McKee, KY

McKee is Jackson County's only city and county seat, set in the central Kentucky hills within Daniel Boone National Forest. The city was founded in 1882 and named for Judge George R. McKee; US 421 runs through the center, leading northwest to Richmond and southeast toward Manchester. The 2020 census counted 803 people, and McKee's civic role reaches across the county: courthouse, county services, library, schools, and parks all concentrate here.

Bond Memorial Park, Jackson County Veterans Park, McKee City Park, and Jack Gabbard Park give the city several distinct public spaces, while Big Turtle Trail and nearby Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area connect local recreation to the forested landscape. The Jackson County Public Library branch sits in town, and the Jackson County-McKee Industrial Development Authority manages an industrial park here. McKee Academy, founded as a day school in 1900 with a girls' dormitory for students from farther away, adds another layer to the town's history. McKee is small, but its map holds the county's civic, educational, and outdoor-life pieces together.