The 'Commonwealth of Kentucky' (
IPA: /
/) is a
state located in the East Central
United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of
Southern states (in particular the
Upland South), but it is sometimes included, geographically and culturally, in the
Midwest.
[2][3] Kentucky is one of four U.S. states to be officially known as a
commonwealth. Originally a part of
Virginia, in 1792 it became the 15
th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37
th largest state in terms of land area, and ranks 26
th in population.
Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State," a nickname based on the fact that
bluegrass is present in many of the lawns and pastures throughout the state. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources, including the world's longest cave system, the most miles of navigable waterways and streams in the
Lower 48 states, and the two largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River. It is also home to the highest per capita number of
deer and
turkey in the United States, and the nation's most productive
coalfield. Kentucky is also known for
thoroughbred horses,
horse racing,
bourbon distilleries,
bluegrass music,
automobile manufacturing (including the best selling
car,
truck, and
SUV in the U.S. market), tobacco, and
college basketball.
Origin of name
Narrow country roads bounded by stone and wood plank fences are a fixture in the Kentucky
Bluegrass.
The origin of Kentucky's name (variously spelled ''Cane-tuck-ee'', ''Cantucky'', ''Kain-tuck-ee'', and ''Kentuckee'' before its modern spelling was accepted)
[4] has never been definitively identified, though some theories have been debunked. For example, Kentucky's name does not come from the combination of "cane" and "turkey", nor does it mean "dark and bloody ground" in any known
Indian language.
[5] The most likely etymology is that it comes from an
Iroquoian word for "meadow" or "prairie"
[6][7] (c.f.
Mohawk ''kenhtà :ke'',
Seneca ''këhta’keh'').
[8] Other possibilities also exist: the suggestion of early Kentucky pioneer
George Rogers Clark that the name means "the river of blood",
4 a
Wyandot name meaning "land of tomorrow", a
Shawnee term possibly referring to the head of a river,
[9] or an
Algonquian word for a river bottom.
5
Geography
Kentucky
Kentucky's regions (click on image for color coding information.)
Kentucky borders states of both the
Midwest and the
Southeast.
West Virginia lies to the east,
Virginia to the southeast,
Tennessee to the south,
Missouri to the west,
Illinois and
Indiana to the northwest, and
Ohio to the north and northeast. Kentucky's northern border is formed by the
Ohio River; its western border by the
Mississippi River.
Kentucky is the only U.S. state to have a non-contiguous part exist as an
exclave surrounded by other states.
Fulton County, in the far west corner of the state, includes a small part of land,
Kentucky Bend, on the Mississippi River bordered by Missouri and accessible via Tennessee, created by the
New Madrid Earthquake.
[10]
Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the
Cumberland Plateau in the east, the north-central
Bluegrass region, the south-central and western
Pennyroyal Plateau, the
Western Coal Fields and the far-west
Jackson Purchase. The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass — the encircling 90 miles (145 km) around
Lexington — and the Outer Bluegrass, the region that contains most of the Northern portion of the state, above the
Knobs. Much of the outer Bluegrass is in the
Eden Shale Hills area, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills.
Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind
Texas' 254 and
Georgia's 159.
[11] The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat and back in a single day.
[ ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', , , , The University Press of Kentucky, 1992, ] Later, however, politics began to play a part, with citizens who disagreed with the present county government simply petitioning the state to create a new county. The 1891
Kentucky Constitution placed stricter limits on county creation, stipulating that a new county:
★ must have a land area of at least ;
★ must have a population of at least 12,000 people;
★ must not by its creation reduce the land area of an existing county to less than ;
★ must not by its creation reduce the population of an existing county to less than 12,000 people;
★ must not create a county boundary line that passes within of an existing county seat.
These regulations have reined in the proliferation of counties in Kentucky. Since the 1891 Constitution, only
McCreary County has been created.
[ ''County Government in Kentucky: Informational Bulletin No. 115'', , , , Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 1996, ] Because today's largest county by area,
Pike County, is , it is now impossible to create a new county from a single existing county under the current constitution. Any county created in this manner will by necessity either be smaller than or reduce the land area of the old county to less than . It is still theoretically possible to form a new county from portions of more than one existing county (McCreary County was created from portions of three counties), but the area and boundary restrictions would make this extremely difficult.
Climate
Located within the southeastern interior portion of North America, Kentucky has a climate described as humid subtropical (indicating that all monthly average temperatures are above freezing). Monthly average temperatures in Kentucky range from a high in the high 80's and low 90's (30.9 °C) to a low in the high 30's to low 40's (-4.9 °C) and averages 46 inches (116.84 cm) of precipitation a year.
[12] Kentucky experiences all four seasons, usually with striking variations in the severity of summer and winter from year to year. In fact, it is not unusual to see marked changes in temperature and weather conditions within the same day, leading many locals to observe, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few hours and it will change."
