Allen County was established in 1815 from land given by Barren and Warren counties. A courthouse fire in 1902 resulted in the loss of some county records.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,800 people, 6,910 households, and 5,113 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 8,057 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 97.62% White, 1.07% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,910 households out of which 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.60% were married couplesliving together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.00% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.99. In the county, the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 28.50% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,238, and the median income for a family was $36,815. Males had a median income of $27,587 versus $22,659 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,506. About 13.20% of families and 17.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.40% of those under age 18 and 20.40% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
Allen County, like most of Kentucky, is increasingly solidly Republican, although it was like those counties to its east in Appalachia never a part of the "Solid South". The last Democrat to carry the county in a Presidential election was Woodrow Wilson in 1912, although a number of other elections have given Democrat majorities as recently as the 1999 gubernatorial election.
