Owensboro

Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about 107 miles (172 km) southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2020 census had its population at 60,183. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506. The settlement was originally known as "Yellow Banks" from the color of the land beside the Ohio River. In 1817, Yellow Banks was formally established under the name Owensborough, named after Col. Abraham Owen. Several distillers, mainly of bourbon whiskey, have been in and around the city of Owensboro. The major distillery still in operation is the Glenmore Distillery Company, now owned by the Sazerac Company. The Owensboro Wagon Company, established in 1884, was one of the largest and most influential wagon companies in the nation. The end of the Second World War brought civil engineering projects which helped turn Owensboro from a sleepy industrial town into a modern, expanding community by the turn of the 1960s. In 1961, General Electric's vacuum tube manufacturing operations, producing both receiving types and military types/industrial types, were established in Owensboro, Kentucky. Today, Owensboro was a major part of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, located at the First and Frederica Streets.

History

Owensboro is the primary city name, but also Saint Joseph, St Joseph, Stanley are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is Owensboro, Kentucky. Evidence of Native American settlement in the area dates back 12,000 years. The first European descendant to settle in Owensboro was frontiersman William Smeathers or Smothers in 1797. The settlement was originally known as "Yellow Banks" from the color of the land beside the Ohio River. In 1817, Yellow Banks was formally established under the name Owensborough, named after Col. Abraham Owen. In 1893, the spelling of the name was shortened to its current Owensboro. Several distillers, mainly of bourbon whiskey, have been in and around the city. The major distillery still in operation is the Glenmore Distillery Company, now owned by the Sazerac Company. The Owensboro Wagon Company, established in 1884, was one of the largest and most influential wagon companies in the nation. The end of the Second World War brought civil engineering projects which helped turn Owensboro from a sleepy industrial town into a modern, expanding community by the turn of the 1960s. In 1961, engineers at the General Electric plant in Owensborough introduced a family of vacuum tubes called the Compactron. Today, Modern Welding Company has five steel tank and vessel fabrication subsidiaries located throughout the United States. The company is the country's largest supplier of underground steel storage tanks for flammable and combustible liquids. The First and Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum sits at Frederica First and First Streets where the Bluegrass River Music Hall sits today. The Kentucky Electrical Lamp Company, a light bulb manufacturing company was in 1899.

Geography

Owensboro is located at the crook of a bend in the Ohio River, 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Evansville, Indiana. The city has a humid subtropical climate characterized by hot, humid summers and moderately cold winters. Severe weather, including the threat of tornadoes, is not uncommon throughout much of the year. One such event occurred on December 9, 1952, when F3 tornado tore directly through the city, injuring three people. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Owensboro has a total area of 20.4 square miles (52.9 km²), of which 19.1 sq miles (49.5 km²) is land and 1.3sq miles (3.4km²), or 6.47%, is water. It has a population of 2,816. The town is located on the Indiana Turnpike, which runs through the southern tip of the state. It is the only city in the state to have a post office, which was established in 1881. It was the first post office in Owensboro, Indiana, and the first in Evansville in 1883. The post office opened in 1884. It closed in 1891. It reopened again in 1894, when the city was annexed by the state of Indiana. Owensboro is one of the oldest cities in the United States, having been founded in 1806. It had a population in 1852 of 1,817.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 58,083 people and 23,380 households within the city. There were 26,072 housing units at an average density of 1,394.7 per square mile (538.6/km²) The racial makeup of the city was 87.5% White, 7.3% African-American, 0.9% Asian,0.1% Native American and 0.01% Pacific Islander. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population. The Owensboro Metropolitan Area includes Daviess, Hancock, and McLean counties. The median income for a household in the city is $37,289, and the median incomes for a family was $41,333. The per capita income for the city in 2007 was $21,183. About 12.2%. of families and 18.4%. of the residents of Owensboro were below the poverty line, including 20.9%. of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over. According to the 2007 census, the Owensboro metropolitan area includes Dav iess,ancock, andMcLean counties, and has a population of 58,000. The city is located on the Ohio River, which runs through the center of the metro area. The Ohio River is a major source of water supply for Owensboro. It is also a source of drinking water for the area, as well as for the surrounding counties.

Economy

According to Owensboro's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were: Owensboro City Schools, Owensboro High School, and Owensboro Community College. The city's economy is based on a combination of manufacturing, construction, and manufacturing. Owensboro is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Owensboro, and the Kentucky Institute of Technology. The University of Kentucky is the city's largest employer, with more than 1,000 employees. The U.K. is the second-largest employer, followed by the state of Kentucky, with about 1,100 employees. Owensborough is home of the UVA College of Technology, which has more than 300 employees. It is the largest private university in the state, with over 1,200 employees. In the city, more than half of the jobs are held by women, according to the 2021 report. The top employers are Owensboro County Schools, which is based in the town's downtown area. The state's largest employers were Owensboro College, which had more than 500 employees, and Kentucky State University, which was founded in 1894. The town's top employer was Owensboro Public Schools, with nearly 1,300 workers. The school system has been in operation for more than 100 years. It has been the largest employer in Owensboro since the city was incorporated in 1891. The largest employer is Owensboro Elementary School, which opened in 1892. It was the first public school in the community.

