Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,627. Its county seat is Grayson. Carter County is in the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is home to Carter Caves State Resort Park.

History

Carter County was formed on February 9, 1838, from portions of Greenup County and Lawrence County. It was named after Colonel William Grayson Carter, a Kentucky state Senator. The county seat is named for his uncle, Robert Grayson.

The original courthouse was rebuilt in 1907.

Railroads

An east–west main line reached Carter County in when the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad (EL&BS) completed a through route between Lexington and Ashland; the last spike was driven near Denton, where the line met the Ashland Coal & Iron Railway coming east from Ashland. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) soon leased and then acquired the EL&BS, and the corridor became the C&O Lexington Subdivision.

The county's best-known station is the Olive Hill C&O Depot (1910), a Prairie-style brick passenger depot listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 and noted as the only surviving railroad building in Olive Hill.

A north–south line, the Eastern Kentucky Railway (EK), served the county seat at Grayson and connected with the EL&BS/C&O at Hitchins; the EK's operations ended during the Great Depression.

Rail spurs and sidings in Carter County handled fire clay and refractory brick, which were major local industries in the early–mid 20th century. Facilities included plants at Olive Hill and Hitchins.

Most of the Lexington Subdivision west of Ashland was abandoned in the mid-1980s.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.

Adjacent counties

  • Greenup County (northeast)
  • Boyd County (east)
  • Lawrence County (southeast)
  • Elliott County (south)
  • Rowan County (southwest)
  • Lewis County (northwest)

Demographics

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Carter County leaned increasingly Republican during the 2010s, with Donald Trump dramatically shifting it to the right in 2016. In 8 out of 28 presidential elections since 1912 has the Democratic candidate carried this county, even though they carried it three times in a row from 1988 to 1996. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul are the senators currently representing the state of Kentucky. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Elected officials

{| class=wikitable

|-

| colspan="3" |Elected officials as of May 30, 2025

|-

!rowspan=2 | U.S. House

| |Thomas Massie (R)

| |

|-

| |Hal Rogers (R)

| |

|-

! scope=row|Ky. Senate

| |Robin L. Webb (R)

| |18

|-

! scope=row|Ky. House

| |Patrick Flannery (R)

| |96

|}

Education

  • Carter County School District
  • Kentucky Christian University, located in Grayson. In 2022, they awarded 133 degrees. The student population was 629 - 388 male students and 241 female students. Demographics were White (93 and 73.8%), followed by Black or African American (16 and 12.7%), Unknown (8 and 6.35%), and Hispanic or Latino (7 and 5.56%).

Alcohol sales

Carter County is a moist county, meaning that sale of alcohol in the county is prohibited except in certain areas as voted on by the residents of the area, with at least one area approving full retail alcohol sales. In the case of Carter County, alcohol sales are only permitted as follows:

  • At a single approved winery in the Iron Hill precinct, near the unincorporated community of Carter City.
  • Within the city of Grayson after a vote on June 11, 2013, approved full retail alcohol sales within the city limits by a vote of 511 in favor of alcohol sales to 393 against.
  • Within the city of Olive Hill after a vote on March 10, 2014, approved full retail alcohol sales within the city limits by a vote of 257 in favor of alcohol sales to 206 against.

Communities

Cities

  • Grayson (county seat)
  • Olive Hill

Unincorporated communities

  • Access
  • Beech Grove
  • Beetle
  • Boone Furnace
  • Carter
  • Davy Run
  • Denton
  • Grahn
  • Hitchins
  • Mount Savage
  • Norton Branch
  • Rooney
  • Rush (part)
  • Smiths Creek
  • Soldier
  • Straight Creek
  • Willard

Transportation

Carter County is accessible by U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 64. Until 2010, the city of Olive Hill owned an airport.

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Carter County, Kentucky

References

  • The Kentucky Highlands Project