Daviess

Formed January 14, 1815 (58^th county)

Daviess County (103,320), Owensboro (60,206)                

The Modern masonry and concrete building, built in 1964, sits on St. Ann, 2^nd, Frederica, and 3^rd streets.  United States Highway 60 is 2^nd Street in the town.  Max W. Bisson & Associates are the architects.  There was a previous courthouse dating from 1868 also in Owensboro, the only county seat.  A Justice Center was built in 1991.  The building features pillars and the grounds have veteran memorials and a Liberty Bell.  Daviess County was formed on January 14, 1815 from Ohio County as the 58^th county.  It is named for United States Attorney General Joseph Hamilton Daviess.  The county seat is named for Abraham Owen who was a Battle of Tippecanoe hero.  He is also the namesake of Owen County and its county seat. Daviess County was the birthplace of 1 Kentucky Governor, Wendell H. Ford. 

Daviess 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 Magistrates (legislative.)  Three Circuit Court Judges, One District Court Judge and a court clerk serve Daviess County (judicial.) The county is on the northwest border with Indiana.  The Ohio River is its northern border.  Louisville, Kentucky is northeast and Bowling Green, Kentucky is southeast of the county.  The county center is in Owensboro 3.1 miles South of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Indiana and Hancock, Ohio, McLean, and Henderson counties. 

The area of the county is 462 square miles.  It is 18 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 223.6 persons per square mile making it 13 out of 120 in the state.  Daviess County has 58.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 60 crosses the county from east to west from Hancock County to Henderson County.  United States Highway 231 goes north to south from Indiana to Ohio County.  United States Highway 431 originates in the county and heads south into McLean County.  The county looks like an arrowhead.  Owensboro is on the northern border of the county.  Owensboro is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 58.3% of the county population.  The county is pronounced DAE-VIS.  This county is in the Owensboro Metropolitan Statistical Area.