[6]
Major weather events that have affected Kentucky include:
★ The
Mid-Mississippi Valley Tornado Outbreak of March 1890
★ The
Ohio River flood of 1937
★ The
Super Outbreak of
tornadoes in 1974
★
Massive flooding in 1997
★ The
North American blizzard of 2003 (mostly ice in Kentucky)
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Kentucky Cities |
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | 40/24 | 45/28 | 55/36 | 65/44 | 74/54 | 82/62 | 86/66 | 85/65 | 78/58 | 67/46 | 54/37 | 44/28 |
|---|
| Louisville | 41/25 | 47/28 | 57/37 | 67/46 | 75/56 | 83/65 | 87/70 | 86/68 | 79/61 | 68/48 | 56/39 | 45/30 |
|---|
| Paducah | 42/24 | 48/28 | 58/37 | 68/46 | 77/55 | 85/64 | 89/68 | 87/65 | 81/57 | 71/45 | 57/36 | 46/28 |
|---|
| Pikeville | 46/23 | 50/25 | 60/32 | 69/39 | 77/49 | 84/58 | 87/63 | 86/62 | 80/56 | 71/42 | 60/33 | 49/26 |
|---|
| Ashland | 42/19 | 47/21 | 57/29 | 68/37 | 77/47 | 84/56 | 88/61 | 87/59 | 80/52 | 69/40 | 57/31 | 46/23 |
|---|
| ''[1]'' |
Lakes and rivers
Kentucky’s of streams provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation. Kentucky has both the largest artificial lake east of the Mississippi in water volume (
Lake Cumberland) and surface area (
Kentucky Lake). It is the only
U.S. state to be bordered on three sides by rivers — the
Mississippi River to the west, the
Ohio River to the north, and the
Big Sandy River and
Tug Fork to the east.
[ ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', , , , The University Press of Kentucky, 1992, ] Its major internal rivers include the
Kentucky River,
Tennessee River,
Cumberland River,
Green River, and
Licking River.
Though it has only three major natural lakes
[ ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', , , , The University Press of Kentucky, 1992, ], the state is home to many
artificial lakes. Kentucky also has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the union, other than
Alaska.
[14]
Natural environment and conservation
Kentucky has an expansive park system which includes one national park, two National Recreation areas, two National Historic Parks, two national forests, 45 state parks, of state forest, and 82 Wildlife Management Areas.
Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in
United States history. In the winter of 1997, the state's eastern counties began to re-stock
elk, which had been extinct from the area for over 150 years. As of 2006, the state's herd was estimated at 5,700 animals, the largest herd east of the
Mississippi River.
[15]
The state also stocked
wild turkeys in the 1950s. Once extinct in the state, today Kentucky has more turkeys per capita than any other eastern state.
Top tourist attractions in Kentucky
Significant natural attractions
★
Cumberland Gap, chief passageway through the
Appalachian Mountains in early American history.
★
Cumberland Falls State Park, one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere where a "
moon-bow" may be regularly seen.
[19]
★
Mammoth Cave National Park, featuring the world's longest cave system.
[20]
★
Red River Gorge Geological Area, part of the
Daniel Boone National Forest.
★
Land Between the Lakes, a National Recreation Area managed by the
United States Forest Service.
★
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest a 14,000 acre (57 km²) arboretum, forest and nature preserve located in
Clermont.
[21]
★
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in
Hodgenville.
★
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area near
Whitley City.
★
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also passes through Kentucky.
★
Black Mountain, state's highest point.
1 Runs along the border of
Harlan and
Letcher counties.
★
Bad Branch Falls State Nature Preserve, 2,639 acre state nature preserve on southern slope of Pine Mountain in
Letcher County. Includes one of the largest concentrations of rare and endangered species in the state
[22], as well as a waterfall and a Kentucky Wild River.
★
Jefferson Memorial Forest, located south of
Louisville in the
Knobs region, the largest municipally run forest in the
United States.
[23]
★
Green River Lake State Park, located in
Taylor County.
★
Lake Cumberland, of shoreline located in
South Central Kentucky.
History
Although inhabited by
Native Americans in prehistoric times, when explorers and settlers began entering Kentucky in the mid-1700s, there were no major Native American settlements in the region.
[24] Instead, the country was used as hunting grounds by
Shawnees from the north and
Cherokees from the south. Much of what is now Kentucky was purchased from Native Americans in the treaties of
Fort Stanwix (1768) and
Sycamore Shoals (1775).
[25] Thereafter, Kentucky grew rapidly as the first settlements west of the
Appalachian Mountains were founded, with settlers (primarily from
Virginia,
North Carolina, and
Pennsylvania) entering the region via the
Cumberland Gap and the
Ohio River. The most famous of these early explorers and settlers was
Daniel Boone, traditionally considered one of the founders of the state.
[26] Shawnees north of the Ohio River, however, were unhappy about the settlement of Kentucky, and allied themselves with the
British in the
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
[27] Kentucky was a battleground during the war; the
Battle of Blue Licks, one of the last major battles of the Revolution, was fought in Kentucky.
[28]
After the American Revolution, the counties of
Virginia beyond the
Appalachian Mountains became known as
Kentucky County.
