Ballard County, Kentucky
| Ballard County, Kentucky | |
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Ballard County Courthouse in Wickliffe
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 Location in the U.S. state of Kentucky |
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 Kentucky's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1842 |
| Named for | Bland Ballard |
| Seat | Wickliffe |
| Largest city | La Center |
| Area | |
| • Total | 274 sq mi (710 km2) |
| • Land | 247 sq mi (640 km2) |
| • Water | 27 sq mi (70 km2), 9.9% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 8,249 |
| • Density | 33/sq mi (13/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Ballard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,249. Its county seat is Wickliffe. The county was created by the Kentucky State Legislature in 1842 and is named for Captain Bland Ballard, a soldier, statesman, and member of the Kentucky General Assembly. Ballard is a prohibition or dry county.
Ballard County is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Ballard County was formed from portions of Hickman County and McCracken County. It was named for Bland Ballard (1761–1853), a Kentucky pioneer and soldier who served as a scout for General George Rogers Clark during the American Revolutionary War, and later commanded a company during the War of 1812. On February 17, 1880, the courthouse was destroyed by a fire, which also destroyed most of the county's early records. The county seat was transferred from Blandville to Wickliffe in 1882.
Ballard County had documented incidents of racial violence in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells, in her 1895 pamphlet A Red Record, details the gruesome death of C. J. Miller, an African American traveling near Ballard County.
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