The Place: Why Lewis County and the Ohio River
Lewis County, on the Ohio.
These are facts about the place today. They are not a reason to over-promise what a nuclear campus would change.
Licensed archival photograph to come.
Baseline
The county today
Verified public factMeasure
Lewis County
Kentucky
United States
Source and period
Population
12,901
—
341,784,857
U.S. Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Change since 2020
−1.4%
—
+3.1%
U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 2025 vintage
Census countsThe population has held within a band of about 12,000 to 16,000 for most of a century.
13,080
—
—
2020 Census. Earlier counts: 14,092 (2000); 13,870 (2010)
Land area
482.84 sq mi
—
—
2020 Census
People per square mile
27.1
—
93.8
2020 Census
Site attributes
What is known, and what has to be studied
River
A potential cooling-water source.To be studiedWithdrawals and temperatures would have to be studied and permitted.
Rail
Existing rail infrastructure in the area.To be studiedWhether track is moved, crossed or used is being studied and would need a railroad agreement.
Road
Kentucky Route 8.To be studiedA traffic study and likely improvements are needed.
Grid
Regional high-voltage transmission.To be studiedAny connection would be decided by PJM studies.
People
27.1 persons per square mile, against 93.8 nationally.Verified2020 Census.
History
A county on the river since 1806
December 2, 1806
Lewis County is formed from Mason County, Kentucky’s 48th county, named for Meriwether Lewis. The first seat is at Poplar Flat.
1809
The county seat moves to Clarksburg.
1827
Vanceburg is chartered.
1850 to 1870
Enslaved and free Black residents of Lewis County are documented in the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database.
January 1864
The county seat moves to Vanceburg.
By 1912
Vanceburg has flour, button, can, hogshead-heading and spoke works, plus saw and planing mills.
1906 onward
The Lewis County Herald publishes. Issues from 1906 to 1940 are digitized, and the University of Kentucky Libraries hold microfilm.
1924
Local businessmen build a factory to attract L.V. Marks and Sons, a Cincinnati shoemaker whose Augusta, Kentucky plant burned in 1921. It operates for nearly 25 years.
1963 and 1966
“Industrial Resources: Vanceburg, Kentucky” reports document Vanceburg’s mid-century employers.
Late 1900s to 1999
A U.S. Shoe Corporation plant, later Nine West, operates on Route 8. In 1999 Nine West announces it will close the Vanceburg plant, along with plants in Hebron and Vevay.
1940 to 2025
Population: 15,686 (1940); 13,520 (1950); 12,355 (1970); 14,545 (1980); 14,092 (2000); 13,080 (2020); 12,901 (2025).
2026
July 13: the Fiscal Court passes a Nuclear-Ready resolution. August 6 and October 3: public meetings.
Local history belongs to local people. If we have something wrong, or missed something that matters, tell us and we will correct it in public.
Sources include O.G. Ragan, History of Lewis County (1912); the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database; Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR; Library of Congress Sanborn maps; U.S. Census Bureau.The river
America’s commercial nuclear age began on this same river.
Sept. 6, 1954
Ground is broken at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, on the Ohio River downriver from Pittsburgh.
Dec. 2, 1957
First criticality, at 4:30 a.m.
Dec. 18, 1957
First power to Duquesne Light customers. Full power of 60 megawatts follows on December 23.
May 26, 1958
Dedicated by President Eisenhower. The station was retired in 1982.
Kentucky’s nuclear path
What state law says today
Verified public fact2017
Senate Bill 11 lifts Kentucky’s moratorium on new nuclear power plants.
2024
Senate Bill 198 creates the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority. The governor’s veto is overridden.
April 8, 2026
Senate Bill 57 is signed. It creates a site-readiness pilot of up to $25 million per project for up to three projects, with final authorization by the General Assembly.
This is context about state law. It does not mean Prosperity One will receive these funds.
Nuclear-Ready status
Lewis County has begun the process. The designation has not been awarded.
July 13, 2026
The Lewis County Fiscal Court passes its resolution unanimously.
Later in July
The Vanceburg City Council acts.
August 6
Public meeting. More than 150 people attended.
October 3
Public meeting.
The designation has not been awarded and does not approve any project, site, company or technology.
Sources: Lewis County Herald; Kentucky Revised Statutes 164.2804.Was this answered?
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