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Kentucky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the U.S. State. For other uses of the term, see Kentucky (disambiguation).
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| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||
| Capital Largest city |
Frankfort Louisville |
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| Area | Ranked 37th | ||||||||
| - Total | 40,444 sq. mi. (104,749 km²) |
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| - Width | 140 miles (225 km) | ||||||||
| - Length | 379 miles (610 km) | ||||||||
| - % water | 1.7 | ||||||||
| - Latitude | 36°30'N to 39°9'N | ||||||||
| - Longitude | 81°58'W to 89°34'W | ||||||||
| Population | Ranked 25th | ||||||||
| - Total (2000) | 4,041,869 | ||||||||
| - Density | 101.7/sq. mi. 39.28/km² (23rd) |
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| Elevation | |||||||||
| - Highest point | Black Mountain 4,145 feet (1,263 m) |
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| - Mean | 755 feet (230 m) | ||||||||
| - Lowest point | 256 feet (78 m) | ||||||||
| Admission to Union | June 1, 1792 (15th) | ||||||||
| Governor | Ernie Fletcher (R) | ||||||||
| U.S. Senators | Mitch McConnell (R) Jim Bunning (R) |
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| Time zone(s) | Eastern: UTC-5/DST-4 Central: UTC-6/DST-5 |
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| Abbreviations | KY US-KY | ||||||||
| Web site | www.kentucky.gov | ||||||||
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is the 15th state of the United States of America.
Contents |
Geography
See also: List of Kentucky counties
Kentucky, affectionately known as The Bluegrass State, borders states of both the Midwest and the Southeast. West Virginia and Virginia lie to the east; Tennessee to the south; Missouri to the west; and Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north.
The commonwealth's northern border is formed by the Ohio River, and the western border is formed by the Mississippi River. Other major rivers in Kentucky include the Kentucky River, Tennessee River, the Cumberland River, the Green River, and the Licking River.
Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau in the southeast, the north-central Bluegrass region, the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau, also sometimes termed "Pennyrile" with cities such as Elizabethtown and Bowling Green, the western coal-fields area, and the far-west Jackson Purchase.
Kentucky is the only U.S. state to have a non-contiguous part exist as an enclave of another state. Far western Kentucky 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.
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.
Significant natural attractions
- Cumberland Gap, chief passageway through the Appalachian Mountains in early American history.
- Cumberland Falls State Park, where a "moon-bow", the only such phenomenon in the Western Hemisphere, may be seen in the mists of the falls.
- Mammoth Cave National Park, featuring tours of the world's longest cave.
- 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 Forest a 14,000 acre (57 km²) arboretum, forest and nature preserve located in Clermont.
- 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. 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, as well as a 60-foot 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.
Green River State Park, located in Taylor County, Kentucky camping, fishing, golf, and watersports are just some attractions
History
Kentucky was used as sacred hunting grounds by roving bands of Shawnee and others. As early as 1750 there were no known permanent Native settlements. After 1770, settlers from Virginia and North Carolina came through the Cumberland Gap, and Kentucky grew rapidly as the first settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were founded. After the American Revolution, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County. 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.
While remaining loyal to the Union, Kentucky was a border state during the American Civil War. The state did not secede, and was officially neutral until a new legislature took office on August 5, 1861 with strong Union sympathies. The Confederates entered the state during the "Kentucky Campaign" of Generals Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith in 1862. Bragg's retreat following the Battle of Perryville left the state under the control of the Union Army for the remainder of the war. The state then abandoned neutrality, and publicly sided with the Union. Southern sympathizers attempted to establish an alternative state government with the goal of secession but failed to displace the legitimate government in Frankfort.
Demographics
| Historical populations | |
|---|---|
| Census year |
Population |
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|
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| 1790 | 73,677 |
| 1800 | 220,955 |
| 1810 | 406,511 |
| 1820 | 564,317 |
| 1830 | 687,917 |
| 1840 | 779,828 |
| 1850 | 982,405 |
| 1860 | 1,155,684 |
| 1870 | 1,321,011 |
| 1880 | 1,648,690 |
| 1890 | 1,858,635 |
| 1900 | 2,147,174 |
| 1910 | 2,289,905 |
| 1920 | 2,416,630 |
| 1930 | 2,614,589 |
| 1940 | 2,845,627 |
| 1950 | 2,944,806 |
| 1960 | 3,038,156 |
| 1970 | 3,218,706 |
| 1980 | 3,660,777 |
| 1990 | 3,685,296 |
| 2000 | 4,041,769 |
As of 2005, Kentucky has an estimated population of 4,173,405, which is an increase of 31,570, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 131,120, or 3.2%, 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%).
