Formed May 1, 1860 (108th county)
Magoffin County (11,639), Salyersville (1,590)
A Modern brick Justice Center was built in 2004 to augment the Modern 1959 red/brown brick courthouse. The Justice Center is on Parkway Drive at Allen Drive. The courthouse is on Court Square near where Maple and Church streets intersect. United States Highway 460 turns at the courthouse. Michael J. Hansen provided the courthouse designs. The courthouse features a tower. An 1893 courthouse existed earlier also in Salyersville, the only county seat. Magoffin County was created on May 1, 1860 from parts of Floyd, Johnson, and Morgan counties as the 108th county. It is named for Governor Beriah Magoffin. The county seat is named for Kentucky Legislator Samuel Salyer.
Magoffin County government consists of a sheriff, County Judge Executive, and 3 Magistrates. One Circuit Court Judge, One District Court Judge, and One Family Court Judge serve Magoffin and Knott counties. The county is in eastern Kentucky. Huntington, West Virginia is northeast and Lexington, Kentucky is northwest of the county. The county center is 3.7 miles Southeast of Salyersville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Johnson, Floyd, Knott, Breathitt, Wolfe, and Morgan counties.
The area of the county is 310 square miles. It is 60 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 92 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 37.5 persons per square mile making it 92 out of 120 in the state. Magoffin County has 13.7% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 460 enters the county from Morgan County, north, and exits into Johnson County, east. The county is a funnel. Salyersville is located in the northwest quarter of the county. Salyersville is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 13.7% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced SAEL-URS-VIL.
Salyersville