Arts and culture

Owensboro was named an All-American City in 2013. It is home to Temple Adath Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. Owensboro is the "Barbecue Capital of the world"; it holds its International Bar-B-Q Festival and competition every second weekend in May. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro spans approximately the western third of the state. It includes 32 counties and covers approximately 12,500 square miles (32,000 km²) The city is also home to Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary's campus. The Kentucky Baptist Convention has many churches in the area. The city also hosts "ROMP", "River of Music Party", a bluegrass music festival, which has grown to 20,000 visitors a year. It won the Governor's Award for Community Arts in 2013, and was ranked 9th on Area Development's Top 20 Southern Cities list, with a 9th-place ranking for its "recession busting factors" Among the Top 25 Small Cities, Owensboro was ranked 4th on the Top 20 Small Cities list and 9th for "recessions busting factor" It is also the location of the largest sassafras tree in the U.S., located on Frederica Street next door to the Daviess County Public Library. It also hosts the International Bluegrass Music Museum and the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden. It has a museum of science and history, the largest golf course in the state, and a library.

Sports

The Owensboro Oilers baseball team compete in the collegiate wood-bat Ohio Valley League. The team is named for the baseball minor league farm team "Owensboro Oilers" which existed in the 1940s. Many of the city high schools produced talented college and professional athletes. The Oilers were the KIT League's 2008 playoff champions and the 2006 KIT league season champions. They play their home games at the Owensboro Civic Stadium in Owensboro, Kentucky. They are a member of the American Collegiate Baseball Association (ACBA) and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) The team plays its home games in a stadium that was built in the 1930s and is located in the city's historic downtown area. It is also home to a high school, Owensboro High School, and Owensboro Community College. It also has a junior high, high school and a middle school. It has been named after a former minor league baseball farm team, the Owensborough Oilers, which played in the 40s and 50s. The city has a population of about 3,000. It was the site of the World War II-era Owensboro Army Ammunition Plant. The town has a history of being home to many professional athletes, including the U.S. Army Air Corps. and the United States Air Force. it is also the home of a number of high schools, including Owensboro Central High School and Owensborough High School. The club's mascot is the "Owl" and its colors are blue and white.

Government

Owensboro has operated under a City Manager form of government since 1954. Citizens elect a mayor and four city commissioners who form the Board of Commissioners. The Board of commissioners hires a city manager who administers the day-to-day operations of the city. The mayor is elected for a term of four years and the city commissioners are elected for two years. The city manager's term is indefinite and based on performance. The City Manager is appointed by the mayor and the board of commissioners to serve a four-year term. The Mayor of Owensboro is the first African-American to hold the position of mayor of a major city in the state of West Virginia. The current City Manager of the City of Owesboro is Robert W. Smith, who was elected to the position in 2010. The term of the current city manager is indefinite. The board of Commissioners is the legislative body and represents the interests of the citizens. The CEO of the company that owns the City Manager's office is a former mayor of Owensboro. The company was founded in 1953 and has been in business since 1961. It is based in Owensboro, West Virginia, but has since expanded to other parts of the U.S. and Canada. It was founded by a group of local businessmen and women in the 1950s and 1960s. It has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 50 years and is now owned by a private company. The owner of the Company is the city's largest employer, the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.

Education

Owensboro is home to two private, four-year colleges, Brescia University (Catholic) and Kentucky Wesleyan College. A campus of Daymar College is also located in Owensboro, and Western Kentucky University has a regional campus there. The Owensboro Public Schools, Daviess County Public Schools and the Diocese of Owensboro's Catholic School System oversee K-12 education in and around Owensboro. In 2006, plans were announced for a research center operated by the University of Louisville to be located at the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center to study how to make the first ever human papilloma virus vaccine, called Gardasil, from tobacco plants. U of L researcher Dr Albert Bennet Jenson and Dr Shin-je Ghim discovered the vaccine in 2006. If successful, the vaccine would be made in Owensborough. Owensboro has one public community college, Owensboro Community and Technical College. It also has a lending library, the Daviessing County Public Library. It is located in the town's central business district, near the intersection of I-40 and I-65. The town is also home to the Owensboro High School, which was founded in 1883. It was the first high school in the state of Kentucky, and is now the state's second oldest high school. The city also has the Kentucky State Museum, which opened in 1894. It has a branch of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Science, which is located on the main campus of the Owensborough High School.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky = 40.4. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 73. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 79. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Owensboro = 4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 60,183 individuals with a median age of 38.7 age the population grows by 2.34% in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,914.15 residents per square mile of area (1,125.16/km²). There are average 2.2 people per household in the 24,174 households with an average household income of $36,553 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 8.90% of the available work force and has dropped -1.66% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 27.78%. The number of physicians in Owensboro per 100,000 population = 199.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Owensboro = 44.7 inches and the annual snowfall = 9.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 103. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 202. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 25.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 36, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Owensboro, Daviess County, Kentucky which are owned by the occupant = 54.87%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 40 years with median home cost = $98,210 and home appreciation of 2.90%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.82 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,682 per student. There are 14.6 students for each teacher in the school, 440 students for each Librarian and 399 students for each Counselor. 5.42% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 11.41% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.65% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).