Russell County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,991. Its county seat is Jamestown and its largest city is Russell Springs. The county was formed on December 14, 1825, from portions of Adair, Cumberland and Wayne Counties and is named for William Russell.

In 2015, the cities of Jamestown and Russell Springs became two of the first gigabit Internet communities in Kentucky with the completion of a state-of-the-art optical fiber network by the local telephone cooperative.

Wolf Creek Dam is located in southern Russell County. The dam impounds Cumberland River to form Lake Cumberland, a major tourism attraction for the county. Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery is also located in Russell County just below the dam.

Until relatively recently Russell County was a dry county, meaning that the sale of alcohol was prohibited. It voted to go "wet" in a referendum held on January 19, 2016, by a margin of 3,833 to 3,423 votes.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (10%) is water. The highest point is atop Dickerson Ridge in the extreme northern part of the county and the lowest point is along the Cumberland River.

Major highways

  • Cumberland Parkway
  • U.S. Route 127 in Kentucky
  • Kentucky Route 80

Adjacent counties

  • Casey County (north/EST Border)
  • Pulaski County (northeast/EST Border)
  • Wayne County (southeast/EST Border)
  • Clinton County (south)
  • Cumberland County (southwest)
  • Adair County (west)

Demographics

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Russell County is part of the historically and currently rock-ribbed Republican bloc of southeastern Kentucky that also includes such counties as Clinton, Cumberland, Casey, Pulaski, Laurel, Rockcastle, Monroe, McCreary, Clay, Jackson, Owsley and Leslie. These counties were opposed to secession during the Civil War era, and consequently became and have remained intensely Republican ever since. The last Democrat to win Russell County was Grover Cleveland in 1884, and the last Republican to not gain a majority was William Howard Taft in 1912 when his party was divided.

Elected officials

{| class=wikitable

|-

| colspan="3" |Elected officials as of January 3, 2025

|-

! scope=row|U.S. House

| |James Comer (R)

| |

|-

! scope=row|Ky. Senate

| |Rick Girdler (R)

| |15

|-

! scope=row|Ky. House

| |Josh Branscum (R)

| |83

|}

Communities

Cities

  • Jamestown (county seat)
  • Russell Springs

Unincorporated communities

  • Bryan
  • Crocus (partially in Adair County)
  • Eli
  • Esto
  • Fonthill
  • Sewellton

Ghost Town

  • Creelsboro

Notable people

  • Tara Conner, Miss Kentucky USA 2006, Miss USA 2006
  • Vernie McGaha, Former Kentucky State Senator
  • Doug Moseley, later a Kentucky state senator, was pastor of the Russell Springs First United Methodist Church from 1958 to 1960
  • Steve Wariner, country music singer and songwriter. Kentucky State Route 80 is named in his honor.
  • Jeff Hoover, Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, elected Speaker in late 2016.

See also

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

References

  • Russell County Industrial Development Authority
  • The Kentucky Highlands Project
  • Russell County Public Library