Editing Brandenburg, Kentucky

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Brandenburg, Kentucky
| settlement_type    = [[list of cities in Kentucky|City]]
| nickname           = 
| motto              = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline      = Meade County, Kentucky courthouse.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Meade County courthouse in Brandenburg
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = <!-- Maps -->
| image_map          = File:Meade County Kentucky Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Brandenburg Highlighted 2109226.svg
| mapsize            = 250px
| map_caption        = Location in Meade County, Kentucky
| image_map1         = 
| mapsize1           = 
| map_caption1       = <!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Kentucky]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Kentucky|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Meade County, Kentucky|Meade]]
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = <!-- Area -->
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022">{{cite web |title=2022 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Kentucky |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2022_Gazetteer/2022_gaz_place_21.txt |publisher=United States Census Bureau |accessdate=May 11, 2023}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 10.65
| area_land_km2      = 10.61
| area_water_km2     = 0.05
| area_total_sq_mi   = 4.11
| area_land_sq_mi    = 4.09
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.02

<!-- Population -->| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2020">{{Cite web| url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=&g=1600000US2109226&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P1| title=P1. Race – Brandenburg city, Kentucky: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| access-date=May 11, 2023}}</ref>
| population_total   = 2894
| pop_est_as_of      = 2022
| pop_est_footnotes  = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2022/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2022-POP-21.xlsx|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Kentucky: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022|publisher= United States Census Bureau|access-date= May 26, 2023}}</ref>
| population_est     = 2929
| population_density_km2 = 272.84
| population_density_sq_mi = 706.72
| timezone           = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset         = -5
| timezone_DST       = EDT
| utc_offset_DST     = -4
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 173
| elevation_ft       = 568
| coordinates        = {{coord|37|59|34|N|86|10|29|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code        = 40108
| area_code          = [[Area codes 270 and 364|270 & 364]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 21-09226
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 0487822
| website            = {{URL|brandenburg.ky.gov}}
| footnotes          = 
}}
[[File:Downtown Brandenburg.jpg|thumb|right|Downtown Brandenburg]]
[[File:Brandenburg Methodist Episcopal Church.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Brandenburg United Methodist Church]]
'''Brandenburg''' is a [[list of Kentucky cities|home rural-class city]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.klc.org/UserFiles/files/ClassificationReformFACT(3).pdf |title=Summary and Reference Guide to House Bill 331 City Classification Reform |publisher=Kentucky League of Cities |access-date=December 30, 2014}}</ref> on the [[Ohio River]] in [[Meade County, Kentucky|Meade County]], [[Kentucky]], in the United States. The city is {{convert|40|mi|km}} southwest of [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]]. It is the [[county seat|seat]] of its county.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=2011-06-07 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=2011-05-31 }}</ref> The population was 2,894 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="Census 2020"/>

==History==
[[File:Brandenburg Morgan marker.jpg|thumb|left|Historical marker noting [[John Hunt Morgan]]'s activities at Brandenburg]]
Brandenburg was built on a {{convert|3000|acre|km2|adj=on}} tract of land called "Falling Springs", purchased in 1804 by Solomon Brandenburg. He opened a tavern around which the community grew. In 1825, the community became the seat of Meade County, but it wasn't formally incorporated by the [[Kentucky Assembly|state assembly]] until March 28, 1872.<ref>Commonwealth of Kentucky. Office of the Secretary of State. Land Office. "Brandenburg, Kentucky". Accessed 22 July 2013.</ref>

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] General [[John Hunt Morgan]] crossed at Brandenburg to start his raid into [[Indiana]] in July 1863. During the [[Battle of Brandenburg Crossing]], two men on the Indiana side of the river were killed by cannon fire from Brandenburg. A [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] gunship was deployed to block the crossing, but it ran out of ammunition and Morgan and his men were able to pass into Indiana.