Racially, the population is:
The five largest ancestries in the state are: American (20.9%), German (12.7%), Irish (10.5%), British American (9.7%), African American (7.3%). |
Blacks, who once represented a quarter of the state's population during the height of the tobacco, cotton, and hemp plantation era, are mostly concentrated in the southwest (notably Christian County and the city of Paducah), the Bluegrass, and the city of Louisville. "American ancestry" is the largest reported ancestry group throughout most of the state in the Census.
Religion
Religiously, Kentucky is mostly Protestant. The religious affiliations of the state are as follows:
- Christian ?? 86%
- Protestant ?? 70%
- Baptist ?? 35%
- Methodist ?? 5%
- Pentecostal ?? 4%
- Church of Christ ?? 3%
- Lutheran ?? 2%
- Presbyterian ?? 2%
- Other Protestant ?? 19%
- Roman Catholic ?? 15%
- Other Christian ?? 1%
- Protestant ?? 70%
- Jewish 0.01%
- Other Religions ?? <1%
- Non-religious ?? 14%
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. The service was originally scheduled for August 8, but people began arriving two days earlier on a rainy August 6. The meeting was hosted by Barton Stone. Presbyterians, Methodists and some Baptists were present, as the services attempted to be interdominational as possible. As the days wore on, some counted as many as seven preachers preaching at the same time from tree stumps or wagons.
Economy
The total gross state product for 2003 was US$129 billion. Its per-capita personal income was US$26,575, 41st in the nation. 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.
There are 5 income tax brackets, ranging from 2 percent to 6 percent of personal income. The sales tax rate in Kentucky is 6 percent. 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. And 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 percent of the fair market value and property taxes are due by Dec. 31. Once the primary source of state and local government revenue, property taxes now account for only about 6 percent of the Kentucky's annual General Fund revenues.
Kentucky imposes a tax on intangible personal property held by a taxpayer on Jan. 1 of each year. Intangible property consists of any property or investment which represents evidence of value or the right to value. Some types of intangible property include: money market accounts, 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.
Transportation
Major U.S. interstate highways servicing Kentucky include: I-24, I-65, I-64, I-71, I-75, I-264, I-265.
Kentucky and Missouri are the only two states to share a boundary with no road directly connecting the two states. This is a result of the multiplexing of US Highways 51, 60, and 62 crossing the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky, and the multiplexing of US Highways 60 and 62 crossing the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri, rather than US Highways 60 and 62 crossing the Mississippi River directly from Kentucky to Missouri.
Law and government
Currently Kentucky's governor, Ernie Fletcher, both US Senators, Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, and five of its six US Congressman are members of the Republican Party. The Kentucky Constitution provides for three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive. Kentucky's General Assembly has two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The executive branch is headed by the Governor. See List of Kentucky Governors. The judicial branch of Kentucky is made up of trial courts, called District and Circuit Courts; an intermediate appellate court, called the Kentucky Court of Appeals; and a court of last resort, the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Attorney General is Greg Stumbo.
Politics
Historically, Kentucky has been very hard fought and leaned slightly towards the Democratic Party. It was never included among the "Solid South." The majority of the state's voters are officially registered as Democrats, although the majority has slimmed substantially in recent election cycles. 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. The most solidly Democratic counties are in the mountainous eastern unionized coal mining region, especially Pike, Floyd, Knott, Menifee, and Breathitt, and the city of Louisville. The Jackson Purchase area in the far west was historically a Democratic stronghold but has moved Republican recently.
Representation
| Kentucky Congressional Districts |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 The 7th - 13th districts are obsolete See also: List of all U.S. congressional districts Current Kentucky delegation - All Kentucky delegations |
Important cities and towns
Kentucky's largest cities and most of the fast growing counties are concentrated in what is referred to as the Golden Triangle, which is almost entirely in the Bluegrass region, with the exception of Hardin, Meade and LaRue counties which are in the Pennyroyal region.
The largest city in Kentucky is Louisville Metro, with a 2004 census estimated population of 556,332. The Kentucky side of the Louisville CSA has a population of 1,120,039. The second largest city is Lexington-Fayette with 260,512 people, with its CSA having an estimated population of 635,547 in 2005. The Northern Kentucky area (the seven Kentucky counties in the Cincinnati CSA) had an estimated population of 403,727 in 2005. The metropolitan areas of Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky have a combined population of 2,159,313 as of 2005, which is 51.7% 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 impressive population and job growth since the 1990s and is considered by many geographers to become Kentucky's next large urban area. 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, Kentucky 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 in thousands of high paying jobs.
