Previously part ofcolonial Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792.[8] It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference toKentucky bluegrass, a species of grass introduced by European settlers which has long supported the state'sthoroughbred horse industry.[9]
The fertile soil in the central and western parts of the state led to the development of large tobacco plantations similar to those in Virginia andNorth Carolina, which utilizedenslaved labor prior to the passage of theThirteenth Amendment. Kentucky ranks fifth nationally in goat farming, eighth inbeef cattle production,[10] and fourteenth in corn production.[11] While Kentucky has been a long-standing center for the tobacco industry, its economy has diversified into non-agricultural sectors including auto manufacturing, energy production, and medicine.[12] Kentucky ranks fourth among US states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled.[13] It is one of several states considered part of theUpland South.
The precise etymology of the name is uncertain.[15] One theory sees the word based on anIroquoian name meaning "(on) the meadow" or "(on) the prairie"[16][17] (cf.Mohawkkenhtà:ke,Senecagëdá'geh (phonemic/kɛ̃taʔkɛh/), "at the field").[18] Another theory suggests a derivation from the termKenta Aki, which could have come from anAlgonquian language, in particular fromShawnee. Folk etymology translates this as "Land of Our Fathers". The closest approximation in another Algonquian language,Ojibwe, translates as "Land of Our In-Laws", thus making a fairer English translation "The Land of Those Who Became Our Fathers".[19] In any case, the wordaki means "land" in most Algonquian languages.
The first archaeological evidence of human occupation of Kentucky is approximately 9500 BCE, and it was Clovis culture, primitive hunter-gatherers with stone tools. Around 1800 BCE, a gradual transition began from a hunter-gatherer economy to agriculturalism. Around 900 CE, aMississippian culture took root in western and central Kentucky and aFort Ancient culture appeared in eastern Kentucky. While the two had many similarities, the distinctive ceremonial earthwork mounds constructed in the former's centers were not part of the culture of the latter. Fort Ancient settlements depended largely on corn, beans, and squash, and practiced a system of agriculture that prevented ecological degradation by rotating crops,burning sections of forest to create ideal habitat for wild game, relocating villages every 10–30 years, and continually shifting the location of fields to maintain plots of land in various stages ofecological succession.[20]
In about the 10th century, the Kentucky native people's variety of corn became highly productive, supplanting theEastern Agricultural Complex and replacing it with maize-based agriculture in theMississippian era. As of the 16th century, what became Kentucky was home to tribes from diverse linguistic groups. TheKispoko, anAlgonquian-speaking tribe, controlled much of the interior of the state.[21]
French explorers in the 17th century documented numerous tribes living in Kentucky until theBeaver Wars in the 1670s; however, by the time that European colonial explorers and settlers began entering Kentucky in greater numbers in the mid-18th century, there were no major Native American settlements in the region.
TheChickasaw had territory up to the confluence of Mississippi and Ohio rivers. During a period known as theBeaver Wars (1640–1680), another Algonquian tribe called theMaumee, orMascouten was chased out of southern Michigan.[22] The vast majority of them moved to Kentucky, pushing the Kispoko east and war broke out with theTutelo of North Carolina and Virginia that pushed them further north and east. The Maumee were closely related to theMiami from Indiana. Later, the Kispoko merged with theShawnee, who migrated from the east and the Ohio River valley.
A persistent myth, perpetuated in many popular and scholarly works, alleges that Native Americans never lived permanently in Kentucky, but rather used it only as a "hunting ground".[23][24] According to early Kentucky historians, early European settlers encountered extensive evidence of permanent, advanced settlements, including numerous burial mounds,copper and stoneartifacts, and what early historians describe as "fortifications:" large sites consisting of extensive walls enclosing the flat tops of bluffs, cliffs or mountains, constructed from stone that wasquarried in the surrounding valleys and brought up to the summit.[25] These sites and artifacts were sometimes explained as being the remnants of a "lost" white race,[26] or some variously identified ethnic group predating and distinct from the Native Americans.[27] More recent scholarship identifies the mound builders as the Mississippian and Fort Ancient peoples, which were distinct from the indigenous cultures encountered by settlers, although sharing the same origin in Paleoindian groups that inhabited the area for at least 12,000 years.[28]
Beginning in the seventeenth century, before indigenous groups in Kentucky made direct contact with Europeans, articles of European origin such as glassbeads entered the region viatrade routes, and the appearance ofmass graves suggests that European diseases were also introduced.[29] By the eighteenth century, epidemics of disease had destabilized and changed the indigenous groups that inhabited Kentucky, causing some to reassemble into multi-tribal towns, and others todisperse further from the sphere of European influence.[30] Around the end of the French and Indian War, as European settlers began to claim parts of the Bluegrass State, Native Americans abandoned their larger, more permanent villages south of the Ohio River and continued to maintain only small or transient settlements. This upheaval likely led the settlers to believe that Kentucky was a hunting ground contested by multiple tribes but not permanently inhabited, when in reality it had only recently been abandoned due to social and political turmoil.[31]
European explorers arrived in Kentucky possibly as early as 1671. While French explorers surely spied Kentucky during expeditions on the Mississippi, there is no evidence French or Spanish explorers set foot in the lands south of the Ohio, notwithstanding speculations about Hernando de Soto and Robert de la Salle. The terrain in those days was not surveyed, so there is some uncertainty whether and to what extent the early English explorers out of Virginia set foot on the land. Confounding the issue is that the region south of the Ohio/Allegheny later known asKentucky country was larger than the state of Kentucky today, encompassing most of today's West Virginia and (vaguely) part of southwestern Pennsylvania.[32] Notable expeditions were Batts and Fallam 1671, Needham and Arthur 1673.[33] Thomas Walker and surveyor Christopher Gist surveyed the area now known as Kentucky in 1750 and 1751.
European settlement: The Treaty of Fort Stanwix 1768
As more settlers entered the area, warfare broke out with the Native Americans over their traditional hunting grounds.[34]
June 16, 1774, James Harrod founded Harrod's Town (modern Harrodsburg). The settlement was abandoned during the conflict period of Dunmore's War, and resettled in March 1775, becoming the first permanent European settlement in Kentucky. It was followed within months by Boone's Station, Logan's Fort and Lexington before Kentucky was organized.
This period was the time of Daniel Boone's legendary expeditions starting in 1767 through the Cumberland Gap and down the Kentucky River to reach the bluegrass heartland of Kentucky.
