Meade

Formed December 17, 1823 (75^th county)

Meade County (30,011), Brandenburg (2,893)

The 1976 masonry and concrete Modern courthouse is on Courthouse Drive north of Fairway Drive.  Kentucky State Highway 228 is one block east of the site.  Nolan and Nolan are the courthouse architects.  The courthouse sits on a hill with veteran memorials and a Liberty Bell replica on the grounds.  An 1872 courthouse was destroyed by a tornado in Brandenburg, the only county seat.  Meade County was created on December 17, 1823 from Breckenridge and Hardin counties as the 75^th county.  James Meade from War of 1812 fame provided the inspiration for the county.  The county seat is named for settler Solomon Brandenburg. 

Meade County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 6 Magistrates (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges and Two District Court Judges serve Meade, Breckinridge, and Grayson counties and a court clerk serves Meade County (judicial.) The county sits on the northern border with Indiana.  The Ohio River is on its north border.  Louisville, Kentucky is east and Owensboro, Kentucky is west of the county.  The county center is 4.2 miles Southwest of Brandenburg nearer Midway.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Indiana and Hardin and Breckinridge counties. 

The area of the county is 308 square miles.  It is 61 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 36 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 97.4 persons per square mile making it 31 out of 120 in the state.  Meade County has 13.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 60 crosses the county from east to west from Hardin County to Breckenridge County.  The county looks like a long-armed glove.  Brandenburg is on the northern border slightly east of center.  Brandenburg is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 9.6% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced BRAN-DEN-BERG.  This county is in the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area.