Fort Knox

Fort Knox [for Henry Knox], U.S. military reservation, 110,000 acres (44,515 hectares), Hardin and Meade counties, N Ky.; est. 1917 as a training camp in World War I. It became a permanent post in 1932. In the steel and concrete vaults of the U.S. Depository there, the bulk of the nation's gold bullion is stored. Of interest is the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Fort Knox

Knox, Fort: see Fort Knox.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Fort Knox

U.S. military reservation, northern Kentucky, U.S., southwest of Louisville. Occupying an area of 110,000 acres (44,510 hectares), it was established in 1918 as Camp Knox and became a permanent military post in 1932. The U.S. Gold Bullion Depository, a bombproof structure protected by elaborate security devices, was built there in 1936 to hold the bulk of the country's gold. Since 1940 it has been the U.S. Army Armor Headquarters and the site of associated training schools.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Fort Knox

Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base, 109,000 acres, covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties, with Hardin county receiving the largest benefit, economically. It currently holds the U.S. Army Armor Center, and U.S. Army Armor School. The history of the US Army's Cavalry and Armored forces, and of General George S. Patton's career, can be found at the General George Patton Museum, which is located at Fort Knox. Parts of the base in Hardin and Meade Counties form a census-designated place (CDP), which had a population of 12,377 at the 2000 census.

Fort Knox has become an almost colloquial term in the English language, its name associated with high-tech security, impregnability and excess amounts of wealth. This occurrence has become proliferated due to the use of the site in media such as the 1959 James Bond novel Goldfinger by Ian Fleming, and the 1964 movie of the same name and its appearance in the 1981 comedy film Stripes, both of which utilize the large-scale security of the fort in the main narrative.

Bullion Depository

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has maintained the Bullion Depository on the base since 1937. This facility is operated by the Treasury Department and is independent of the Army's operations there.

For more information on the security and gold located at Fort Knox, see the article on the United States Bullion Depository.

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

Fort Knox will lose about 4,600 personnel through the departure of the Army Armor Center and School to Fort Benning, Ga., as well as the departure of other divisions to different parts of the country.

The Army Human Resources Command with approximately 3,100 mostly civilian personnel is being consolidated at Fort Knox. The new center will combine offices currently located in Virginia, Indiana and Missouri. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, with approximately 3,400 personnel, currently stationed at Fort Hood, Tx., will be relocated to Fort Knox.

It’s expected that between $800 and $900 million worth of construction will take place at Fort Knox for the BRAC reorganization, and for base modernization projects.

The Fort Knox BRAC reorganization will be completed by September 2011.

Geography

Fort Knox is located at 37°53'34" North, 85°58'29" West (37.892809, -85.974709), along the Ohio River. The depository itself is located at 37°53'00" North, 85°57'56" West (37.883333, -85.965556).

According to the Census Bureau, the base CDP has a total area of 20.9 square miles (54.2 km²), of which 20.9 square miles (54.2 km²) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²), 0.14%, is water.

Communities near Fort Knox include Brandenburg, Elizabethtown, Hodgenville, Louisville, Radcliff, Shepherdsville, and Vine Grove, Kentucky The Meade County city of Muldraugh is completely surrounded by Fort Knox.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,377 people, 2,748 households, and 2,596 families residing on base. The population density was 591.7 people per square mile (228.4/km²). There were 3,015 housing units at an average density of 144.1/sq mi (55.6/km²). The racial makeup of the base was 66.32% White, 23.08% African American, 0.73% Native American, 1.65% Asian, 0.44% Pacific Islander, 4.17% from other races, and 3.63% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 10.35% of the population.

There were 2,748 households out of which 77.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 86.0% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 5.5% were non-families. 4.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 0.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.49 and the average family size was 3.60.

The age distribution was 34.9% under the age of 18, 25.5% from 18 to 24, 37.2% from 25 to 44, 2.3% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 155.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 190.3 males. These statistics are generally typical for military bases.

The median income for a household on the base was $34,020, and the median income for a family was $33,588. Males had a median income of $26,011 versus $21,048 for females. The per capita income for the base was $12,410. About 5.8% of the population and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.6% of those under the age of 18 and 100.0% of those 65 and older.