While theCherokee did not settle in Kentucky, they hunted there. They relinquished their hunting rights there in an extra-legal private contract with speculator Richard Henderson calledTreaty of Sycamore Shoals in 1775.[35]
On December 31, 1776, by an act of theVirginia General Assembly, the portion ofFincastle County west of theBig Sandy River (including today'sTug Fork tributary) terminating at the North Carolina border (today Tennessee) extending to the Mississippi River, previously most of what was known asKentucky (or Kentucke) country, was split off into its own county ofKentucky. Harrod's Town (Oldtown as it was known at the time) was named the county seat.
A 1790 U.S. government report states that 1,500Kentucky settlers had been killed by Native Americans since the end of theRevolutionary War.[36]
In 1942 the U.S. Post Office issued a postage stampcommemorating the 150th anniversary of Kentucky statehood, a 3-cent 1942 issue
The county was subdivided intoJefferson,Lincoln andFayette Counties in 1780, but continued to be administered as the District of Kentucky even as new counties were split off.
On several occasions the region's residents petitioned the General Assembly and theConfederation Congress for separation from Virginia andstatehood. Ten constitutional conventions were held inDanville between 1784 and 1792.One petition, which had Virginia's assent, came before the Confederation Congress in early July 1788. Unfortunately, its consideration came up a day after word ofNew Hampshire's all-important ninthratification of the proposedConstitution, thus establishing it as the new framework of governance for the United States. In light of this development, Congress thought that it would be "unadvisable" to admit Kentucky into the Union, as it could do so "under the Articles of Confederation" only, but not "under the Constitution", and so declined to take action.[37]
On December 18, 1789, Virginia again gave its consent to Kentucky statehood. TheUnited States Congress gave its approval on February 4, 1791.[38] (This occurred two weeks before Congress approvedVermont's petition for statehood.[39]) Kentucky officially became the fifteenth state in the Union on June 1, 1792.Isaac Shelby, a military veteran from Virginia, was elected its first Governor.[40]
The centralBluegrass region and the western portion of the state were the areas with the mostslave owners.Planters cultivatedtobacco andhemp on plantations with the use of slave labor, and were noted for their qualitylivestock. During the 19th century, Kentucky slaveholders began to sell unneeded slaves to theDeep South, with Louisville becoming a major slave market and departure port for slaves being transported down the Ohio River.
Kentucky was a heavily divided slave state during theAmerican Civil War. Though the state had dueling Union and Confederate state governments, Kentucky was never an official component of the Confederacy.Kentucky was one of the Southernborder states during the war, and it remained neutral within theUnion.[41] Despite this, representatives from 68 of 110 counties met atRussellville calling themselves the "Convention of the People of Kentucky" and passed anOrdinance of Secession on November 20, 1861.[42] They established aConfederate government of Kentucky with its capital inBowling Green, and Kentucky was officially admitted into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, as the 13th Confederate state with full recognition in Richmond.[43] The Confederate shadow government was never popularly elected statewide, though 116 delegates were sent representing 68 Kentucky counties which at the time made up a little over half the territory of the Commonwealth to the Russellville Convention in 1861, and were occupied and governed by the Confederacy at some point in the duration of the war, and Kentucky had full representation within the Confederate Government. Although Confederate forces briefly controlled Frankfort, they were expelled by Union forces before a Confederate government could be installed in the state capital. After the expulsion of Confederate forces after the Battle of Perryville, this government operated in-exile. Though it existed throughout the war, Kentucky's provisional government only had governing authority in areas of Kentucky under direct Confederate control and had very little effect on the events in the Commonwealth or in the war once they were driven out of the state.
Kentucky remained officially "neutral" throughout the war[citation needed] due to theSouthern Unionists sympathies of a majority of the Commonwealth's citizens who were split between the struggle of Kentucky's sister Southern States fully in theConfederate States of America and a continued loyalty to the Unionist cause that was prevalent in other areas of the South such as in East Tennessee, West Virginia, Western North Carolina, and others. Despite this, some 21st-century Kentuckians observeConfederate Memorial Day onConfederate leaderJefferson Davis' birthday, June 3, and participate in Confederate battle re-enactments.[44][45] Both Davis and U.S. presidentAbraham Lincoln were born in Kentucky.John C. Breckinridge, the 14th and youngest-ever Vice President was born in Lexington, Kentucky at Cabell's Dale Farm. Breckenridge was expelled from the U. S. Senate for his support of the Confederacy.
Henry W. Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, coined the termNew South in 1874, urging transformation from an agrarian economy to a modern industrial one.
On January 30, 1900, GovernorWilliam Goebel, flanked by two bodyguards, was mortally wounded by anassassin while walking to the State Capitol in downtown Frankfort. Goebel was contesting theKentucky gubernatorial election of 1899, whichWilliam S. Taylor was initially believed to have won. For several months,J. C. W. Beckham, Goebel's running mate, and Taylor fought over who was the legal governor until theSupreme Court of the United States ruled in May in favor of Beckham. After fleeing toIndiana, Taylor was indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel'sassassination. Goebel is the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office.[46]
TheBlack Patch Tobacco Wars, a vigilante action, occurred in Western Kentucky in the early 20th century. As a result of thetobacco industry monopoly, tobacco farmers in the area were forced to sell their crops at prices that were too low. Many local farmers and activists united in a refusal to sell their crops to the major tobacco companies.
An Association meeting occurred in downtownGuthrie,[47] where a vigilante wing of "Night Riders", formed. The riders terrorized farmers who sold their tobacco at the low prices demanded by the tobacco corporations. They burned several tobacco warehouses throughout the area, stretching as far west asHopkinsville toPrinceton. In the later period of their operation, they were known to physically assault farmers who broke the boycott. GovernorAugustus E. Willson declaredmartial law and deployed theKentucky National Guard to end the wars.
Kentucky borders seven states, from theMidwest and theSoutheast.West Virginia lies to the northeast,Virginia to the east,Tennessee to the south,Missouri to the west,Illinois to the northwest, andIndiana andOhio to the north. Only Missouri and Tennessee, both of which border eight states, touch more.
