Butler County, Kentucky

Butler County is a county located in the US state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,371. Its county seat is Morgantown. The county was formed in 1810, becoming Kentucky's 53rd county. Butler County is included in the Bowling Green, Kentucky metropolitan area.

Numerous archaeological sites are located along the Green River in Butler County. A 1989 survey found fourteen sites, many of which were a group of shell mounds, including the Carlston Annis and DeWeese Shell Mounds.

The area now known as Butler County was first settled by the families of Richard C. Dellium and James Forgy, who founded a town called Berry's Lick. The first industry was salt-making.

On January 18, 1810, the Kentucky General Assembly created Butler County from portions of Logan and Ohio counties. The new county was named for Major General Richard Butler, who died at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791. In June of that year, the Kentucky Governor commissioned a study to locate a county seat. They selected a two-acre tract belonging to Christopher Funkhouser. This site, at first called Funkhouser Hill, was later named Morgantown. The county site has remained at that site until present times.

In 1833 a navigation plan for the Green River was initiated. As one result of this, a town was founded at Lock/Dam #3, and another at Lock/Dam #4.

The American Civil War slowed the county's growth. The county was site of a few incidents during the conflict. There was a fight near Morgantown on October 29, 1861, and a skirmish on October 30 where the rebels were encamped. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, veterans from both sides raised funds to raise a monument at the courthouse. It lists county residents who fought in the war on both sides. This is one of only two Civil War monuments in Kentucky that honor the soldiers of both sides. The Confederate-Union Veterans' Monument in Morgantown, a zinc monument, was dedicated in 1907 on the Butler County Courthouse lawn.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 431 square miles (1,120 km²), of which 426 square miles (1,100 km²) is land and 5.4 square miles (14 km²) (1.2%) is water. It is part of the Western Coal Fields region of Kentucky.

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 12,371. The median age was 41.3 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.6 males age 18 and over.