Formed March 5, 1860 (106th county)
Boyd County (48,253), Catlettsburg (1,770), Ashland (21,628)
A columned masonry Beaux Arts building was constructed in 1910 and enlarged in 1931. It is located on Louisa Street at 28th Street. United States Highway 23 travels one block to the west of the site. Frank P. Milburn was the architect. An Annex was added in 1953 and a Justice Center was built in 2010 across the street. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. The county was established on March 5, 1860 from parts of Greenup, Carter, and Lawrence counties as the 106th county with Catlettsburg as the only county seat. It is named for Congressman Linn Boyd. The county seat is named for settler Horatio Catlett.
Boyd County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges, Two District Court Judges and a court clerk serve Boyd County (judicial.) The county is in the northeast corner of Kentucky on the border with both Ohio and West Virginia. Huntington, West Virginia is directly east of the county. The Ohio River is its northern border. The county center is 7.7 miles West-Southwest of Catlettsburg nearer Cannonsburg. The county is surrounded clockwise by Ohio and West Virginia and Lawrence, Carter, and Greenup counties.
The area of the county is 160 square miles. It is 115 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 20 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 301.6 persons per square mile making it 8 out of 120 in the state. Boyd County has 48.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 64 goes east to west in the county from West Virginia to Carter County. United States Highway 23 enters from the northwest, Greenup County, and exits to the south into Lawrence County. United States Highway 60 parallels Interstate Highway 64 from West Virginia to Carter County. The county is shaped like a pencil point. Catlettsburg is on the northeast corner near the junction of Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Ashland is in the northwest part of the county. Catlettsburg is the county seat and Ashland is the largest city. Catlettsburg is 3.7% of the county population while Ashland is 44.8% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced KAT-LETZ-BURG. This county is in the Huntington-Ashland Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Ashland
Catlettsburg