Kentucky's northern border is formed by the north shore of theOhio River[50] and its western border by theMississippi River; however, the official border is based on the courses of the rivers as they existed when Kentucky became a state in 1792. For instance, northbound travelers onU.S. 41 from Henderson, after crossing the Ohio River, will be in Kentucky for about two miles (3 km).Ellis Park, a thoroughbred racetrack, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the only land border between Indiana and Kentucky.[51]
Kentucky has a non-contiguous part known asKentucky Bend, at the far west corner of the state. It exists as anexclave surrounded completely byMissouri andTennessee, and is included in the boundaries ofFulton County. Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River (populated by 18 people as of 2010[update])[52] requires traveling through Tennessee.
The epicenter of the1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes was near this area, causing the Mississippi River to flow backwards in some places. Though the series of quakes changed the area geologically and affected the small number of inhabitants of the area at the time, the Kentucky Bend is the result of a surveying error, not the New Madrid earthquake.[53]
Kentucky's regions (click on image for color-coding information; contrary to the map, regions do not follow county lines and the Western Coal Field is not as extensive as indicated. The outer part of it is the Clifty Area, which contains no coal but has bituminous sandstone.)
Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: theCumberland Plateau in the east, which is wholly underlain by coal and constitutes the Eastern Coal Field; the north-centralBluegrass region, where the major cities and the capital are located; the south-central and westernPennyroyal Plateau (a Mississippian-age plateau that is divided into eastern, central and western sub-regions, the latter known as the Pennyrile); theWestern Coal Field; and the far-westernJackson Purchase, the northernmost extension of the Mississippian Embayment, west and south of the Tennessee River.[54]
The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass encircling 90 miles (140 km) aroundLexington, and the Outer Bluegrass that contains most of the northern portion of the state, above theKnobs. Much of the outer Bluegrass is in theEden Shale Hills sub-region, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills. The alluvial plain of theOhio River is another geological region, as is the area south and east of Pine Mountain, part of theRidge and Valley Belt of Appalachia.[55]
Most of Kentucky has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa), with smallAppalachian highland areas of the southeast of the state having anoceanic climate (Cfb).[56] Temperatures in Kentucky usually range from daytime summer highs of 87 °F (31 °C) to the winter low of 23 °F (−5 °C). The average precipitation is 46 inches (1,200 mm) a year.[57] Kentucky has four distinct seasons, with substantial variations in the severity of summer and winter.[58] The state's highest recorded temperature was 114 °F (46 °C) inGreensburg on July 28, 1930, while its lowest recorded temperature was −37 °F (−38 °C) inShelbyville onJanuary 19, 1994. The state seldom experiences the extreme cold of far northern states or the high heat of the states in theDeep South; temperatures rarely drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit or rise above 100 degrees. Rain and snowfall averages about 45 inches per year.
The climate varies markedly within the state. The northern parts tend to be about five degrees cooler than those in the western parts of the state.Somerset in the south-central part receives ten more inches of rain per year thanCovington to the north. Average temperatures for the entire state range from the low 30s in January to the high 80s in mid-July. The annual average temperature varies from 55 to 60 °F (13 to 16 °C): of 55 °F (13 °C) in the far north as an average annual temperature and of 60 °F (16 °C) in the extreme southwest.[59][60]
In general, Kentucky has relatively hot,humid, rainy summers, and moderately cold and rainy winters. Mean maximum temperatures in July vary from 83 to 90 °F (28 to 32 °C); the mean minimum July temperatures are 61 to 69 °F (16 to 21 °C). In January the mean maximum temperatures range from 36 to 44 °F (2 to 7 °C); the mean minimum temperatures range from 19 to 26 °F (−7 to −3 °C). Temperature means vary with northern and far-eastern mountain regions averaging five degrees cooler year-round, compared to the relatively warmer areas of the southern and western regions of the state. Precipitation varies north to south with the north averaging of 38 to 40 inches (970 to 1,020 mm), and the south averaging of 50 inches (1,300 mm). Days per year below the freezing point vary from about sixty days in the southwest to more than a hundred days in the far-north and far-east.[61]
Monthly average high and low temperatures for various Kentucky cities ( °F)
Though it has only three major natural lakes,[76] Kentucky is home to manyartificial lakes. It has the largest artificial lakes east of the Mississippi in both water volume (Lake Cumberland) and surface area (Kentucky Lake). Kentucky Lake's 2,064 miles (3,322 km) of shoreline, 160,300 acres (64,900 hectares) of water surface, and 4,008,000acre-feet (4.9 billioncubic meters) of flood storage are the most of any lake in theTennessee Valley Authority system.[77]
Kentucky's 90,000 miles (140,000 km) of streams provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation.
Once an industrial area, Louisville's waterfront has thousands of trees and miles of walking trails.
Kentucky hosts multiple habitats with a high number ofendemic species, including some of the most extensive cave systems in the world. 102 known species are endemic to the state.[78] The Bluegrass region, which is believed to have once been a lush open woodland environment similar tooak savanna with abundant thickets ofriver cane, a species ofbamboo, was once described byE. Lucy Braun as having the most "anomalous" plant life of the whole Eastern United States.[79] Kentucky's natural environment has suffered greatly from destructive human activities that began after European colonization, particularly the conversion of natural habitat to farmland andcoal mining.
Kentucky has an expansive park system, which includes one national park, two National Recreation Areas, two National Historic Parks, twonational forests, two National Wildlife Refuges, 45state parks, 37,896 acres (153 km2) of state forest, and 82wildlife management areas.
Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in United States history. In the winter of 1997, theKentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources began to re-stockelk in the state's eastern counties, which had been extirpated from the area for over 150 years. As of 2009[update], the herd had reached the project goal of 10,000 animals, making it the largest herd east of theMississippi River.[80]
The state stockedwild turkeys in the 1950s, after reportedly having fewer than 900. Once nearly extinct, wild turkeys thrive throughout Kentucky.[81] Hunters reported a record 29,006 birds taken during the 23-day season in spring 2009.[82]
In 1991 the Land Between the Lakes partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Red Wolf Recovery Program, a captive breeding program.[83]
Black Mountain, state's highest point of elevation.[86] Runs along the south ridge of Pine Mountain in Letcher County, Kentucky. The highest point located in Harlan County.