[29] Eventually, the residents of Kentucky County petitioned for a separation from Virginia. Ten constitutional conventions were held in the Constitution Square Courthouse in
Danville between 1784 and 1792. In 1790, Kentucky's delegates accepted Virginia's terms of separation, and a state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. On
June 1,
1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state to be admitted to the union and
Isaac Shelby, a military veteran from Virginia, was elected the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
[30]
Kentucky was a
border state during the
American Civil War.
[31] Although frequently described as never having seceded, a group of Kentucky soldiers stationed at
Russellville did pass an
Ordinance of Secession under the moniker "Convention of the People of Kentucky" on
November 20,
1861[32], establishing a
Confederate government for the state with its capital in
Bowling Green.
[33] Though Kentucky was represented by the central star on the
Confederate battle flag.
[34], the legitimacy of the
Russellville Convention may well be questioned. Only a year earlier, philosopher
Karl Marx wrote in a letter to
Friedrich Engels that the result of a vote deciding how Kentucky would be represented at a convention of the
border states was "100,000 for the Union ticket, only a few thousand for secession."
[35] Kentucky officially remained "neutral" throughout the war due to Union sympathies of many of the Commonwealth's citizens. Even today, however,
Confederate Memorial Day is observed by some in Kentucky on Jefferson Davis' birthday,
June 3.
[36]
On
January 30,
1900, Governor
William Goebel was mortally wounded by an assailant while in the process of contesting the election of 1899, initially assumed to be won by
William S. Taylor. For several months,
J. C. W. Beckham, Goebel's running mate, and Taylor fought over who was the real governor until the
Supreme Court of the United States decided in May that Beckham was the rightful governor. Taylor fled to
Indiana and was later indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel's
assassination. Goebel remains the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office.
[37]
Law and government
Government
Kentucky is one of only five states that elects its state officials in odd numbered years (The others are
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
New Jersey, and
Virginia). Kentucky holds elections for these offices every 4 years in the years preceding Presidential election years. Thus, the last year when Kentucky elected a Governor was 2003; the next gubernatorial election will occur in 2007, with future gubernatorial elections to take place in 2011, 2015, 2019, etc.
State government
Kentucky's legislative branch consists of a
bicameral body known as the
Kentucky General Assembly. The
Senate is considered the
upper house. It has 38 members, and is led by the
President of the Senate, currently
Republican David L. Williams. The
House of Representatives has 100 members, and is led by the Speaker of the House, currently
Democrat Jody Richards.
The executive branch is headed by the
governor and
lieutenant governor. Under the current
Kentucky Constitution, the
lieutenant governor assumes the duties of the governor only if the governor is incapacitated. (Prior to 1992, the
lieutenant governor assumed power any time the governor was out of the state.) The governor and
lieutenant governor usually run on a single ticket (also per a 1992 constitutional amendment), and are elected to four-year terms. Currently, the governor and
lieutenant governor are
Republicans Ernie Fletcher and
Steve Pence, respectively.
The judicial branch of Kentucky is made up of courts of limited jurisdiction called District Courts; courts of general jurisdiction called Circuit Courts; an intermediate appellate court, the
Kentucky Court of Appeals; and a court of last resort, the
Kentucky Supreme Court. Unlike federal judges, who are usually appointed, justices serving on Kentucky state courts are chosen by the state's populace in non-partisan elections.
The state's chief prosecutor, law enforcement officer, and law officer is the
attorney general. The
attorney general is elected to a four-year term and may serve two consecutive terms under the current
Kentucky Constitution. Currently, the
Kentucky attorney general is
Democrat Greg Stumbo.
Federal representation
Kentucky's two
Senators are
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and
Jim Bunning, both
Republicans. The state is divided into six
Congressional Districts, represented by
Republicans Ed Whitfield (
1st),
Ron Lewis (
2nd),
Geoff Davis (
4th), and
Hal Rogers (
5th), and
Democrats John Yarmuth (
3rd) and
Ben Chandler (
6th).
Judicially, Kentucky is split into two Federal court districts: the
Kentucky Eastern District and the
Kentucky Western District. Appeals are heard in the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Political leanings
Where politics are concerned, Kentucky historically has been very hard fought and leaned slightly toward the
Democratic Party, although it was never included among the "
Solid South." In 2006, 57.05% of the state's voters were officially registered as Democrats, 36.55% registered
Republican, and 6.39% registered with some other
political party.
[38]
Kentucky has voted Republican in five of the last seven presidential elections but has supported the Democratic candidates of the
South. The Commonwealth supported Democrats
Jimmy Carter in 1976, and
Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but Republican
George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Bush won the state's 8 electoral votes overwhelmingly in 2004 by a margin of 20 percentage points and 59.6% of the vote.
[39]
Law
Kentucky's body of laws, known as the
Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS), were enacted in 1942 to better organize and clarify the whole of Kentucky law.
