Harrison

Formed December 21, 1793 (17^th county)

Harrison County (18,692), Cynthiana (6,335)

A Greek Revival style to the columned facility built in 1851 on a square at Court, Pleasant, Main, and Hall streets.  United States Highway 27 is Main Street in the town.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1856, 1877, and 1914.  The white brick building’s designer was John Huddleston.  The structure features a tower with a working clock and columns.  Veteran memorials and a military gun sit on the grounds.  There was a 1794 courthouse also in Cynthiana the only county seat.  A Justice Center was added in 2002.  Harrison County was established on December 21, 1793 from parts of Bourbon and Scott counties as the 17^th county.  It is named for Kentucky statehood founder Benjamin Harrison.  The county seat is named for the daughters of a landowner, Cynthia and Anna. 

Harrison County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 8 Magistrates (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge, Two District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve Harrison, Nicholas, Pendleton and Robertson counties and a court clerk serves Harrison County (judicial.) The county is north of Lexington, Kentucky and south of Cincinnati, Ohio in north central Kentucky.  The county center is 4.8 miles Northwest of Cynthiana.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pendleton, Bracken, Robertson, Nicholas, Bourbon, Scott, and Grant counties. 

The area of the county is 310 square miles.  It is 59 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 64 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 60.3 persons per square mile making it 60 out of 120 in the state.  Harrison County has 35.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 27 crosses the county north to south from Pendleton County to Bourbon County.  United States Highway 62 goes northeast to southwest from Robertson County to Scott County.  The county is shaped like a diamond.  Cynthiana is in the southern quarter of the county.  Cynthiana is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 33.9% of the county population.