Boyle County is a county located in the central part of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,614. Its county seat is Danville. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John Boyle (1774–1835), a U.S. Representative, chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and later federal judge for the District of Kentucky, and is part of the Danville, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
In 1820, a portion of Casey County, now south of KY Route 300, was annexed to Mercer County. This became part of Boyle County when Boyle County was formed on February 15, 1842, from sections of Lincoln County and Mercer County. It is named for John Boyle, Congressman, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Judge.
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States John Marshall Harlan, a supporter of civil rights and the sole dissenter in the Civil Rights Cases and Plessy v. Ferguson, was born in Boyle County in 1833.
A courthouse fire in 1860 resulted in the loss of some county records.
During the American Civil War, the Battle of Perryville took place here on October 8, 1862, fought between the Confederate Army of Mississippi and the Union Army of the Ohio. 7407 men fell in the battle.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water.
Adjacent counties
- Mercer County (north)
- Garrard County (east)
- Lincoln County (southeast)
- Casey County (south)
- Marion County (southwest)
- Washington County (northwest)
Major highways
- 25px U.S. Route 68
- 25px U.S. Route 127
- 25px U.S. Route 150
- 20px Kentucky Route 33
- 20px Kentucky Route 34
- 20px Kentucky Route 37
- 20px Kentucky Route 52
- 20px Kentucky Route 300