Brandenburg was devastated by an [[1974 Brandenburg tornado|F5 tornado]] during the [[1974 Super Outbreak|Super Outbreak of April 3, 1974]]. The tornado had touched down near [[Hardinsburg, Kentucky|Hardinsburg]] and as it moved to the northeast grew into a half-mile wide wedge tornado, striking Brandenburg head on. The tornado killed 31 people and injured 270, with all but three of the fatalities and most of the injuries occurring at Brandenburg. 128 homes and 30 businesses were also destroyed.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.weather.gov/lmk/tornado_climatology_meade | title=Tornado Climatology of Meade County }}</ref> There was no early [[tornado warning|warning]] from [[civil defense siren|tornado siren]]s or [[National Weather Service#Product dissemination|NOAA Weather Wire Service]] about the storm. About an hour after the storm, the same supercell spawned an F4 tornado that formed in the southwest part of Louisville in [[Jefferson County, Kentucky|Jefferson County]] near [[Kosmosdale, Louisville|Kosmosdale]]. Three people lost their lives in this storm, but it also left two hundred and seven injuries. The Brandenburg tornado remains as the only F5/EF5 tornado in Kentucky state history since official record keeping began in 1950, although later that day another F5 that hit Cincinnati, Ohio crossed the Ohio River from Indiana into Kentucky then into Ohio.

The [[Confederate Monument in Louisville]] was relocated to Brandenburg in late 2017 and rededicated in 2018.

==Geography==
Brandenburg is located in north-central Meade County at {{coord|37|59|34|N|86|10|29|W|type:city}} (37.992664, -86.174657),<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> along the south bank of the [[Ohio River]]. The [[Matthew E. Welsh Bridge]] connects Brandenburg with [[Mauckport, Indiana|Mauckport]] across the river in [[Indiana]]. According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|4.11|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|0.02|sqmi|2}}, or 0.44%, are water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1830 = 331
| 1860 = 618
| 1870 = 427
| 1880 = 587
| 1890 = 495
| 1900 = 218
| 1910 = 482
| 1920 = 503
| 1930 = 484
| 1940 = 561
| 1950 = 755
| 1960 = 1542
| 1970 = 1637
| 1980 = 1831
| 1990 = 1857
| 2000 = 2049
| 2010 = 2643
| 2020 = 2894
| estyear = 2022
| estimate = 2929
| estref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2022/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2022-POP-21.xlsx|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Kentucky: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022|publisher= United States Census Bureau|access-date= May 26, 2023}}</ref>
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 2,049 people, 844 households, and 535 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|518.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 917 housing units at an average density of {{convert|231.8|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 94.05% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 3.90% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.54% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.24% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.27% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.83% of the population.

There were 844 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.92.

The age distribution was 26.2% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,351, and the median income for a family was $42,950. Males had a median income of $30,565 versus $21,143 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $17,863. About 14.4% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
The Meade County Public Library was founded in 1955 and relocated to a new facility in 2011.<ref name = meadreads-history/> The library held the [[Brandenburg stone]] from the 1960s until 1996, and has again held the stone since 2012.<ref name=DN-990723>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gPIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4UcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4713,3166828&dq=brandenburg-stone&hl=en | title=Secretive Stone Gets New Home in Indiana | date=July 23, 1999 | agency=Daily News | access-date=March 24, 2013 | location=Bowling Green, Kentucky}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Chip Jaenichen]], former [[United States Maritime Administration|United States Maritime Administrator]]
* [[Rick Stansbury]], college basketball coach

== In popular culture ==
Brandenburg is featured in the open world survival horror game ''[[Project Zomboid]]''.

==See also==
* [[List of cities and towns along the Ohio River]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs =

<ref name = meadreads-history>
{{cite web
 | url        = http://www.meadereads.org/about-the-library/history-of-the-library/
 | title      = History of the Library
 | publisher  = Meade County Public Library
 | quote      = Construction on the new library facility began in September of 2010 and was completed August 2011.
 | access-date = 2016-12-29
}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Brandenburg, Kentucky}}
* {{wikivoyage inline|Brandenburg (Kentucky)|Brandenburg, Kentucky}}
* {{Official website|brandenburg.ky.gov}}

{{Meade County, Kentucky}}
{{Kentucky county seats}}
{{Kentucky}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Brandenburg, Kentucky|*]]
[[Category:Cities in Kentucky]]
[[Category:County seats in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Cities in Meade County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Louisville metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1804]]
[[Category:Kentucky populated places on the Ohio River]]