Greenup, Kentucky
city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States of America
Greenup is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Greenup County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Little Sandy River with the Ohio River. The population was 1,095 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area.
History
Greenup was laid out in 1803 and 1804 by Robert Johnson, a pioneer and legislator who owned the land. Upon the formation of Greenup County (named for the former congressman Christopher Greenup, who later served as governor) out of land separated from Mason County, Johnson's settlement was chosen to be the seat of government and adopted the name "Greenupsburg". Its post office was erected on July 1, 1811. The state assembly formally established the town on February 4, 1818, and incorporated the city thirty years later on February 29, 1848. The name was shortened to "Greenup" on March 13, 1872, partially to avoid confusion with Greensburg.
On August 14, 1829, an event known as the Greenup Slave Revolt occurred when a group of fifty-five enslaved individuals, who were forcibly marching, broke free from their chains near Tygarts Creek and began to attack their oppressors. In the struggle, two slaves were killed, while sixteen were able to escape.
“Greenup, Kentucky” enters the record as city in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States of America. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Greenup, Kentucky and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Greenup, Kentucky” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Greenup, Kentucky and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2686232. VIAF identifies the subject as 141964615. The Library of Congress control number is n85220135. Authority coordinates are 38.574, -82.834. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1803, 1804 and 1811.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Greenup, Kentucky” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.