What is now Burgin was originally known as "Cane Run." In 1874, the Cincinnati Southern Railway obtained a right-of-way from local landowner Temple Burgin and opened Burgin Station. The town was established in 1877 and incorporated in 1878. The post office opened as "Bergen" in 1877 and changed its name to "Burgin" in 1886.
Geography
Burgin is located at . The city is concentrated along Kentucky Route 152, with most of its public buildings lying just west of the highway's intersection with Kentucky Route 33. Harrodsburg lies to the west of Burgin along KY 152, and Danville lies to the south along KY 33. Burgin is located at the headwaters of Cane Run, which flows eastward into the Dix River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 874 people, 372 households, and 258 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 407 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 93.02% White, 3.89% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population. There were 372 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couplesliving together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87. 22.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was US $34,135, and the median income for a family was $41,442. Males had a median income of $31,324 versus $21,400 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,756. About 9.8% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.