Bad Branch Falls State Nature Preserve, 2,639-acre (11 km2) state nature preserve on southern slope of Pine Mountain inLetcher County. Includes one of the largest concentrations of rare and endangered species in the state,[87] as well as a 60-foot (18 m) waterfall and a Kentucky Wild River.[clarification needed]
Blanton Forest, located inHarlan County, the state's largestold-growth forest and one of only 13 remaining large tracts of old-growth forest in the eastern USA.[90]
Kentucky's two most populous counties, Jefferson and Fayette, have theirgovernments consolidated with the governments of their largest cities.Louisville-Jefferson County Government (Louisville Metro) andLexington-Fayette Urban County Government (Lexington Metro) are unique in that their city councils and county Fiscal Court structures have been merged into a single entity with a singlechief executive, theMetro Mayor and Urban County Mayor, respectively. Although the counties still exist as subdivisions of the state, in reference the names Louisville and Lexington are used to refer to the entire area coextensive with the former cities and counties.[93][94][95]
TheMetro Louisville government area has a 2018 population of 1,298,990. UnderUnited States Census Bureau methodology, the population of Louisville was 623,867. The latter figure is the population of the so-called"balance" – the parts of Jefferson County that were either unincorporated or within the City of Louisville before the formation of the merged government in 2003. In 2018 theLouisville Combined Statistical Area (CSA) had a population of 1,569,112; including 1,209,191 in Kentucky, which means more than 25% of the state's population now lives in the Louisville CSA. Since 2000, over one-third of the state's population growth has occurred in the Louisville CSA. In addition, the top 28 wealthiest places in Kentucky are in Jefferson County and seven of the 15 wealthiest counties in the state are located in the Louisville CSA.[97][not specific enough to verify]
The state's second-largest city is Lexington with a 2018 census population of 323,780, its metro had a population of 516,697, and itsCSA, which includes theFrankfort andRichmond statistical areas, having a population of 746,310. TheNorthern Kentucky area, which comprises the seven Kentucky counties in theCincinnati/Northern Kentucky metropolitan area, had a population of 447,457 in 2018. The metropolitan areas of Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky have a combined population of 2,402,958 as of 2018[update], which is 54% of the state's total population on only about 19% of the state's land. This area is often referred to as the Golden triangle as it contains a majority of the state's wealth, population, population growth, and economic growth, it is where most of the state's largest cities by population are located. It is referred to as the Golden triangle as the metro areas of Lexington, Louisville, and Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati outline a triangle shape. Interstates I-71, I-75, and I-64 form the triangle shape. Additionally, all counties in Kentucky that are part of an MSA or CSA have a total population of 2,970,694, which is 67% of the state's population.
The two other fast-growing urban areas in Kentucky are theBowling Green area and the "Tri-Cities Region" of southeastern Kentucky, comprisingSomerset,London andCorbin.
Although only one town in the "Tri-Cities" (Somerset) currently has more than 12,000 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 significantly grew in population in the 2000s, from 5,692 in 2000 to 7,993 in 2010. London landed aWal-Mart distribution center in 1997, bringing thousands of jobs to the community.
In northeast Kentucky, the greaterAshland area is an important transportation, manufacturing, and medical center.Iron andpetroleum production, as well as the transport of coal by rail andbarge, 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; however, the population of the area has since stabilized with the medical service industry taking a greater role in the local economy. The Ashland area, including the counties ofBoyd andGreenup, is part of theHuntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 288,649. More than 21,000 of those people (as of 2010[update]) reside within the city limits of Ashland.
Racial plurality in Kentucky by county, per the 2020 U.S. census
Legend
Non-Hispanic White
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
As of July 1, 2016, Kentucky had an estimated population of 4,436,974, which is an increase of 12,363 from the prior year and an increase of 97,607, or 2.2%, since the year 2010. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 73,541 people (that is 346,968 births minus 273,427 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 26,135 people into the state.Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 40,051 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 13,916 people. As of 2015[update], Kentucky's population included about 149,016 foreign-born persons (3.4%). In 2016 the population density of the state was 110 people per square mile (42 people/km2).[101]Mexico,India,Cuba,China, andGuatemala are the top five countries of origin for Kentucky's immigrants.[102]
Kentucky's population has grown every decade since records began, though during most decades of the 20th century there was net out-migration from the state. Since 1900, rural Kentucky counties have suffered a net loss of more than a million people to migration, while urban areas have experienced a slight net gain.[103]
According to U.S. Census Bureau official statistics, the state's largest ancestry in 2013 wasAmerican, totalling 20.2%.[114] In 1980, before the status of ethnic American was an available option on the official census, the largest claimed ancestries in the commonwealth wereEnglish (49.6%),Irish (26.3%), andGerman (24.2%).[115][116][117][118][119][120][121][excessive citations] In the urban counties ofJefferson,Oldham,Fayette,Boone,Kenton, andCampbell, German is the largest reported ancestry.[citation needed] Americans ofScotch-Irish andEnglish ancestry are present throughout the entire state. Many residents claim Irish ancestry on account of Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) descent. In the 1980s, the only counties in the United States where over half of the population cited "English" as their only ancestry group were in eastern Kentucky.[122]
African-Americans, who were mostly enslaved at the time, made up 25% of Kentucky's population before theCivil War; they were held and worked primarily in the centralBluegrass region, an area of hemp and tobacco cultivation, as well as raising blooded livestock. The number of African Americans living in Kentucky declined during the 20th century amid theGreat Migration; today, 8% of the state's total population is African-American.[124] The state's African-American population is highly urbanized, with 44.2% living inJefferson County and 52% living in the broader Louisville metropolitan area. Other areas with high concentrations includeChristian andFulton counties and the cities ofPaducah andLexington.
The Hispanic and Asian populations in Kentucky are small, but have grown significantly since the late 20th century. Most of Kentucky's Hispanic residents are ofMexican ancestry, while most of Kentucky's Asian residents are of Chinese and Indian heritage.[125] There is also a Vietnamese community in Lexington and Louisville, and Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao populations in Bowling Green.[citation needed]
In 2000, 96% of all residents of the state five years old and older spoke onlyEnglish at home, a small decrease from 98% in 1990. Speech patterns in the state generally reflect the first settlers' Virginia backgrounds. South Midland features are best preserved in the mountains, withSouthern in most other areas of Kentucky, but some common to Midland and Southern are widespread. After a vowel, the /r/ may be weak or missing. For instance,Coop has the vowel ofput, but the root rhymes withboot. In southern Kentucky, earthworms are calledredworms, a burlap bag is known as atow sack or theSouthern grass sack, and green beans are calledsnap beans. In Kentucky English, a young man maycarry, not escort, his girlfriend to a party.[citation needed]
TheAbbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani is located inBardstown, Kentucky. AuthorThomas Merton, known as a social activist, worked to reconcile Christianity with other major religions, had converted to Catholicism as a young man, and became a Trappist monk; he lived and worked here from 1941 until his death in 1968.