[40] The statutes are enforced by local
police,
sheriffs, and sheriff's deputies. Unless they have completed a
police academy elsewhere, these officers are required to complete training at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training Center on the campus of
Eastern Kentucky University.
[41] Additionally, in 1948, the
Kentucky General Assembly established the
Kentucky State Police, making it the 38
th state to create a force whose jurisdiction extends throughout the given state.
[42]
Kentucky is one of 38 states in the
United States that sanctions the
death penalty for certain crimes. Criminals convicted after
March 31,
1998 are always executed by
lethal injection; those convicted before this date may opt for the
electric chair.
[43] Only
two people have been executed in Kentucky since the
U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted the practice in 1976. The most notable execution in Kentucky, however, was that of
Rainey Bethea on
August 14,
1936. Bethea was publicly hanged in
Owensboro for the
rape and
murder of Lischia Edwards.
[44] Irregularities with the execution led to this becoming the last public execution in the
United States.
[45]
Kentucky has been on the front lines of the debate over displaying the
Ten Commandments on public property. In the 2005 case of ''
McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky'', the
U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision of the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that a display of the
Ten Commandments in the
Whitley City courthouse of
McCreary County was unconstitutional.
[46] Later that year, Judge
Richard Fred Suhrheinrich, writing for the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of ''
ACLU of Kentucky v.
Mercer County'', wrote that a display including the
Mayflower Compact, the
Declaration of Independence, the
Ten Commandments, the
Magna Carta, ''
The Star-Spangled Banner'', and the
national motto could be erected in the
Mercer County courthouse.
[47]
Demographics
Kentucky Population Density Map.
As of July 1, 2006, Kentucky has an estimated population of 4,206,074, which is an increase of 33,466, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 164,586, or 4.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 77,156 people (that is 287,222 births minus 210,066 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 59,604 people into the state.
Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 27,435 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 32,169 people. As of 2004, Kentucky's population included about 95,000 foreign-born (2.3%).
Since 1900, rural Kentucky counties have experienced a net loss of over 1 million people, while urban areas have experienced a slight net gain in population.
[48]
The
center of population of Kentucky is located in
Washington County, in the city of
Willisburg.
[49]
Race and ancestry
The five largest ancestries in the commonwealth are:
American (20.9%) (Mostly of
British ancestry),
German (12.7%),
Irish (10.5%) (Most actually of
Scots-Irish descent),
English (9.7%),
African American (7.8%).
African Americans, who made up one-fourth of Kentucky's population prior to the
Civil War, declined in number as many moved to the industrial North in the
Great Migration. Today they are mostly concentrated in the Central and Western areas of the state (notable communities being
Christian County and the city of
Paducah), the Bluegrass, and the cities of
Louisville and
Lexington.
Religion
Lexington Theological Seminary (then College of the Bible), 1904.
In 2000, The Association of Religion Data Archives reported
[ State Membership Report ] that of Kentucky's 4,041,769 residents:
★ 33.68% were members of
evangelical Protestant churches
★
★
Southern Baptist Convention (979,994 members, 24.25%)
★
★
Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (106,638 members, 2.64%)
★
★
Church of Christ (58,602 members, 1.45%)
★ 10.05% were
Roman Catholics
★ 8.77% belonged to
mainline Protestant churches
★
★
United Methodist Church (208,720 members, 5.16%)
★
★
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (67,611 members, 1.67%)
★ 0.05% were members of
orthodox churches
★ 0.88% were affiliated with other theologies
★ 46.57% were not affiliated with any church.
Today Kentucky is home to several seminaries.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Louisville is the principal seminary for the
Southern Baptist Convention. Louisville is also the home of the
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Lexington has two seminaries,
Lexington Theological Seminary, and the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.
Asbury Theological Seminary is located in nearby
Wilmore. In addition to seminaries, there are several colleges affiliated with denominations.
Transylvania in
Lexington is affiliated with the
Disciples of Christ. In Louisville,
Bellarmine and
Spalding are affiliated with the
Roman Catholic Church. Louisville is also home to the headquarters of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) and their printing press. Louisville is also home to a sizable
Jewish population.
Religious movements
Religious movements were important in the early history of Kentucky. Perhaps the most famous event was the interdenominational revival in August 1801 at the
Cane Ridge Meeting house in
Bourbon County. As part of what is now known as the "Western Revival", thousands began meeting around a
Presbyterian communion service on
August 6,
1801, and ended six days later on
August 12,
1801 when both humans and horses ran out of food.
[50] Some claim that the
Cane Ridge revival was propagated from an earlier
camp meeting at
Red River Meeting House in
Logan County.
[51]
Economy
The total gross state product for 2005 was US$140.4 billion, 27
th in the nation. Its per-capita personal income was US$28,513, 43
rd in the nation.
[52] Kentucky's agricultural outputs are
horses,
cattle,
tobacco,
dairy products,
hogs,
soybeans, and
corn. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, food processing, tobacco products,
coal, and
tourism. The
Eastern Kentucky Coal Fields are recognized as being among the most productive in the nation.
Kentucky ranks 4
th among U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled.
