Sinkhole risk in Henry County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 48%
At or near the surface: 48%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 137 of Henry County's 286 square miles on soluble rock, 137 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 16,198 residents (57 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 254 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Henry County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Shelby County, KY, about 16 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Carroll County, KY 15 mi north · 19% at surface
Owen County, KY 15 mi east · 33% at surface
Shelby County, KY 16 mi south · 68% at surface
Trimble County, KY 17 mi northwest · 16% at surface
Oldham County, KY 19 mi west · 88% at surface
Franklin County, KY 20 mi southeast · 47% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ashlock Formation, Grant Lake and Calloway Creek Limestones, and Fairview Formation, undivided (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 32% of the county. Next is the Drakes Formation at 11%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Henry County ranks 42 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.