Louisville is home to theCathedral of the Assumption, the third-oldest Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States. The city holds the headquarters of thePresbyterian Church (USA) and their printing press. Reflecting late 19th, 20th and 21st-century immigration from different countries, Louisville also hasJewish,Muslim,[128] andHindu communities.
In 1996 the Center for Interfaith Relations established the Festival of Faiths, the first and oldest annual interfaith festival to be held in the United States.[129]
Early in its history, Kentucky gained recognition for its excellent farming conditions. It was the site of the first commercialwinery in the United States (started in present-dayJessamine County in 1799) and due to the high calcium content of the soil in the Bluegrass region quickly became a major horse breeding (and later racing) area. Today Kentucky ranks 5th nationally in goat farming, 8th inbeef cattle production,[130] and 14th in corn production.[11] Kentucky has been a long-standing major center of the tobacco industry – both as a center of business and tobacco farming.
Kentucky's economy has expanded to in non-agricultural terms as well, especially auto manufacturing, energy fuel production, and medical facilities.[12]
Kentucky has historically been a major coal producer, but the industry has been in decline since the 1980s, and the number employed dropped by more than half between 2011 and 2015.[131]
As of 2010[update], 24% of electricity produced in the U.S. depended on either enriched uranium rods coming from thePaducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (the only domestic site of low-grade uranium enrichment),[needs update] or from the 107,000 tons of coal extracted from the state's two coal fields (which combined produce 4% percent of the electricity in the US).[132]
Kentucky produces 95% of the world's supply ofbourbon whiskey, and the number of barrels of bourbon being aged in Kentucky (more than 5.7million) exceeds the state's population.[131][133] Bourbon has been a growing market – with production of Kentucky bourbon rising 170 percent between 1999 and 2015.[131] In 2019 the state had more than fifty distilleries for bourbon production.[134]
Kentucky exports reached a record $22.1billion in 2012, with products and services going to 199 countries.[135]
According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, the primary state agency in Kentucky responsible for creating new jobs and new investment in the state, new business investment in Kentucky in 2012 totaled nearly $2.7billion, with the creation of more than 14,000 new jobs. One such investment was L'Oréal in Northern Kentucky, which added 200 jobs on top of the 280 already in existing facilities in Florence and Walton.[136]
The total gross state product for 2020 was $213billion.[138] Its per capita income was $25,888 in 2017.[139] An organization called theInstitute for Truth in Accounting estimated that the state government's debts exceeded its available assets by $26,300 per taxpayer as of 2011[update], ranking the state as having the 5th highest such debt burden in the nation.[140]
As of March 2024, the state's unemployment rate is 4.5%.[141] In 2014 Kentucky was the most affordable U.S. state in which to live.[142][needs update]
Tax is collected by the Kentucky Department of Revenue.[143] Kentucky has a flat 4% individualincome tax rate. The sales tax rate in Kentucky is 6%.[144]
Kentucky has a broadly based classifiedproperty tax system. All classes of property, unless exempted by the Constitution, are taxed by the state, although at widely varying rates.[145] 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 theGeneral Assembly, one by theKentucky 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.[146]
Until January 1, 2006, Kentucky imposed a tax on intangible personal property held by a taxpayer on January1 of each year. The Kentucky intangible tax was repealed under House Bill 272.[147] Intangible property consisted of any property or investment that represents evidence of value or the right to value. Some types of intangible property included: bonds, notes, retailrepurchase agreements, accounts receivable, trusts, enforceable contracts sale of real estate (land contracts), money in hand, money insafe deposit boxes, annuities, interests in estates, loans to stockholders, and commercial paper.
In 2023, Kentucky launched a regulated local and online sports betting industry. Taxing sportsbooks at 9.75% (in person) and 14.25% (online), the first two months of action saw the state collect $7.94 million.[148][149]
In December 2002, the Kentucky governorPaul E. Patton unveiled the state slogan "It's that friendly",[154] in the hope of drawing more people into the state based on the idea ofsouthern hospitality. Though it was meant to embrace southern values, many Kentuckians rejected the slogan as cheesy and generic.[154] It was seen that the slogan did not encourage tourism as much as initially hoped for.
In 2004, then GovernorErnie Fletcher launched a comprehensivebranding campaign with the hope of making the state's $12–14million advertising budget more effective.[155] The resulting "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.[156] The Fletcher administration aggressively marketed the brand in both the public and private sectors. Since that time, the "Welcome to Kentucky" signs at border areas have an "Unbridled Spirit" symbol on them.
Horse Racing has long been associated with Kentucky.Churchill Downs, the home of the Derby, is a large venue with a capacity exceeding 165,000.[157] The track hosts multiple events throughout the year and is a significant draw to the city of Louisville.Keeneland Race Course, in Lexington, hosts two major meets, the Spring and Fall running. Beyond hosting races Keeneland also hosts a significant horse auction drawing buyers from around the world. In 2019 $360million was spent on the September Yearling sale.[158] TheKentucky Horse Park inGeorgetown hosts multiple events throughout the year, including international equestrian competitions and also offers horseback riding from April to October.[159]
Kentucky maintains eight public four-year universities. There are two general tiers: major research institutions (theUniversity of Kentucky and theUniversity of Louisville) and regional universities, which encompass the remaining six schools. The regional schools have specific target counties that many of their programs are targeted towards (such as Forestry atEastern Kentucky University or Cave Management atWestern Kentucky University), however, most of their curriculum varies little from any other public university.
The University of Kentucky (UK) and the University of Louisville (UofL) have the highest academic rankings and admissions standards although the regional schools are not without their national recognized departments – examples being Western Kentucky University's nationally ranked Journalism Department orMorehead State University offering one of the nation's only Space Science degrees. UK is the flagship and land grant of the system and has agriculture extension services in every county. The two research schools split duties related to the medical field, UK handles all medical outreach programs in the eastern half of the state while UofL does all medical outreach in the state's western half.
The state's sixteen public two-year colleges have been governed by theKentucky Community and Technical College System since the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, commonly referred to as House Bill 1.[160] Before the passage of House Bill 1, most of these colleges were under the control of theUniversity of Kentucky.