[53] The
Chevrolet Corvette,
Ford Explorer, Ford Super Duty trucks,
Toyota Camry,
Toyota Avalon, and
Toyota Solara are assembled in Kentucky.
Unlike many bordering states which developed a widespread industrial economy, much of rural Kentucky has maintained a farm based economy, with cattle, corn, and soybeans being the main crops. The area immediately outside Lexington is also the leading region for breeding
Thoroughbred racing horses, due to the high
calcium content in the soil. Despite being the 14
th smallest state in terms of land area, Kentucky still ranks 5
th in the total number of farms, with more farms per square mile than any other U.S. state.
[54] The average farm size in Kentucky is only .
[55]
Kentucky ranks 5th nationally in goat farming, 8th in beef cattle production
[56]
, and 14th in corn production.
[57]
State taxes
There are 5
income tax brackets, ranging from 2% to 6% of personal income.
[58] The sales tax rate in Kentucky is 6%.
[59] Kentucky has a broadly based classified
property tax system. All classes of property, unless exempted by the Constitution, are taxed by the state, although at widely varying rates.
[60] Many of these classes are exempted from taxation by local government. Of the classes that are subject to local taxation, three have special rates set by the
General Assembly, one by the
Kentucky Supreme Court and the remaining classes are subject to the full local rate, which includes the tax rate set by the local taxing bodies plus all voted levies. Real property is assessed on 100% of the fair market value and property taxes are due by
December 31. Once the primary source of state and local government revenue, property taxes now account for only about 6% of the Kentucky's annual General Fund revenues.
[61]
Until
January 1,
2006, Kentucky imposed a tax on intangible personal property held by a taxpayer on
January 1 of each year. The Kentucky intangible tax was repealed under House Bill 272.
[62] Intangible property consisted of any property or investment which represents evidence of value or the right to value. Some types of intangible property included: bonds, notes, retail repurchase agreements, accounts receivable, trusts, enforceable contracts sale of real estate (land contracts), money in hand, money in safe deposit boxes, annuities, interests in estates, loans to stockholders, and commercial paper.
"Unbridled Spirit"
To boost Kentucky’s image, give it a consistent reach, and help Kentucky stand out from the crowd" the Fletcher administration launched a comprehensive
branding campaign with the hope of making its $12 - $14 million advertising budget more effective. The "Unbridled Spirit" brand was the result of a $500,000 contract with New West, a Kentucky-based public relations, advertising and marketing firm to develop a viable brand and tag line. The administration has been aggressively marketing the brand in both the public and private sectors. The "Welcome to Kentucky" signs at border areas have Unbridled Spirit's symbol on them.
The previous campaign was neither a failure nor a success. Kentucky's "It's that friendly" slogan hoped to draw more people into the state based of the idea of southern hospitality. Though most Kentuckians liked the slogan, as it embraced southern values, it was also not an image that encouraged tourism as much as initially hoped for. Therefore it was necessary to reconfigure a slogan to embrace Kentucky as a whole while also encouraging more people to visit the Bluegrass.
[63]
Transportation
Roads
Kentucky is served by five major
interstate highways, nine
parkways, and three bypasses and spurs. The parkways were originally
toll roads, but on
November 22,
2006, Governor
Ernie Fletcher ended the toll charges on the
William H. Natcher Parkway and the
Audubon Parkway, the last two parkways in Kentucky to charge tolls for access.
[64] The related
toll booths have been demolished.
[65]
Ending the tolls some seven months ahead of schedule was generally agreed to have been a positive economic development for transportation in Kentucky. In June 2007, a law went into effect raising the speed limit on rural portions of Kentucky Interstates from 65 to 70
miles per hour, with signs expected to be changed by mid-July.
[66]
Rails
★
Ashland, Kentucky (Amtrak station)
★
South Portsmouth-South Shore (Amtrak station)
★
Fulton (Amtrak station)
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to
Ashland,
South Portsmouth and
Fulton, Kentucky. The
Cardinal, Trains 50 and 51, is the line that offers Amtrak service to Ashland and South Portsmouth. Amtrak Trains 58 and 59, the
City of New Orleans serves Fulton. The
Northern Kentucky area, is served by the Cardinal at the
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The Museum Center is just across the
Ohio River in
Cincinnati.
As of 2004, there were approximately 2,640 miles (4,250.4 km) of railways in Kentucky, with about 65% of those being operated by
CSX Transportation.
Coal was by far the most common cargo, accounting for 76% of cargo loaded and 61% of cargo delivered.
[67]
Bardstown features a tourist attraction known as ''My Old Kentucky Dinner Train''. Run along a stretch of rail purchased from
CSX in 1987, guests are served a four-course meal as they make a two-and-a-half hour round-trip between
Bardstown and Limestone Springs.
[68] The
Kentucky Railway Museum is located in nearby
New Haven.
[69]
Other areas in Kentucky are reclaiming old railways in
rail trail projects. One such project is Louisville's
Big Four Bridge. If completed, the
Big Four Bridge rail trail will contain the second longest pedestrian-only bridge in the world.
