Portal:Kentucky

The Kentucky Portal

Kentucky (US: /kənˈtʌki/ ^ⓘ, UK: /kɛn-/), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort and its most populous city is Louisville. As of 2024, the state's population was approximately 4.6 million.

Previously a part of Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792. It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference to Kentucky bluegrass, a species of grass introduced by European settlers, which has long supported the state's thoroughbred horse industry.

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 and North Carolina, which utilized slave labor prior to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Kentucky ranks fifth nationally in goat farming, eighth in beef cattle production, and fourteenth in corn production. 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. Kentucky ranks fourth among US states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. It is one of several states considered part of the Upland South. (Full article...)

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Clements in 1947

Earle Chester Clements (October 22, 1896 – March 12, 1985) was a Kentucky politician. He represented the Commonwealth of Kentucky in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and was its 47th governor, serving from 1947 to 1950, after serving in the state Senate. For 25 years, he was the leader of a faction of the state's Democratic Party that stood in opposition to the faction led by two-time governor and senator A. B. "Happy" Chandler.

After following his father into the local politics of his home county, Clements agreed to chair the gubernatorial campaign of Thomas Rhea in 1935. Already committed to Rhea, he turned down an offer from Happy Chandler to chair his campaign, beginning the rift between the two men. Clements was elected to the Kentucky Senate in 1941. In 1944, he was elected floor leader of its Democratic majority and successfully campaigned for a larger budget than that proposed by Republican governor Simeon Willis. His stand against Willis made him popular in the Democratic Party, and he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1944 and 1946. (Full article...)

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Lincoln in 1861

Mary Ann Lincoln (née Todd; December 13, 1818 – July 16, 1882) was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865.

Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy slave-owning family in Kentucky, although Mary never owned slaves and in her adulthood came to oppose slavery. Well educated, after finishing school in her late teens, she moved to Springfield, the capital of Illinois. She lived there with her married sister Elizabeth Todd Edwards, the wife of an Illinois congressman. Before she married Abraham Lincoln, Mary was courted by his long-time political opponent Stephen A. Douglas. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Kentucky-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Buell's Army arrives in Louisville September 25, 1862; a week later Buell led 60,000 troops to fight at the Battle of Perryville. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 2Artist's conception of Annis Mound and Village, a Mississippian site in Butler County, c. 1250–1300 CE (from History of Kentucky)
Image 3Biggs Site, also known as the Portsmouth Earthworks Group D, an Adena culture archaeological site located Greenup County (from History of Kentucky)
Image 4Old Louisville is the largest Victorian Historic neighborhood in the United States. (from Culture of Kentucky)
Image 5A column of M3 half-tracks and infantry awaiting orders during exercises at Fort Knox, June 1942 (from History of Kentucky)
Image 6Mississippian culture pottery from the Wickliffe Mounds site in western Kentucky, including a human effigy pot. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 7Map of the polity centered at the Angel Mounds site. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 8At 464 miles (747 km) long, Kentucky Route 80 is the longest route in Kentucky, pictured here west of Somerset. (from Transportation in Kentucky)
Image 9The Hatfield clan in 1897 (from History of Kentucky)
Image 10Map of Kentucky published in 1784 with John Filson's The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke (from History of Kentucky)
Image 11High Bridge over the Kentucky River was the tallest rail bridge in the world when it was completed in 1877. (from Transportation in Kentucky)
Image 12Strike supporters and militia soldiers outside the Newport steel mills, December 1921 (from History of Kentucky)
Image 13Map of the Iroquois expansion during the Beaver Wars, 1638–1711 (from History of Kentucky)
Image 14An 1800 Low's Encyclopaedia map of Kentucky and surrounding region did not include southwestern Kentucky and West Tennessee, which were held by the Chickasaw until 1818. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 15The Native American Crab Orchard culture existed in western Kentucky and southern Indiana from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 16This is an image of the Hot Brown from the Brown Hotel, where the dish was invented. (from Culture of Kentucky)
Image 17Students at a high school in Wheelwright, Kentucky, September 1946. In the center is George Fain, a World War II veteran completing his final year. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 18Battle of Point Pleasant (from History of Kentucky)
Image 19Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap by George Caleb Bingham (from History of Kentucky)
Image 20James Pierce Barton's Kentucky Landscape (1832) (from History of Kentucky)
Image 21Mount Horeb Site 1, an Adena culture causewayed ring ditch and timber circle located in Fayette County (from History of Kentucky)
Image 22A barge hauling coal in the Louisville and Portland Canal, the only manmade section of the Ohio River (from Transportation in Kentucky)

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... that Enoch Edgar Hume was presented as a candidate for election to the Kentucky House of Representatives without his knowledge?
... that a Kentucky TV station gained industry attention after it criticized the overuse of the term "breaking news"?
... that Spencer Cobb was a Kentucky senator for three and a half hours?
... that the 1935 Kentucky State Thorobreds won a black college football national championship with "Tarzan" playing quarterback?
... that country music singer Waylon Jennings earned his GED by watching tapes of a Kentucky Educational Television series on his tour bus?
... that John White shot himself after it was discovered that he had plagiarized a speech by Aaron Burr?

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Kentucky by county

Largest cities

See List of cities in Kentucky for a full list.

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