Johnson County was formed in 1823. It was named for John Johnson who was a Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. John Johnson was also a resident of local Knox County, delegate to the State constitutional convention, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1816. The county has a total area of 322 square miles and a population count of 158,167 residents.
Johnson County was formed on February 24, 1843, by the Kentucky General Assembly from land given by Floyd, Lawrence, and Morgan counties. At that time, it’s the county seat of Paintsville has been a chartered city for nine years and homes were built as early as the 1810’s. Many of the families at the beginning of Johnson County’s formation were of Scottish, Irish, English, or German descent. Many of these settlers migrated from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virgina following their participation in the Revolutonary War. The county was named after the ninth vice president and Kentucky representative in the house, Richard Mentor Johnson. The county has a total area of 264 square miles (which is equivalent to 680 km sqaured) and has a current population of 22,386 residents.