Berea College, located at the extreme southern edge of the Bluegrass below the Cumberland Plateau, was the first coeducational college in theSouth to admit both Black and white students, doing so from its very establishment in 1855.[161] A state law in 1904 ended integration, and the law was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the case ofBerea College v. Kentucky in 1908.The state law was repealed in 1950 and Berea resumed integration.[162]
There are 173 school districts and 1,233 public schools in Kentucky.[163] For the 2010 to 2011 school year, there were approximately 647,827 students enrolled in public school.[164]
Kentucky has been the site of much educational reform over the past two decades. In 1989 theKentucky Supreme Court ruled the state's education system was unconstitutional.[165] The response of theGeneral Assembly was passage of theKentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) the following year. Years later, Kentucky has shown progress, but most agree that further reform is needed.[166]
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 and parkways from 65 to 70 miles per hour (105 to 113 km/h).[170]
Norfolk Southern Railway passes through the Central and Southern parts of the Commonwealth, via its Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific (CNO&TP) subsidiary. The line originates inCincinnati and terminates 338 miles south inChattanooga, Tennessee.
As of 2004[update], there were approximately 2,640 miles (4,250 km) of railways in Kentucky, with about 65% of those being operated byCSX Transportation.Coal was by far the most common cargo, accounting for 76% of cargo loaded and 61% of cargo delivered.[171]
Bardstown features atourist attraction known asMy Old Kentucky Dinner Train. Run along a 20-mile (30 km) stretch of rail purchased fromCSX 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.[172] TheKentucky Railway Museum is located in nearbyNew Haven.[173]
Other areas in Kentucky are reclaiming old railways inrail trail projects. One such project is Louisville'sBig Four Bridge. When the bridge's Indiana approach ramps opened in 2014, completing the pedestrian connection across the Ohio River, the Big Four Bridgerail trail became the second-longest pedestrian-only bridge in the world.[174] The longest pedestrian-only bridge is also found in Kentucky – theNewport Southbank Bridge, popularly known as the "Purple People Bridge", connectingNewport toCincinnati, Ohio.[175]
On August 27, 2006, Blue Grass Airport was the site of a crash that killed 47 passengers and 2crew members aboard aBombardier CRJ designatedComair Flight 191, or Delta Air Lines Flight 5191, sometimes mistakenly identified by the press as Comair Flight 5191.[177] The lone survivor was the flight'sfirst officer, James Polehinke, who doctors determined to be brain damaged and unable to recall the crash at all.[178]
As the state is bounded by two of the largest rivers in North America, water transportation has historically played a major role in Kentucky's economy. Louisville was a major port for steamships in the nineteenth century. Today, 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 theOhio 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:
Kentucky is one of four U.S. states to officially use the termcommonwealth. The term was used for Kentucky as it had also been used by Virginia, from which Kentucky was created. The term has no particular significance in its meaning and was chosen to emphasize the distinction from the status of royal colonies as a place governed for the general welfare of the populace.[181] Kentucky was originally styled as the "State of Kentucky" in the act admitting it to the Union and its first constitution.[182]
The "Commonwealth" term was used in citizen petitions submitted between 1786 and 1792 for the creation of the state.[183] It was also used in the title of a history of the state that was published in 1834 and was used in various places within that book in references to Virginia and Kentucky.[184] The other three states officially called "commonwealths" areMassachusetts,Pennsylvania, andVirginia; the territories ofPuerto Rico and theNorthern Mariana Islands are also formally commonwealths.
Kentucky is one of only five states that elect their state officials in odd-numbered years (the others beingLouisiana,Mississippi,New Jersey, andVirginia). Kentucky holds elections for these offices every four years in the years preceding Presidential election years. Thus, Kentucky held gubernatorial elections in 2015, 2019 and 2023.
The executive branch is headed by thegovernor, who serves as bothhead of state andhead of government. Thelieutenant governor may or may not have executive authority depending on whether the person is a member of the Governor'scabinet. Under the currentKentucky Constitution, the lieutenant governor assumes the duties of the governor only if the governor is incapacitated. (Before 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. The current governor isAndy Beshear, and the lieutenant governor isJacqueline Coleman. Both areDemocrats.[185][186]
The executive branch is organized into the following "cabinets", each headed by a secretary who is also a member of the governor's cabinet:[187]
The cabinet system was introduced in 1972 by GovernorWendell Ford to consolidate hundreds of government entities that reported directly to the governor's office.[188]
The Kentucky Court of Justice is headed by theChief Justice of the Commonwealth. The chief justice is appointed by, and is an elected member of, the Supreme Court of Kentucky. The current chief justice isLaurance VanMeter.
Unlike federal judges, who are usually appointed, justices serving on Kentucky state courts are chosen by the state's populace in non-partisan elections.
Kentucky's body of laws, known as theKentucky Revised Statutes (KRS), were enacted in 1942 to better organize and clarify the whole of Kentucky law.[194] The statutes are enforced by localpolice,sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, andconstables and deputy constables. Unless they have completed apolice academy elsewhere, these officers are required to complete Police Officer Professional Standards (POPS) training at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training Center on the campus ofEastern Kentucky University inRichmond.[195] Additionally, in 1948, theKentucky General Assembly established theKentucky State Police, making it the 38th state to create a force whose jurisdiction extends throughout the given state.[196]
Kentucky is one of the32 states in the United States that sanctions thedeath penalty for certain murders defined as heinous. Those convicted of capital crimes after March 31, 1998, are always executed bylethal injection; those convicted on or before this date may opt for theelectric chair.[197] Onlythree people have been executed in Kentucky since theU.S. Supreme Court re-instituted the practice in 1976. The most notable execution in Kentucky was that ofRainey Bethea on August 14, 1936. Bethea was publicly hanged inOwensboro for therape and murder of Lischia Edwards.[198] Irregularities with the execution led to this becoming the last public execution in the United States.[199]
Treemap of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election
Since the late 1990s, Kentucky has supportedRepublican candidates for most federal political offices, and, more recently, for state-level office as well. The state leaned toward theDemocratic Party from 1860 through the 1990s, and was considered aswing state at the presidential level for most of the latter half of the 20th century.
The southeastern region of the state aligned with theUnion during the war and has consistently supported Republican candidates. The central and western portions of the state were heavily Democratic in the years leading to the Civil War, were pro-secessionist and pro-Confederate during the Civil War, and in the decades following the war. Kentucky was part of the DemocraticSolid South in the second half of the nineteenth century and through the majority of the twentieth century.
