Union County, with its gently undulating land, embraces 346 square miles on the western edge of the Western Coal Field. Union County, the 55th Kentucky county, was created on January 15, 1811 from Henderson County. The county is named for the united desire of its residents to form a new county. Morganfield, the county seat, was established in 1812 on land acquired from the heirs of Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Morgan. Most of the land that forms Union County was conveyed to military men who served during the Revolutionary War. These land grants were often 1,200 to 1,500 acres. Fielding Jones is thought to be the earliest permanent settler of Union County and came into the region as early as 1790. Jones served in the Revolutionary War as a Colonel and was granted 1,000 acres of Union County land. He settled on land about five miles west of Morganfield on the old Spring Grove Uniontown Road.

Along the northern and western borders of the county, for a distance of approximately 36 miles, the Ohio River flows its majestic curves. In the southwest, Union County is separated from Crittenden County by the Tradewater River. Webster County borders the southeast section and to the northeast lies Henderson County. The terrain varies from broad flat floodplains with elevations of less than 400 feet along the Ohio River to island-like hill masses that rise 150 to 200 feet or more above the valley flats.

Union County has a variety of noteworthy historical figures. In 1840, at age 31, Abraham Lincoln gave the only political speech in his native state at a rally in Morganfield. A Harvard graduate and lawyer who specialized in land litigations, George Huston, helped found the city’s first bank in 1869. Baseball great, Jackie Robinson, began his professional baseball career while a lieutenant at Camp Breckinridge in 1944. Union Countian, Earle C. Clements, became governor in 1947 following service in World War I, and spurred massive industrialization efforts as well as road and state parks developments.

Beginning in July 1942, the former Camp Breckinridge served as a troop training facility with a capacity for 30,000 troops and included several small arms, hand grenade, and mortar ranges in Morganfield. The 36,000 acres would soon be home to brave Americans, training and preparing to go to war. The facility was used again for troop training from 1948-1949 and 1950-1953. In 1955, the camp was partially reactivated to provide Annual Field Training Support for summer National Guardsmen and Army Reserve Unit training and Army Units Special Field Training. The camp was declared excess in 1962. One of the service clubs remains and was renovated in 1999 to become the current museum and arts center, which houses some 40 beautiful and timeless oil paintings and murals painted by Daniel Mayer, German Prisoner of War during WWII. The heart of the camp, which at one time had approximately 3,600 buildings, is now the nation’s second largest Job Corps Center. Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center exemplifies the founding premise of Job Corps – taking vulnerable youth out of difficult or unsupportive home environments and providing them a safe, secure and supportive living and learning environment.

According to the U.S. Federal Census, the 1820 Union County population was 383 heads of households, and the population increased to 9,686 by 1860. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,668 making Union County the 81st most populated county in the state out of 120 counties. Union County is consistently one of the top agriculture producing counties in the state of Kentucky each year, ranking at or near the top in corn and soybean production. Union County is also known as a top coal producing county in the state and home of the largest underground coal mine in the country. Geographically, Union County is the perfect location in that you are just a day’s drive from many major metropolitan market cities. Also, having access to a major waterway as another source of transportation is invaluable.