Boone County is a county located on the Ohio River in the northernmost part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 135,968, making it the fourth-most populous county in Kentucky. Its county seat is Burlington. The county was formed in 1798 from a portion of Campbell County and was named for frontiersman Daniel Boone. Boone County, with Kenton and Campbell Counties, is of the Northern Kentucky metro area, and the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the location of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which serves Cincinnati and the tri-state area.
History
Native Americans had once inhabited a large late historic village in Petersburg that contained "at least two periods of habitation dating to 1150 A.D. and 1400 A.D."
In 1729, an unknown Frenchman sketched an area on his chart at what is now Big Bone Lick State Park with a note that it was "where they found the bones of an elephant."
Margaret Garner would become famous for slitting her own daughter's throat (Mary) to prevent her from going back into slavery when Archibald K. Gaines and his posse, along with Federal Marshals, caught up to the fleeing slaves at Joseph Kite's house. In December 1849, the plantation was given along with all the slaves to John P. Gaines' younger brother, Archibald K. Gaines. Three of Margaret Garner's children, including Mary, the daughter whose throat Margaret Garner slashed, were likely the children of Archibald K. Gaines, the only adult white male at Maplewood. The timing suggests they were each conceived after his wife had become pregnant and was unavailable to him.
Margaret Garner's story was the inspiration for the novel Beloved (1987) by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison (that later was adapted into a film of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey), as well as for her libretto for the early 21st century opera Margaret Garner (2005), composed by Richard Danielpour.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.9%) is water. Its location along the Ohio River was key to its early development, as the river was the major transportation route.
Adjacent counties
- Hamilton County, Ohio (north)
- Kenton County (east)
- Grant County (south)
- Gallatin County (southwest)
- Switzerland County, Indiana (southwest)
- Ohio County, Indiana (west)
- Dearborn County, Indiana (northwest)
Climate
Boone County's climate is a humid subtropical (Cfa).