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72-718: Wickliffe Mounds ( 15 BA 4 ) is a prehistoric, Mississippian culture archaeological site located in Ballard County, Kentucky , just outside the town of Wickliffe , about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Archaeological investigations have linked the site with others along the Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky as part of the Angel phase of Mississippian culture. Wickliffe Mounds

144-584: A Mississippian culture took root in western and central Kentucky and a Fort 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

216-618: A "Kincaid focus" archeological set, due to similarities in pottery assemblages and site plans. Most striking are the comparisons between the Kincaid and Angel sites, which include analogous site plans, stylistic similarities in artifacts, and geographic proximity. These connections have led some experts to hypothesize that the builders and residents were of the same society. Rare painted and incised sherds of Mississippian culture pottery have been found at all four sites, ranging from less than one percent near Kincaid to about three or four percent of

288-4403: A block code (A-K) within each county, with sequential numbers for each block. Hawaii uses a four-part identifier, "50" for the state, a two-digit code for the island, then a two-digit code to designate the USGS topographical quad, plus a four digit sequential site number for sites on each island. NN: One or two digit number, 1 though 16, identifying rectangles (15 ' USGS maps) in a quadrangle map. AA: Alamance (AM)  · Alexander (AX)  · Alleghany (AL)  · Anson (AN)  · Ashe (AH)  · Avery (Av)  · Beaufort (BF)  · Bertie (BR)  · Bladen (BL)  · Brunswick (BW)  · Buncombe (BN)  · Burke (BK)  · Cabarrus (CA)  · Caldwell (CW)  · Camden (CM)  · Carteret (CR)  · Caswell (CS)  · Catawba (CT)  · Chatham (CH)  · Cherokee (CE)  · Chowan (CO)  · Clay (CY)  · Cleveland (CL)  · Columbus (CB)  · Craven (CV)  · Cumberland (CD)  · Currituck (CK)  · Dare (DR)  · Davidson (DV)  · Davie (DE)  · Duplin (DP)  · Durham (DH)  · Edgecombe (ED)  · Forsyth (FY)  · Franklin (FK)  · Gaston (GS)  · Gates (GA)  · Graham (GH)  · Granville (GV)  · Greene (GR)  · Guilford (GF)  · Halifax (HX)  · Harnett (HT)  · Haywood (HW)  · Henderson (HN)  · Hertford (HF)  · Hoke (HK)  · Hyde (HY)  · Iredell (ID)  · Jackson (JK)  · Johnston (JT)  · Jones (JN)  · Lee (LE)  · Lenoir (LR)  · Lincoln (LN)  · Macon (MA)  · Madison (MD)  · Martin (MT)  · McDowell (MC)  · Mecklenburg (MK)  · Mitchell (ML)  · Montgomery (MG)  · Moore (MR)  · Nash (NS)  · New Hanover (NH)  · Northampton (NP)  · Onslow (ON)  · Orange (OR)  · Pamlico (PM)  · Pasquotank (PK)  · Pender (PD)  · Perquimans (PQ)  · Person (PR)  · Pitt (PT)  · Polk (PL)  · Randolph (RD)  · Richmond (RH)  · Robeson (RB)  · Rockingham (RK)  · Rowan (RW)  · Rutherford (RF)  · Sampson (SP)  · Scotland (SC)  · Stanly (ST)  · Stokes (SK)  · Surry (SR)  · Swain (SW)  · Transylvania (TV)  · Tyrrell (TY)  · Union (UN)  · Vance (VN)  · Wake (WA)  · Warren (WR)  · Washington (WH)  · Watauga (WT)  · Wayne (WY)  · Wilkes (WK)  · Wilson (WL)  · Yadkin (YD)  · Yancey (YC) AA: Abbeville (AB) · Aiken (AK) · Allendale (AL) · Anderson (AN) · Bamberg (BA) · Barnwell (BR) · Beaufort (BU) · Berkeley (BK) · Calhoun (CL) · Charleston (CH) · Cherokee (CK) · Chester (CS) · Chesterfield (CT) · Clarendon (CR) · Colleton (CN) · Darlington (DA) · Dillon (DN) · Dorchester (DR) · Edgefield (ED) · Fairfield (FA) · Florence (FL) · Georgetown (GE) · Greenville (GV) · Greenwood (GN) · Hampton (HA) · Horry (HR) · Jasper (JA) · Kershaw (KE) · Lancaster (LA) · Laurens (LU) · Lee (LE) · Lexington (LX) · Marion (MA) · Marlboro (ML) · McCormick (MC) · Newberry (NB) · Oconee (OC) · Orangeburg (OR) · Pickens (PK) · Richland (RD) · Saluda (SA) · Spartanburg (SP) · Sumter (SU) · Union (UN) · Williamsburg (WG) · York (YK) Kentucky Kentucky ( US : / k ə n ˈ t ʌ k i / , UK : / k ɛ n -/ ), officially

360-425: A fairer English translation "The Land of Those Who Became Our Fathers". In any case, the word aki means "land" in most Algonquian languages. The first archaeological evidence of human occupation of Kentucky is approximately 9500BCE, 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,