Mirroring a broader national reversal of party composition, the Kentucky Democratic Party of the twenty-first century primarily consists of liberal whites, African Americans, and other minorities. Although most of the state's voters have reliably elected Republican candidates for federal office since the late 1990s, Democrats held an advantage in party registration until 2022. On July 15, 2022, theKentucky Secretary of State's office announced that for the first time in its history, the commonwealth had more registeredRepublicans than registered Democrats, with 45.19% of the state's voters registered as Republicans, 45.12% registered as Democrats, and 9.69% registered withanother political party or as independents.[202]
From 1964 through 2004, Kentucky voted for the eventual winner of the election for President of the United States; however, in the2008 election the state lost itsbellwether status. RepublicanJohn McCain won Kentucky, but he lost the national popular and electoral vote to DemocratBarack Obama (McCain carried Kentucky 57% to 41%). 116 of Kentucky's 120 counties supported formerMassachusetts GovernorMitt Romney in the 2012 election while he lost to Barack Obama nationwide.[203][204]
Voters in the Commonwealth have supported the previous three Democratic candidates elected to the White House in the late 20th century, all from Southern states:Lyndon B. Johnson (Texas) in 1964,Jimmy Carter (Georgia) in 1976, andBill Clinton (Arkansas) in 1992 and 1996. In the twenty-first century presidential elections, the state has become a Republican stronghold, supporting that party's presidential candidates by double-digit margins from 2000 through 2020. At the same time, voters have continued to elect Democratic candidates to state and local offices in many jurisdictions.
Elliott County, Kentucky is notable for having held the longest streak of any county in the United States voting Democratic. Founded in 1869, Elliott County supported the Democratic nominee in every presidential election from1872 (the first in which it participated) until2012. In2016,Donald Trump became the first Republican to ever carry the county, and he did so in a 44-point landslide, highlighting the modern Republican Party's dominance among rural whites and many ancestrally Democratic, socially-conservative voters.
Kentucky is one of the mostanti-abortion states in the United States. A 2014 poll conducted byPew Research Center found that 57% of Kentucky's population thought thatabortion should be illegal in all/most cases, while only 36% thought that abortion should be legal in all/most cases.[205]
In a 2020 study, Kentucky was ranked as the 8th hardest state for citizens to vote in.[206]
Voter registration and party enrollment as of December 2024[207]
Nevertheless, during the 19th century, Kentucky did receive a substantial number of German immigrants, who settled mostly in the Midwest and parts of the Upper South, along the Ohio River primarily in Louisville, Covington and Newport.[209] Only Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia have higher German ancestry percentages than Kentucky among Census-defined Southern states, although Kentucky's percentage is closer to Arkansas and Virginia's than the previously named state's percentages.Scottish Americans,English Americans andScotch-Irish Americans have heavily influenced Kentucky culture, and are present in every part of the state.[210] As of the 1980s the only counties in the United States where more than half the population cited "English" as their only ancestry group were all in the hills of eastern Kentucky (and made up virtually every county in this region).[122]
Kentucky was aslave state, and Black people once composed over one-quarter of its population; however, it lacked thecotton plantation system though it did support significant and large scale tobaccoplantation systems in the western and central parts of the state more similar to the plantations developed in Virginia and North Carolina than those in the Deep South, and never had the same high percentage of African Americans as most other slave states. While less than 8% of the total population is Black, Kentucky has a relatively significant rural African American population in the Central and Western areas of the state.[211][212][213]
Old Louisville is the largest Victorian Historic neighborhood in the United States.
Kentucky commemoratesConfederate Memorial Day but added Juneteenth as a holiday by proclamation of Governor Andy Beshear in 2024. The biggest day in American horse racing, theKentucky Derby, is preceded by the two-weekDerby Festival[216] in Louisville. The Derby Festival features many events, including Thunder Over Louisville, the Pegasus Parade, the Great Steamboat Race, Fest-a-Ville, the Chow Wagon, BalloonFest, BourbonVille, and many others leading up to the big race.
The state is famous for quilts. TheNational Quilt Museum is in Paducah. It hosts QuiltWeek, an annual competition and celebration of that attracts artists and hobbyists from the world of quilting.[229]
The residents of tinyBenton pay tribute to their favorite tuber, thesweet potato, by hostingTater Day.[232] Residents ofClarkson inGrayson County celebrate their city's ties to the honey industry by celebrating the Clarkson Honeyfest.[233] The Clarkson Honeyfest is held the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in September, and is the "Official State Honey Festival of Kentucky".
Renfro Valley, Kentucky is home to Renfro Valley Entertainment Center and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and is known as "Kentucky's Country Music Capital", a designation given it by the Kentucky State Legislature in the late 1980s. The Renfro Valley Barn Dance was where Renfro Valley's musical heritage began, in 1939, and influential country music luminaries likeRed Foley,Homer & Jethro,Lily May Ledford &the OriginalCoon Creek Girls, Martha Carson and many others have performed as regular members of the shows there over the years. TheRenfro Valley Gatherin' is today America's second-oldest continually broadcast radio program of any kind. It is broadcast on local radio stationWRVK and a syndicated network of nearly 200 other stations across the United States and Canada every week.
Kentucky's cuisine is generally similar to and is a part of traditional southern cooking, although in some areas of the state it can blend elements of both the South and Appalachia, mixing Appalachian with the native Southern cuisine of the area.[238] One original Kentucky dish is called theHot Brown, a dish normally layered in this order: toasted bread, turkey, bacon, tomatoes and topped withmornay sauce. It was developed at theBrown Hotel inLouisville.[239] ThePendennis Club in Louisville is the birthplace of theOld Fashioned cocktail. Also, Western Kentucky is known for its own regional style of Southern barbecue. Central Kentucky is the birthplace ofBeer Cheese.
As in many states, especially those without major league professional sports teams, college athletics are prominent. This is especially true of the state's three DivisionIFootball Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs, including theKentucky Wildcats, theWestern Kentucky Hilltoppers, and theLouisville Cardinals. TheWildcats,Hilltoppers, andCardinals are among the most tradition-rich college men's basketball teams in the United States, combining for 11 National Championships and 24 NCAA Final Fours;[citation needed] all three are high on the lists of total all-time wins, wins per season, and average wins per season.[citation needed]
Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville was the primary location for training and rehab forWWE professional wrestlers from 2000 until 2008, when WWE moved its contracted talent to Florida Championship Wrestling. OVW later became the primary developmental territory forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2011 to 2013.
