Rowan

Formed January 1, 1856 (104^th county)

Rowan County (24,654), Morehead (7,145)

A red brick and masonry Modern courthouse was constructed in 2011.  It is sited on Main and Norman Wells streets.  The architect is Sherman-Carter Barnhart.  The location is one block west of United States Highway 60.  A Judicial Center was also built in 2011 across the street.  The courthouse features columns and a metal roof.  There was an 1899 courthouse and a 1980 courthouse previously following the January 1, 1856 county founding.  The county was taken from parts of Fleming, and Morgan counties as the 104^th county.  The county is named for Senator John Rowan.  The county seat is named for Governor James T. Morehead.  Morehead has always been the county seat. 

Rowan County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 4 Magistrates (legislative.)  Two Circuit Court Judges and Two District Court Judges serve Rowan, Bath, Menifee, and Montgomery counties and a court clerk serves Rowan County (judicial.) The county is in the far-eastern part of the state.  Huntington, West Virginia is northeast and Lexington, Kentucky is southwest of the county.  The county center is in Morehead 1.8 miles West-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lewis, Carter, Elliott, Morgan, Menifee, Bath, and Fleming counties. 

The area of the county is 281 square miles.  It is 73 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 46 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 87.7 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 120 in the state.  Rowan County has 30.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 64 crosses the county east to west from Carter County to Bath County.  United States Highway 60 parallels Interstate Highway 64 from Carter to Bath counties.  The county’s shape looks overall like a diamond.  Morehead is in the southern half of the county.  Morehead is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.0% of the county population.