Stearns, Kentucky
census designated place in Kentucky, United States

Stearns is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in McCreary County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,365 at the 2020 census. It was founded by Justus Smith Stearns.
Geography
Stearns is located in south-central McCreary County. It is bordered to the north by Whitley City, the county seat, and to the south by Pine Knot. The unincorporated community of Revelo is partly within the Stearns CDP, along its southern border.
U.S. Route 27 runs along the eastern edge of Stearns, leading north through Whitley City 31 miles (50 km) to Somerset and south 16 miles (26 km) to Oneida, Tennessee. Kentucky Route 92 passes through the center of Stearns and leads west 29 miles (47 km) to Monticello. Eastbound KY 92 joins US 27 south to Pine Knot, then turns east to lead to Williamsburg.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Stearns CDP has a total area of 4.05 square miles (10.5 km2), of which 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2), or 0.84%, are water.
The public source identifies “Stearns, Kentucky” as census designated place in Kentucky, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Stearns, Kentucky and census.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Stearns, Kentucky”, the useful work is to connect “census designated place in Kentucky, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q547952. VIAF identifies the subject as 168678064. The Library of Congress control number is n88155531. Authority coordinates are 36.698, -84.477. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Stearns, Kentucky”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Stearns, Kentucky primary sources, Stearns, Kentucky archive and Stearns research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stearns, Kentucky”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Stearns, 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.