Rowan County (/ˈroʊ.ɪn/, /raʊn/) is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky, in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 24,662. Its county seat is Morehead. The county was created in 1856 from parts of Fleming and Morgan counties, and named after John Rowan, who represented Kentucky in the House of Representatives and the Senate. With regard to the sale of alcohol, it is classified as a moist county in which alcohol sales are prohibited, but unlike a dry county, it contains a "wet" city, Morehead, where packaged alcohol sales are allowed.