432-740: A major slave market and departure port for slaves being transported down the Ohio River. Kentucky was a heavily divided slave state during the American 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 Southern border states during the war, and it remained neutral within the Union . Despite this, representatives from 68 of 110 counties met at Russellville calling themselves

504-495: A military veteran from Virginia, was elected its first Governor. The central Bluegrass region and the western portion of the state were the areas with the most slave owners . Planters cultivated tobacco and hemp on plantations with the use of slave labor, and were noted for their quality livestock . During the 19th century, Kentucky slaveholders began to sell unneeded slaves to the Deep South , with Louisville becoming

576-475: A monthly stipend until both of their deaths. The hospital continued to operate the site as a tourism business until 1983 the year Mrs. King died. That year the hospital donated the site to Murray State University , to be used for research and training students. In 1984 the site's historic importance was recognized and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places . In 2004, the site became

648-466: A mound that was residential. The Architecture Building has been removed and the excavation filled. This mound was built up over 200 years. Until 2016, visitors could look into the layers of this mound. It showed the evidence which archeologists used to identify this as a residential area, such as the layers of charred materials from cooking fires and the postholes for the poles that held the wattle and daub siding. The Cemetery Building formerly covered

720-686: A period known as the Beaver Wars (1640–1680), another Algonquian tribe called the Maumee , or Mascouten was chased out of southern Michigan. The vast majority of them moved to Kentucky, pushing the Kispoko east and war broke out with the Tutelo of North Carolina and Virginia that pushed them further north and east. The Maumee were closely related to the Miami from Indiana. Later, the Kispoko merged with

792-407: A quadrangle, a sequential number within the rectangle, and a code identifying the agency issuing the sequential number. California uses a three-letter abbreviation for counties. Connecticut and Rhode Island do not use any sub-state codes, with site identifiers consisting of the state abbreviation and a sequential number series for the whole state. Delaware uses a single letter code for counties and adds

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864-600: A record 29,006 birds taken during the 23-day season in spring 2009. 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. Kentucky is subdivided into 120 counties , the largest being Pike County at 787.6 square miles (2,040 km ), and the most populous being Jefferson County (which coincides with

936-491: A refusal to sell their crops to the major tobacco companies. An Association meeting occurred in downtown Guthrie , 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 as Hopkinsville to Princeton . In the later period of their operation, they were known to physically assault farmers who broke

1008-543: A space or dash between parts of the identifier, i.e., "nn AA nnnn" or "nn-AA-nnnn". Some states use variations of the trinomial system. Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont use two-letter abbreviations of the state name instead of the Smithsonian number. Alaska uses three-letter abbreviations for USGS map quadrangles in place of the county code. Arizona uses a five-part identifier based on USGS maps, specifying quadrangles, then rectangles within

1080-406: Is believed to have once been a lush open woodland environment similar to oak savanna with abundant thickets of river cane , a species of bamboo , was once described by E. Lucy Braun as having the most "anomalous" plant life of the whole Eastern United States. Kentucky's natural environment has suffered greatly from destructive human activities that began after European colonization, particularly

1152-474: Is controlled by the State Parks Service, which operates a museum at the site for interpretation of the ancient community. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places , it is also a Kentucky Archeological Landmark and State Historic Site. The town at Wickliffe Mounds is located on a bluff above the Ohio River, and was both a ceremonial and administrative center of an important chiefdom in

1224-835: Is divided into eastern, central and western sub-regions, the latter known as the Pennyrile); the Western Coal Field ; and the far-western Jackson Purchase , the northernmost extension of the Mississippian Embayment, west and south of the Tennessee River. The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass encircling 90 miles (140 km) around Lexington , and the Outer Bluegrass that contains most of

1296-472: Is included in the boundaries of Fulton County . Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River (populated by 18 people as of 2010 ) requires traveling through Tennessee. The epicenter of the 1811–12 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

1368-790: The Big Sandy River and Tug Fork to the east. Its major internal rivers include the Kentucky River , Tennessee River , Cumberland River , Green River , and Licking River . Though it has only three major natural lakes, Kentucky is home to many artificial 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 4,008,000 acre-feet (4.9  billion cubic meters ) of flood storage are

1440-588: The Colony of Virginia , whose geographical extent was south of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers beyond the Appalachian Mountains , became known to European Americans as Kentucky (or Kentucke) country . It was named for the Kentucky River , a tributary of the Ohio. The precise etymology of the name is uncertain. One theory sees the word based on an Iroquoian name meaning "(on) the meadow" or "(on)

1512-657: 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 2020,

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1584-651: The Gulf of Mexico . As in most other Mississippian chiefdoms , the community of Wickliffe had a social hierarchy ruled by a hereditary chief . The site was inhabited between 1000 CE and 1350 CE. When Wickliffe began to be abandoned around 1300, the population had been slowly relocating to the Twin Mounds Site , several miles to the northeast near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers . Amateur and semi-professional excavations first began in

1656-820: The Revolutionary War . The county was subdivided into Jefferson , Lincoln and Fayette 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 the Confederation Congress for separation from Virginia and statehood . Ten constitutional conventions were held in Danville between 1784 and 1792. One petition, which had Virginia's assent, came before