[70] The longest pedestrian-only bridge is also found in Kentucky — the
Newport Southbank Bridge, popularly known as the "Purple People Bridge", connecting
Newport to
Cincinnati, Ohio.
[71]
Air
Kentucky's primary airports include
Louisville International Airport (Standiford Field),
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and
Blue Grass Airport. Louisville International Airport is home to
UPS's
Worldport, its international hub.
[72] There are also a number of regional airports scattered across the state.
On
August 27,
2006, Kentucky's
Blue Grass Airport in
Lexington was the site of a crash that killed 47 passengers and 2 crew members aboard a
Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet designated
Comair Flight 5191.
[73] The lone survivor was the flight's
first officer, James Polehinke, who doctors determined to be brain damaged and unable to recall the crash at all.
[74] The
NTSB's report has not yet been released, but reports state that the air traffic controller on duty at the time of the crash was working on approximately two hours of sleep
[75] with outdated charts of the airport.
[76] According to
FAA rules, should have been working alongside another controller, which he was not.
[77]
Water
Being bounded by the two largest rivers in
North America, water transportation has historically played a major role in Kentucky's economy. Most barge traffic on Kentucky waterways consists of coal that is shipped from both the Eastern and Western Coalfields, about half of which is used locally to power many power plants located directly off the
Ohio River, with the rest being exported to other countries, most notably
Japan.
Many of the largest ports in the United States are located in or adjacent to Kentucky, including
★ Huntington-Ashland, largest inland port and 7th largest overall
★ Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, 5th largest inland port and 43th overall
★ Louisville-Southern Indiana, 7th largest inland port and 55th overall
As a state, Kentucky ranks 10th overall in port tonage.
[78] [79]
The only natural obstacle along the entire length of the Ohio River was the
Falls of the Ohio, located just west of
Downtown Louisville.
Cities and towns
| 15 Largest Cities [80][81] | 2006 Population |
|---|
| Louisville | 554,496 |
| Lexington | 270,789 |
| Owensboro | 55,525 |
| Bowling Green | 53,176 |
| Covington | 42,797 |
| Richmond | 31,431 |
| Henderson | 27,915 |
| Hopkinsville | 27,415 |
| Frankfort | 27,077 |
| Florence | 26,929 |
| Jeffersontown | 25,907 |
| Paducah | 25,661 |
| Nicholasville | 24,791 |
| Elizabethtown | 23,406 |
| Ashland | 21,570 |
The largest city in Kentucky is
Louisville Metro, with a 2006 census estimated population of 554,496. The
Louisville Combined Statistical Area (CSA) has a population of 1,356,798 (with 1,003,025 within Kentucky). The second largest city is Lexington with a 2006 census estimated population of 270,789 and its
CSA having a population of 645,006. The
Northern Kentucky area (the seven Kentucky counties in the
Cincinnati CSA) had an estimated population of 408,783 in 2006. The metropolitan areas of Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky have a combined population of 2,169,394 as of 2006, which is 51.5% of the state's total population.
The two other fast growing urban areas in Kentucky are the
Bowling Green area and the "Tri Cities Region" of southeastern Kentucky, comprised of
Somerset,
London, and
Corbin.
Although only one town in the "Tri Cities", namely Somerset, currently has more than 10,000 people, the area has been experiencing heightened population and job growth since the 1990s. Growth has been especially rapid in Laurel County, which outgrew areas such as Scott and Jessamine counties around Lexington or Shelby and Nelson Counties around Louisville. London is currently on pace to double its population in the 2000s from 5,692 in 2000 to 10,879 in 2010. London also landed a
Wal-Mart distribution center in 1997, bringing thousands of jobs to the community.
In northeast Kentucky, the greater
Ashland area is an important transportation and manufacturing center.
Iron and
petroleum production, as well as the transport of coal by rail and
barge, have been historical pillars of the region's economy. Due to a decline in the area's industrial base, Ashland has seen a sizable reduction in its population since 1990. The population of the area has since stabilized, however, with the medical service industry taking a greater role in the local economy. The Ashland area, including the Kentucky counties of
Boyd and
Greenup, is a part of the
Huntington-Ashland,
WV-KY-
OH,
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. About 20,000 of those people reside within the city limits of Ashland.
Education
Main articles: Education in Kentucky
Kentucky maintains eight public four-year colleges and universities. The two major research institutions are the
University of Kentucky, which is the flagship and land grant of the system, and the
University of Louisville. Both combine for over 99% of
endowment in the system and rank first or second in academic rankings and average ACT scores in the state system. The other six colleges in the state system are regional universities.
The state's sixteen public two-year colleges have been governed by the
Kentucky Community and Technical College System since the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, commonly referred to as House Bill 1.
[82] Prior to the passage of House Bill 1, most of these colleges were under the control of the
University of Kentucky.
Berea College, located at the extreme southern edge of the Bluegrass below the Cumberland Plateau, was the first coeducational college in the
South to admit both black and white students, doing so from its very establishment in 1855.
