Formed January 1, 1807 (49th county)
Clay County (20,339), Manchester (1,520)
The 2004 Modern tan brick and concrete courthouse is at Main and Court streets. United States Highway 421 is two blocks to the west of the site. Codell Construction Company provided the designs. The structure features columns. There were 1889 and 1939 courthouses earlier in Manchester, the only county seat. An Administrative Center was built also in 2004. The county was created on January 1, 1807 from parts of Madison, Floyd, and Knox counties as the 49th county. It is named for Green Clay, a general in the War of 1812. The county seat is named for Manchester, England. Clay County was the birthplace of 1 Kentucky Governor, Bertram T. Combs.
Clay County government consists of a sheriff, County Judge Executive, and 6 Magistrates. Two Circuit Court Judges, Two District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve Clay, Jackson and Leslie counties. The county is in southeast Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky is northwest and Huntington, West Virginia is northeast of the county. The county center is 3.9 miles Northeast of Manchester. The 2county is surrounded clockwise by Owsley, Perry, Leslie, Bell, Knox, Laurel, and Jackson counties.
The area of the county is 471 square miles. It is 16 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 56 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 43.2 persons per square mile making it 77 out of 120 in the state. Clay County has 7.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 421 goes east to northwest in the county from Leslie County to Jackson County. The county is shaped like a funnel. Manchester is in the southwest quarter of the county. Manchester is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 7.5% of the county population.
Manchester