15 largest Kentucky cities, 2010 Projected
- Louisville 564,048
- Lexington 275,127
- Owensboro 56,149
- Bowling Green 54,291
- Covington 42,470
- Richmond 34,472
- Florence 28,296
- Henderson 27,875
- Nicholasville 27,675
- Hopkinsville 27,249
- Frankfort 26,591
- Jeffersontown 25,630
- Paducah 24,402
- Elizabethtown 24,162
- Georgetown 22,210
15 most populated counties, 2010 Projected
(Largest city in county)
- Jefferson (Louisville) 706,050 (+12,446)
- Fayette (Lexington) 275,127 (+14,615)
- Kenton (Covington) 155,867 (+4,404)
- Boone (Florence) 126,552 (+40,560)
- Warren (Bowling Green) 105,398 (+12,876)
- Hardin (Elizabethtown) 99,724 (+5,554)
- Daviess (Owensboro) 94,575 (+3,030)
- Campbell (Newport) 85,886 (-2,730)
- Madison (Richmond) 84,626 (+13,754)
- Bullitt (Shepherdsville) 75,712 (+14,476)
- Christian (Hopkinsville) 67,981 (-4,328)
- Pike (Pikeville) 65,108 (-3,620)
- McCracken (Paducah) 63,882 (-1,632)
- Pulaski (Somerset) 62,183 (+5,966)
- Oldham (La Grange) 60,641 (+14,463)
Education
Colleges and universities
Private
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Public
Community colleges
Professional sports teams
Kentucky is home to no major league sports team but several minor league teams.
Minor league baseball
- Louisville Bats (Triple-A International League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds)
- Lexington Legends (Single-A South Atlantic League affiliate of the Houston Astros)
- Florence Freedom (Single-A Frontier League independent)
Football
- Lexington Horsemen (United Indoor Football)
- Louisville Fire (arenafootball2)
- Louisville Bulls (Mid Continental Football League)
Basketball
Miscellaneous topics
Kentucky is well known for thoroughbred horses, horse racing, local bourbon whisky distilleries, bluegrass music, and college basketball. While Kentucky's pastimes are distinctly those of the South, the state's cuisine is considered to be a synergistic blend of Midwestern cuisine and Southern US cuisine.
Origin of name
It was once believed that the name Kentucky was derived from the Native American word meaning "dark and bloody hunting ground," which is believed to be due to the fact that many Native American tribes went there to hunt in the game-rich forests and often fought each other there. However, it is now most commonly believed that the name Kentucky can be attributed to various Native American languages with several possible meanings from "land of tomorrow" to "cane and turkey lands" to "meadow lands." This last may come from the Iroquois name for the Shawnee town Eskippathiki. The name Kentucky referred originally to the Kentucky River and from that came the name of the region.
State symbols
- State bird: Cardinal
- State flower: Goldenrod
- State tree: Tulip Poplar (formerly the Kentucky coffeetree)
- State horse: Thoroughbred
- State fish: Kentucky Bass
- State wild animal: Grey Squirrel
- State butterfly: Viceroy Butterfly
- State gemstone: Fresh Water Pearl
- State fossil: Brachiopod
- State song: "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster (1853)
- State bluegrass song: "Blue Moon of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe (1947)
- State drink: Milk
- State motto: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall"
- State slogan: "Unbridled Spirit"
- See also: Flag of Kentucky
Interesting facts about Kentucky
- Both the president of the Union (Abraham Lincoln) and the Confederacy (Jefferson Davis) during the Civil War were born in Kentucky.
- Kentucky has more navigatable shoreline than any other state in the union, other than Alaska. This is thanks to Kentucky's intricate system of lakes and rivers, as well as being home to Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Lake Cumberland, all of which rank in the top 20 in size area of US lakes.
- The Purple People Bridge connecting Newport and Cincinnati is the longest pedestrian only bridge in the world. In 2007, the Big Four Bridge in Louisville will be converted into the world's second longest pedstrian only bridge, meaning Kentucky will be home to the two longest pedestrian only bridges in the world and the only two in the United States connecting two states.
- The Old Louisville neighborhood is the largest historic preservation district in the U.S., featuring Victorian architecture and is also the first place the public viewed Thomas Edison's light bulb. It is also the fourth largest historic preservation district overall in the U.S.
- Garrett Morgan, born to former slaves in Paris, invented the first gas mask.
- The first public library open to African Americans was the Western Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library.
- Rainey Bethea was the last condemned prisoner to be publicly executed in the United States. The sentence was carried out on August 14, 1936 in front of an estimated 20,000 spectators in Owensboro.
- Bourbon whiskey was first produced in Kentucky, purportedly by Baptist minister Elijah Craig.
- The University of Kentucky's men's basketball team, The UK Wildcats, are the winningest team in college basketball history.