[83] This policy was successfully challenged in the
United State Supreme Court in the case of ''
Berea College v. Kentucky'' in 1908.
[84] This decision effectively segregated Berea until the landmark ''
Brown v. Board of Education'' in 1954.
Kentucky has been the site of much educational reform over the past two decades. In 1989, the
Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the state's education system was unconstitutional.
[85] The response of the
General Assembly was passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) the following year. Years later, Kentucky has shown progress, but most agree that further reform is needed.
[86]
Culture
Although Kentucky's culture is generally considered to be
Southern, it is unique and also influenced by the
Midwest and
Appalachia. The state is known for
bourbon and
whiskey distiling,
horse racing, and
gambling. Kentucky is more similar to the
Upper South in terms of ancestry which is predominantly
American.
[87] Neveretheless, during the 19th century, the state Kentucky did receive a substantial number of German and Irish immigrants, who settled primarily in the Midwest. Only Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, all also border states, have higher German ancestry percentages than Kentucky among Census-defined Southern states.
[88] Kentucky was a
slave state, and blacks once comprised over one-quarter of its population. However, it lacked the
cotton plantation system and never had the same high percentage of African Americans as most other slave states. With less than 8% of its current population being black, Kentucky is rarely included in modern-day definitions of the
Black Belt, despite a relatively significant rural African American population in the Central and Western areas of the state.
[89][90][91]
Kentucky adopted the
Jim Crow system of racial segregation in most public spheres after the Civil War, but the state never disenfranchised African American citizens as did most other Southern states, and it peacefully integrated its schools after the 1954 ''Brown v. Board of Education'' verdict, later adopting the first state civil rights act in the South in 1966.
[92]
The biggest day in horse racing, the
Kentucky Derby, is preceded by the two-week
Kentucky Derby Festival[93] in Louisville. Louisville also plays host to the
Kentucky State Fair,
[94] the
Kentucky Shakespeare Festival,
[95] and
Southern gospel's annual highlight, the
National Quartet Convention.
[96] Owensboro, Kentucky's third largest city, gives credence to its nickname of "Barbecue Capital of the World" by hosting the annual
International Bar-B-Q Festival.
[97] Bowling Green, Kentucky's fifth largest city and home to the
only assembly plant in the world that manufactures the
Chevrolet Corvette,
[98] opened the
National Corvette Museum in 1994.
[99]
Old Louisville, the largest
historic preservation district in the United States featuring
Victorian architecture and the third largest overall,
[100] hosts the
St. James Court Art Show, the largest outdoor art show in the
United States.
[101] The neighborhood was also home to the
Southern Exposition (1883-1887), which featured the first public display of
Thomas Edison's
light bulb,
[102] and was the setting of
Alice Hegan Rice's novel, ''
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' and
Fontaine Fox's comic strip, the "
Toonerville Trolley.
[103]
The more rural communities are not without traditions of their own, however.
Hodgenville, the birthplace of
Abraham Lincoln, hosts the annual Lincoln Days Celebration, and will also host the kick-off for the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in February 2008.
Bardstown celebrates its heritage as a major bourbon-producing region with the
Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
[104] (Legend holds that
Baptist minister
Elijah Craig invented bourbon with his black slave in
Georgetown, but some dispute this claim.)
[105] Glasgow mimics
Glasgow,
Scotland by hosting its own version of the
Highland Games,
[106] and
Sturgis hosts "Little Sturgis", a mini version of
Sturgis, South Dakota's annual
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
[107] The residents of tiny
Benton even pay tribute to their favorite tuber, the
sweet potato, by hosting
Tater Day.
[108] Residents of
Clarkson in
Grayson County celebrate their city's ties to the honey honey industry by celebrating the
Clarkson Honeyfest.
[109] The Clarkson Honeyfest is held the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in September, and is the "Official State Honey Festival of Kentucky."
Music
Main articles: Music of Kentucky
The breadth of music in Kentucky is indeed wide, stretching from the Purchase to the eastern mountains.
Contemporary Christian music star
Steven Curtis Chapman is a
Paducah native, and
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers
The Everly Brothers are closely connected with
Muhlenberg County, where older brother Don was born. Kentucky was also home to Mildred and
Patty Hill, the
Louisville sisters credited with composing the tune to the ditty
Happy Birthday to You;
Loretta Lynn (
Johnson County), and
Billy Ray Cyrus (
Flatwoods). However, its depth lies in its signature sound —
Bluegrass music.
Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass", was born in the small
Ohio County town of
Rosine, while
Ricky Skaggs,
Keith Whitley,
David "Stringbean" Akeman,
Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, Sonny and
Bobby Osborne, and
Sam Bush (who has been compared to Monroe) all hail from Kentucky. The
International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in
Owensboro,
[110] while the annual
Festival of the Bluegrass is held in
Lexington.
[111]
Kentucky is also home to famed
jazz musician and pioneer,
Lionel Hampton (although this has been disputed in recent years).