The distinction of being named aKentucky colonel is the highesttitle of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by theGovernor and theSecretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation. The sittinggovernor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky bestows the honor of a colonel'scommission, by issuance ofletters patent. Kentucky colonels are commissioned for life and act officially as the state'sgoodwill ambassadors.[246]
^abStrong, Marvin E. "Gene" Jr. (December 31, 2003)."Kentucky: In the Middle of Auto Alley". Trade and Industry Development.Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. RetrievedNovember 28, 2012.
^Nichols, John & Nyholm, Earl.Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, 1994.
^Patrick, Andrew P. (2017). "Birth of the Bluegrass: Ecological Transformations in Central Kentucky to 1810".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.115 (2):155–182.doi:10.1353/khs.2017.0049.S2CID133557743.
^Louis, Franquelin, Jean Baptiste. "Franquelin's map of Louisiana.". LOC.gov. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
^"Early Indian Migration in Ohio." GenealogyTrails.com. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
^Henderson, A. Gwynn (2018). "Dispelling the Myth: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Indian Life in Kentucky".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.90 (1):1–25.
^Cotterill, Robert S. (1917).History of Pioneer Kentucky. Cincinnati: Johnson & Hardin. pp. 36–37.
^Cotterill, Robert S. (1917).History of Pioneer Kentucky. Cincinnati: Johnson & Hardin. p. 30.
^Ranck, George W. (1872).History of Lexington Kentucky. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. p. 12.
^Henderson, A. Gwynn (2018). "Dispelling the Myth: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Indian Life in Kentucky".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.90 (1):6–7.
^Henderson, A. Gwynn (2018). "Dispelling the Myth: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Indian Life in Kentucky".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.90 (1): 17.
^Henderson, A. Gwynn (2018). "Dispelling the Myth: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Indian Life in Kentucky".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.90 (1):18–22.
^Henderson, A. Gwynn (2018). "Dispelling the Myth: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Indian Life in Kentucky".The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.90 (1):24–25.
^"South of the Ohio" was almost, but not quite, synonymous withKentucky country.
^The First Explorations of the Trans-Allegheny Region by the Virginians 1650–1674
^"The Presence".History of Native Americans in Central Kentucky. Mercer County Online. Archived fromthe original on December 12, 2006. RetrievedNovember 29, 2006.
^United States Supreme Court."Indiana v. Kentucky, 136 U.S. 479 (1890) KENTUCKY".LII / Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School. RetrievedAugust 17, 2024.The Court said that the question whether the land lay within the State of Kentucky or of Indiana...and reached the conclusion that the boundary between the states was at low water mark on the northwest side of the river.
^US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service."December 22, 2004 Snow Storm". weather.gov.Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. RetrievedJuly 16, 2018.
^US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service."Ice and Snow Storm of January 28–29, 2009". weather.gov.Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. RetrievedJuly 16, 2018.
^US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service."Flash Flood of August 4, 2009". weather.gov.Archived from the original on July 16, 2018. RetrievedJuly 16, 2018.
^Tennessee Valley Authority,The Kentucky Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Kentucky Project, Technical Report No. 13 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951), pp. 1–12, 68, 115–116, 509.
^Abernathy, Greg; White, Deborah; Laudermilk, Ellis L.; Evans, Marc (2010).Kentucky's Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 42–43.
^Kimmerer, Tom (2015).Venerable Trees: History, Biology, and Conservation in the Bluegrass. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 73.ISBN978-0-8131-6566-0.
^Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?',Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
^Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns',Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.
^Lieberson, Stanley &Waters, Mary C. (1986). "Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites".Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.487 (79):82–86.doi:10.1177/0002716286487001004.S2CID60711423.
^Miller, Mary Helen; Noland, Kevin; Schaaf, John (April 1990),A Guide to the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, Frankfort, Kentucky: Legislative Research Commission,OCLC21743013,S2CID151134069,ERICED327352
^"Railroad Service in Kentucky". Association of American Railroads. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on January 17, 2013. RetrievedMay 1, 2007. Also, Norfolk Southern's main north-south line runs through central and southern Kentucky, starting in Cincinnati. Formerly the CNO&TP subsidiary of Southern Railway, it is NS's most profitable line.
^"Organizational Charts".Kentucky Personnel. Kentucky Personnel Cabinet. Archived fromthe original on January 1, 2021. RetrievedDecember 23, 2020.
^Clinger, James C.; Hail, Michael W., eds. (October 8, 2013).Kentucky Government, Politics, and Public Policy. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 70.ISBN978-0-8131-4315-6.By 1972 Governor Wendell Ford found himself in a situation similar to that of GovernorChandler thirty-six years earlier. At this time the executive branch had grown to over 60 departments and agencies and 210 boards and commissions falling under the jurisdiction of the governor. Governor Ford issued a reorganization report creating six cabinet departments and a framework for an executive branch that would be more manageable and accountable. As of 2012, this has grown to eleven cabinet departments with three additional cabinet-rank members under the office of GovernorBeshear. Each cabinet agency is headed by a secretary who serves at the will of the governor.
^"Registration Statistics". Kentucky State Board of Elections. February 2023.Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. RetrievedJanuary 12, 2025.
^Brittingham, Angela; de la Cruz, G. Patricia (June 2004)."Ancestry 2000: Census 2000 Brief"(PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on September 20, 2004. RetrievedJune 28, 2007.
^Chicago Tribune (January 26, 1966)."Kentucky OK's Rights Bill; 1st in South".Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. RetrievedJuly 9, 2017.Kentucky yesterday became the first state south of theMason-Dixon line to adopt a civil rights measure. With only one dissenting vote, the state Senate approval a bill outlawing racial discrimination in public accommodations and employment that is stronger than the federal act of 1964. It sailed through the House 76 to 12 last week. A milder bill had failed to get out of committee in 1964... GovernorEdward T. Breathitt said he would sign the measure tomorrow at the base ofAbraham Lincoln's status in the capitol rotunda.
^"The Heart Line"(PDF). Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on September 26, 2006. RetrievedDecember 25, 2006.
^Linda Elisabeth LaPinta,Kentucky Quilts and Quiltmakers: Three Centuries of Creativity, Community, and Commerce (University Press of Kentucky, 2023)online review of this book.
^"HOME".Beer Cheese Festival. Archived fromthe original on October 19, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 5, 2019.
Kentucky State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Kentucky state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.
.png)
.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
