Formed November 20, 1788 (8th county)
Mason County (17,121), Maysville (8,871)
The brick 2000 Justice Center supports the 1844 Greek Revival courthouse. The facilities are on 3rd at Court streets. Kentucky State Highway 8 is 3rd Street. Ignatius Mitchell, Christopher Russell, Stanislaus Mitchell, and Ignatius Purnell designed the white stucco courthouse. The building was enlarged in 1860. The courthouse features a tower with a working clock and the grounds have a canon and veteran memorials. Mason County was formed on November 20, 1788 from Bourbon County as the 8th county. Washington was the first county seat until 1848 when Maysville assumed the role. The county’s namesake is American statesman George Mason. The county seat is named for settler John May. Mason County was the birthplace of 1 Kentucky Governor, Augustus E. Willson.
Mason 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.) One Circuit Court Judge and One District Court Judge serve Mason, Bracken, and Fleming counties and a court clerk serves Mason County (judicial.) The county is situated on the northeast border with Ohio. The Ohio River forms its northern border. Cincinnati, Ohio is northwest and Huntington, West Virginia is east of the county. The county center is 9.5 miles Southwest of Maysville nearer Germantown. The county is surrounded clockwise by Ohio and Lewis, Fleming, Robertson, and Bracken counties.
The area of the county is 241 square miles. It is 89 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 66 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 71.0 persons per square mile making it 51 out of 120 in the state. Mason County has 53.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 68 crosses the county north to south from Ohio to Fleming County. The county is shaped like a bowl tipping east. Maysville is on the northern border with Ohio. Maysville is the county seat and the largest city. It is 51.8% of the county population. This county is in the Maysville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Dover
Maysville
Germantown
Sardis