- The World Peace Bell, located in Newport, is the largest free-swinging bell in existence.
- Several U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Kentucky in honor of the state. The USS Paducah and USS Louisville also served as naval vessels. Also, in honor of their massive and record-breaking contributions to scrap drives in World War II, the small town of Stearns got a ship named after itself.
- William Goebel became the only governor of a US state to be assassinated when he was shot by a sniper as he walked to the State Capitol in Frankfort.
- Kentucky ranks 4th among U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. The Corvette, Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer, all Ford F-series trucks, and the Toyota Camry are all assembled in Kentucky.
- Famous performers, writers and other artists born in Kentucky include:
- Diane Sawyer (co-anchor of ABC's Good Morning America)
- Ned Beatty (actor)
- Harry M. Caudill (author)
- George Clooney (actor, director, producer)
- Rosemary Clooney (actress and musician; aunt of George)
- Don Everly, musician and the older of The Everly Brothers (his younger brother Phil was born in Chicago)
- Naomi Judd (musician)
- Wynonna Judd musician and older sister of actress Ashley Judd (Ashley was born in Granada Hills, California, but was raised in Ashland, and attended the University of Kentucky)
- Loretta Lynn (musician)
- Bill Monroe (musician)
- Patricia Neal
- Will Oldham (musician, actor)
- The Stanley Brothers (musicians)
- Harry Dean Stanton (actor)
- Jim Varney (actor)
- Robert Penn Warren (author)
- Dwight Yoakam (musician)
- Johnny Depp (actor)
- John Hensley (actor)
- Hunter S. Thompson (writer)
- Nicky Hayden (motorcycle racer)
See also
References
Politics
- Miller, Penny M. Kentucky Politics & Government: Do We Stand United? (1994)
- Jewell, Malcolm E. and Everett W. Cunningham, Kentucky Politics (1968)
History
Surveys and reference
- Bodley, Temple and Samuel M. Wilson. History of Kentucky 4 vols. (1928)
- Channing, Steven. Kentucky: A Bicentennial History (1977)
- Clark, Thomas Dionysius. A History of Kentucky (many editions, 1937-1992)
- Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky (1880)
- Harrison, Lowell H. and James C. Klotter. A New History of Kentucky (1997), the best place to start
- Kleber, John E. et al The Kentucky Encyclopedia (1992), standard reference history
- Klotter, James C. Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass State (2000), high school text
- Lucas, Marion Brunson and Wright, George C. A History of Blacks in Kentucky (1992) 2 vol.
- Share, Allen J. Cities in the Commonwealth: Two Centuries of Urban Life in Kentucky (1982).
- Wallis, Frederick A. and Hambleton Tapp. A Sesqui-Centennial History of Kentucky 4 vols. (1945).
- Ward, William S., A Literary History of Kentucky (1988) (ISBN 087049578X)
- WPA, Kentucky: A Guide to the Bluegrass State (1939), classic guide
Daniel Boone came through in 1767.
Specialized scholarly studies
- Bakeless, John. Daniel Boone, Master of the Wilderness (1989)
- Blakey, George T. Hard Times and New Deal in Kentucky, 1929-1939 (1986)
- Coulter, E. Merton. The Civil War and Readjustment in Kentucky (1926)
- Ellis, William E. The Kentucky River (2000).
- Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone (1993)
- Fenton, John H. Politics in the Border States: A Study of the Patterns of Political Organization, and Political Change, Common to the Border States: Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri (1957)
- Ireland, Robert M. The County in Kentucky History (1976)
- Klotter, James C. Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900-1950 (1992)
- Pearce, John Ed. Divide and Dissent: Kentucky Politics, 1930-1963 (1987)
- Remini, Robert V. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (1991).
- Sonne, Niels Henry. Liberal Kentucky, 1780-1828 (1939)
- Tapp, Hambleton and James C Klotter. Kentucky Decades of Discord, 1865-1900 (1977)
- Townsend, William H. Lincoln and the Bluegrass: Slavery and Civil War in Kentucky (1955)
- Waldrep, Christopher Night Riders: Defending Community in the Black Patch, 1890-1915 (1993) tobacco wars
External links
Dictionary definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
- BluegrassReport.org - Leading Democratic-oriented blog covering Kentucky politics, co-winner of 2005 Koufax Award in the category "Best State or Local Blog".
- GenealogyBuff.com - Kentucky Library of Files
- Kentucky Department of Tourism
- The Kentucky Highlands Project
- The Kentucky History Center
- Kentucky Authors and Literature at Southern Literary Review
- Kentucky Obituary Links
- Kentucky: Unbridled Spirit
- Kentucky.gov: My New Kentucky Home
- U.S. Census Bureau Kentucky QuickFacts
