Johnson County (Kentucky)

Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,356. Its county seat is Paintsville. The county was formed in 1843 and named for Richard Mentor Johnson, War of 1812 general, United States Representative, Senator, and Vice President of the United States. Johnson County is classified as a moist county, which is a county in which alcohol sales are not allowed (a dry county), but containing a "wet" city, in this case Paintsville, where alcoholic beverage sales are allowed.HistoryFormationJohnson County was formed on February 24, 1843 by the Kentucky General Assembly from land given by Floyd, Lawrence, and Morgan counties. At that time, its county seat of Paintsville had already been a chartered city for nine years. Homes had been built in Paintsville as early as the 1810s.