along the Green River and its tributaries.

The county was officially formed in 1848 from a portion of Green County, named after President Zachary Taylor. The town of Campbellsville was designated the county seat and quickly became the commercial and social hub. The arrival of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in the late 19th century spurred growth, connecting Campbellsville to larger markets and attracting a wave of merchants and tradesmen. Small settlements like Mannsville, Merrimac, and Acton developed as agricultural service centers, populated by families who had been in the region for generations.

The post-Civil War period saw the establishment of a small African American community, many of whom were freedmen who stayed in the area to work as sharecroppers and laborers. This community concentrated primarily in Campbellsville and in rural pockets like Elkhorn. The early 20th century brought little new immigration; the county's population remained overwhelmingly native-born white, with a stable Black minority. The Great Depression and World War II saw outmigration of young people to industrial cities, but the county's population base held steady, sustained by tobacco farming and the founding of Campbellsville College (now Campbellsville University) in 1906, which began to attract students from the surrounding region.

Modern era (post-1965)

The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a minimal direct impact on Taylor County. Unlike urban centers that saw waves of new immigration, the county's foreign-born population remains at just 0.7% today. The most significant demographic shift since the 1960s has been domestic: the gradual diversification of the county through internal migration. The Hispanic population, now 2.9%, began to grow in the 1990s and 2000s, driven by families moving from Texas and the Southwest for work in agriculture, poultry processing, and light manufacturing. These new residents have settled primarily in and around Campbellsville, where they work at facilities like the Tyson Foods plant and in local construction.

The Black population, at 4.6%, has remained relatively stable, with most families still residing in Campbellsville and the historic Elkhorn area. The East/Southeast Asian community (0.7%) and Indian subcontinent community (0.2%) are very small, consisting largely of professionals and students associated with Campbellsville University. Suburbanization has been limited; the county has not experienced the sprawling exurban growth seen in counties closer to Louisville or Lexington. Instead, development has concentrated in Campbellsville, with the surrounding rural areas seeing slow population loss as younger residents move to larger cities for employment.