[112] Blues legend
W.C. Handy and
R&B singer
Wilson Pickett also spent considerable time in Kentucky. The pop bands
Midnight Star and
Nappy Roots were both formed in Kentucky, as were country acts
The Kentucky Headhunters and
Montgomery Gentry, as well as
Dove Award-winning Christian groups
Audio Adrenaline (rock) and
Bride (metal).
Cuisine
Main articles: Cuisine of Kentucky
Kentucky's cuisine, like much of the state's culture, is unique and is considered to blend elements of both the South and Midwest, given its location between the two regions.
[113][114] One original Kentucky dish is called the
Hot Brown, a layered dish normally in this order: bread, tomatoes, turkey, bacon, and topped with melted cheese. It was developed at the
Brown Hotel in
Louisville.
[115]
Sports
Main articles: Sports in Kentucky
Kentucky boasts no major league sports teams, but several minor league teams call it home. Professional teams in nearby cities, however, have strong fan support depending on the part of the state, with
Nashville teams having strong fan support in South Central and most of Western Kentucky, Nashville and
St. Louis teams competing for loyalties in
the Purchase,
Indianapolis and
Chicago teams predominating in the
Louisville area, and
Cincinnati teams having strong support in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The
northern part of the state lies across the
Ohio River from Cincinnati, which is home to a
National Football League team, the
Bengals, and a
Major League Baseball team, the
Reds. It is not uncommon for fans to park in the city of
Newport and use the
Newport Southbank Pedestrian Bridge, locally known as the "Purple People Bridge," to walk to these games in Cincinnati. Many restaurants and stores in Newport rely on business from these fans. Also,
Georgetown College in
Georgetown is the location for the Bengals' summer training camp.
[116]
As in many states, especially those without major league professional sport teams, college athletics are very important. This is especially true of the state's three
Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs, including the
Kentucky Wildcats, the
Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers, and the
Louisville Cardinals. The Wildcats, Hilltoppers, and Cardinals are among the most tradition-rich college basketball teams in the United States, combining for nine championships and 22 NCAA Final Fours; and all three are on the lists of total all-time wins, wins per season, and average wins per season. Louisville has also stepped onto the football scene in recent years, with eight straight bowl games, including the 2007
Orange Bowl. Western Kentucky, the 2002 national champion in Division I-AA football (now
Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), is currently transitioning to Division I FBS football.
State symbols
Main articles: List of Kentucky state insignia
Official state places and events
Unless otherwise specified, all state symbol information is taken from
Kentucky State Symbols.
Gallery
See also
★
Appalachia
★
BluegrassReport.org —
Democratic Party-oriented
political blog dedicated to Kentucky politics
★
Kentucky census statistical areas
★
List of naval ships named for Kentucky
★
List of people from Kentucky
★
Scouting in Kentucky
References
1. Science In Your Backyard: Kentucky
2. ''The North American Midwest: A Regional Geography'', , , , Wiley Publishers, 1955,
3. Midwestern Industrialization and the American Manufacturing Belt in the Nineteenth Century, , David R., Meyer, The Journal of Economic History, 1989
4. ''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'', , , , Somerset Publishers, 1987,
5. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, , , , University Press of Kentucky, 1992,
6. ''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'', , , , Somerset Publishers, 1987,
7. Kentucky
8. Comments by Michael McCafferty on "Readers' Feedback (page 4)"
9. Kentucky
10. Life on the Mississippi
11. How Many Counties are in Your State? Virginia also has more county-level subdivisions than Kentucky; it has only 95 counties, but also has 39 independent cities, for a total of 134 county-level subdivisions.
12. The Geography of Kentucky - Climate
13. ''Encyclopedia of Kentucky'', , , , Somerset Publishers, 1987,
14. Corbin, Kentucky: A Fisherman's Paradise
15. Elk Restoration Update and Hunting Information
16. Wolf Creek Dam:Major Rehabilitation
17. Land Between the Lakes
18. Mammoth Cave National Park Darren Smith
19. Cumberland Falls State Resort Park
20. Mammoth Cave National Park
21.
Bernheim Research Forest
22. Bad Branch State Nature Preserve
23. Jefferson Memorial Forest
24. The Presence
25. The Dark and Bloody Hunting Ground
26. > Book Description for ''The Life of Daniel Boone: The Founder of the State of Kentucky and Colonel's Boone Autobiography''
27. Monongalia County History
28. The Battle of Blue Licks
29. About Kentucky
30. Constitution Square State Historic Site
31. Border States in the Civil War
32. Ordinances of Secession
33. Civil War Sites - Bowling Green, KY
34. A Concise History of the Flags of the Confederate States of America and the Sovereign State of Georgia
35. Marx To Engels In Manchester
36. KRS 2.110 Public Holidays
37. The Old State Capitol
38. 2006 General Election Registration Figures Set
39. Election Results for Kentucky
40. Reviser of Statutes Office - History and Functions
41. History of the DOCJT
42. History of the Kentucky State Police
43. Authorized Methods of Execution by State
44. The Last Public Execution in America
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