Country Music Highway

Country Music Highway. Small Town Big Fun. Boyd County was created in 1860 from parts of Greenup, Carter, and Lawrence and lies at a point where Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky meet. Linked to Ohio by two bridges over the Ohio River and with two more to West Virginia (across the Big Sandy River), the county serves as a marketing area for some 420,805 people who live within 60 miles of Ashland (population 21,981 in 2000) the largest city, and the county seat of Catlettsburg (population 1,960), which stands at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy River. , Recreational and cultural opportunities abound, with nearby state parks and manmade lakes, and downtown Ashland’s 33-acre Central Park that offers ball fields, tennis courts, play grounds, and mature trees. A publicly owned Tennis Center with twelve outdoor and four indoor courts, and first-class high school athletic facilities add to the recreational mix. Downtown Ashland features the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center, the new Pendleton Art Center, the Paramount Arts Center and the Jesse Stuart Foundation. The Ashland and Catlettsburg Floodwall Mural Projects continue to grow each year and proudly display the first quilt blocks on floodwalls in the nation. The Ashland Boyd County Quilt Alley adds many blocks to its colorful collections each year., Annual celebrations include Poage Landing Days in September, Summer Motion in July, the Catlettsburg Labor Day Celebration, and Central Park’s Winter Wonderland of Lights at Christmas. The county had four high schools including Boyd County and Ashland Paul Blazer, where state athletic championships are not a rarity, and two smaller schools, Fairview and Rose Hill Christian. Boyd County is also home to Ashland Community and Technical College, a branch campus of Morehead State University, and Southland Bible Institute., (Inscriptions under the photos in the center , ) Top; Ashland Kentucky, Birthplace of the Judds, Wynonna, Naomi, and Ashley. , Middle; Historic Boyd County Courthouse, downtown Catlettsburg, Kentucky , Bottom; Billy Ray Cyrus, born in Ashland, Kentucky, atop the Paramount Arts Center marquee, home of the “Achy Breaky Heart” video.