Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Elsmere, KY

Elsmere is a home rule-class city in western Kenton County, Kentucky, part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area in Northern Kentucky.

The community was first settled in 1885 as South Erlanger, a railroad community that grew up south of Erlanger after the Southern Railroad came through western Kenton County.

Elsmere was incorporated on May 11, 1896, and took its name from Elsmere Avenue in Norwood, Ohio, the hometown of one of its founders.

The city grew from 519 residents in 1900 to 8,451 in 2010 and 9,159 in the 2020 census.

In 2020 Elsmere had 3,304 households and 3,515 housing units, and with a median age of 32.8 and 28 percent of residents under 18, it is a young, family-oriented city.

Elsmere is historically a largely African American community: its Dunbar School on Spring Street educated Black children in the segregation era, and the city fielded its own African American baseball team.

A park on Capitol Avenue is named for Rosella Porterfield, who taught at the historic Dunbar School.

In 1998 Billy Bradford was elected mayor of Elsmere, the first African American mayor elected in Northern Kentucky, and he went on to serve three terms over 12 years.

The city covers about 2.6 square miles; Dixie Highway (U.S. Routes 25, 42, and 127) forms its northern border, with Erlanger to the north and east, Independence to the south, and Florence to the west.

Most of Elsmere is served by the Erlanger-Elsmere Independent School District, whose schools include Arnett, Howell, Lindeman, and Miles elementary schools, Tichenor Middle School, and Lloyd Memorial High School.