Mercer County, Kentucky

Founding: 1786
Parent county: Lincoln

Namesake: Hugh Mercer, Continental Army general
Seat: Harrodsburg (1785–)

Land area: 249 square miles

Population (2020): 22,641

Population (historic): 7,091 (1790); 17,694 (1830); 13,701 (1860); 14,426 (1900); 14,471 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1790–1840; 1870–1890; 1910s; 1930–1950; 1960–2020

Subdivisions: Two cities; one CDP

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,650 (16.3%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 35.2%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 19.5%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 12.7%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 7.4%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,239
Average outbuilding value (1930): $963
Average farmhouse size (1940): 5 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 2,065
Average farm size (1920): 63.7 acres
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Harrodsburg

Namesake: James Harrod, American frontiersman

Founding: 1774 (platting); 1794 (post office); 1836 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 9,064

Population (historic): 122 (1800); 1,254 (1840); 2,205 (1870); 2,876 (1900); 4,029 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1800–1870; 1880s; 1900–2020
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 789 (20.3%)
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