Lewisport, Kentucky
| Lewisport, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Historic buildings in Lewisport
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 Location of Lewisport, Kentucky |
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| Coordinates: 37°56′6″N 86°54′19″W / 37.93500°N 86.90528°WCoordinates: 37°56′6″N 86°54′19″W / 37.93500°N 86.90528°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Hancock |
| Incorporated | 1844 |
| Reïncorporated | 1882 |
| Named for | a local landowner |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Chad Gregory |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2) |
| • Land | 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 397 ft (121 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,670 |
| • Density | 1,540.8/sq mi (594.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 42351 |
| Area code(s) | 270 & 364 |
| FIPS code | 21-45136 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0496341 |
| Website | www.lewisport.cityof.org |
Lewisport is a home rule-class city in the floodplain of the Ohio River in Hancock County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 1670 at the time of the 2010 U.S. census. It is included in the Owensboro metropolitan area.
Lewisport was originally a ferry landing site known as Little Yellow Banks in allusion to Owensboro's original name of Yellow Banks. The first settler was James Prentis, who platted the current town in 1837 with his brother John. An attempt to rename the city Prentisport failed, though, when James insisted the town be named after his friend Dr. John Lewis instead. The town was chartered as Lewisport in 1839 and the post office was established under that name in 1844. The city was formally incorporated by the state assembly the same year, but needed to be reincorporated in 1882.
Logging and flatboat construction were the initial chief industries. The river has flooded the city repeatedly, and the importance of lumber construction and industry has sparked several major fires.
Abraham Lincoln won his first case – Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Abraham Lincoln – in Lewisport's Pate House, at the time the site of the local circuit court. He was tried in the east room of the log house before Squire Pate for operating a ferry across the Ohio River without a license, but the justice of the peace dismissed the case against him. The house is now a county landmark and is open for tours throughout the year.
During the Civil War, Bill Davison and Isaac Coulter captured and robbed the steamship Morning Star here on December 23, 1864, killing three Union soldiers. The town's only bank was shuttered during the Great Depression. Upon its founding in 1938, the Lewisport School System comprised 8 local one-room schools; today, it is part of the Hancock County Consolidated School System.
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Wikipedia