| Official Name: | South Portsmouth, Kentucky |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | Kentucky#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | South Portsmouth |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kentucky |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Greenup |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 554 |
| Coordinates: | 38.7244°N -83.0133°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 41174[1] |
| Area Code: | 606 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 503970 |
South Portsmouth is an unincorporated community in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. South Portsmouth is located on the Ohio River across from Portsmouth, Ohio and 3miles west of South Shore, Kentucky. Kentucky Route 8 passes through the community.[2]
South Portsmouth was originally called Springville due to the numerous springs in the area. Springville was incorporated as a town on March 3, 1876. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway built a track through the community in the early 1900s. Subsequently, the name of the community was changed to South Portsmouth, presumably to indicate its location and strengthen its connection with Portsmouth, Ohio, a city of more than 20,000 people.[3]
An Amtrak train station, South Portsmouth-South Shore station, is located just east of South Portsmouth.
South Portsmouth is the site of an 18th-century Shawnee Indian village called Lower Shawneetown.