1728-669: The Shawnee , 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." According to early Kentucky historians, early European settlers encountered extensive evidence of permanent, advanced settlements, including numerous burial mounds, copper and stone artifacts , and what early historians describe as "fortifications:" large sites consisting of extensive walls enclosing

1800-661: The "Convention of the People of Kentucky" and passed an Ordinance of Secession on November 20, 1861. They established a Confederate government of Kentucky with its capital in Bowling Green , and Kentucky was officially admitted into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, as the 13th Confederate state with full recognition in Richmond. The Confederate shadow government was never popularly elected statewide, though 116 delegates were sent representing 68 Kentucky counties which at

1872-480: The 11th State Historical Site of Kentucky and entered the control of the Kentucky State Parks . In addition to the freestanding Mound A, the major ceremonial mound, the museum park encloses three excavated mounds with archaeological features, to aid in their interpretation for visitors. It displays the outstanding collection of pottery and artifacts excavated on site. A mural with a birds-eye view of

1944-552: 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 term New South in 1874, urging transformation from an agrarian economy to a modern industrial one. On January 30, 1900, Governor William Goebel , flanked by two bodyguards,

2016-601: The Articles of Confederation" only, but not "under the Constitution", and so declined to take action. On December 18, 1789, Virginia again gave its consent to Kentucky statehood. The United States Congress gave its approval on February 4, 1791. (This occurred two weeks before Congress approved Vermont 's petition for statehood. ) Kentucky officially became the fifteenth state in the Union on June 1, 1792. Isaac Shelby ,

2088-546: The Confederation Congress in early July 1788. Unfortunately, its consideration came up a day after word of New Hampshire 's all-important ninth ratification of the proposed Constitution , 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

2160-514: 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 as Kentucky country

2232-549: The Mississippian culture. At its peak it had a population probably reaching into the hundreds. The site is dominated by two large platform mounds , with at least eight smaller mounds scattered around a central plaza area. Agriculture was based on the cultivation of maize as a staple, which was stored and supported denser populations and stratification of society. The Mississippian culture peoples had trade with societies as far away as North Carolina , Wisconsin , and

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2304-407: The Mississippian village on the bluff shows how the entire complex would have looked. Ceremonial Mound is the largest of the mounds and was the location of ceremonial structures. This would have been political and religious center of the community. Originally excavated in 1932 and later in 1984–85, it has been determined that there are six phases of development. The Architecture Building covered

2376-470: The North Carolina border (today Tennessee) extending to the Mississippi River, previously most of what was known as Kentucky (or Kentucke) country , was split off into its own county of Kentucky . Harrod's Town (Oldtown as it was known at the time) was named the county seat. A 1790 U.S. government report states that 1,500   Kentucky settlers had been killed by Native Americans since the end of

2448-446: 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. European explorers arrived in Kentucky possibly as early as 1671. While French explorers surely spied Kentucky during expeditions on

2520-414: 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. Kentucky has a non-contiguous part known as Kentucky Bend , at the far west corner of the state. It exists as an exclave surrounded completely by Missouri and Tennessee , and

2592-596: The Wickliffe site including the cemetery, Mound C. The excavations were done under the direction of Walter B, Jones, Alabama State Geologist, and David L. DeJarnette who was the crew chief. The first publicity flyer about the excavations was co-authored by TMN Lewis and Fain King and the first two separate journal articles about the excavations (Wisconsin Archaeologist and Tenn. Academy of Science) by each author said

2664-555: The area used as the community's burial ground. Native American practices prohibit the display of the dead. The original remains were reinterred and artificial skeletons were placed to show the original burials. The exterior of the excavation has curtains with traditional designs to cover those remains that could not be removed. The burials are from the 13th century. They included many infants, as well as people with identifiable medical problems, including arthritis , tuberculosis (TB) and various injuries. All excavations have been filled and

2736-428: The assemblage at Wickliffe. Some common pottery styles found in these sites include: Angel Negative Painted, Kincaid Negative Painted, and Matthews Incised. This pottery is shell-tempered and ranges from the smoothed surface and coarser temper of Mississippi Ware to the more polished surface and finer temper of Bell Ware. Smithsonian trinomial Most states use trinomials of the form "nnAAnnnn", but some specify

2808-590: The bluegrass heartland of Kentucky. While the Cherokee did not settle in Kentucky, they hunted there. They relinquished their hunting rights there in an extra-legal private contract with speculator Richard Henderson called Treaty of Sycamore Shoals in 1775. On December 31, 1776, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly , the portion of Fincastle County west of the Big Sandy River (including today's Tug Fork tributary) terminating at

2880-662: The boycott. Governor Augustus E. Willson declared martial law and deployed the Kentucky National Guard to end the wars. Kentucky is situated in the Upland South . A significant portion of eastern Kentucky is part of Appalachia . Kentucky borders seven states, from the Midwest and the Southeast . West Virginia lies to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to

2952-470: The conversion of natural habitat to farmland and coal mining . Kentucky has an expansive park system, which includes one national park, two National Recreation Areas, two National Historic Parks, two national forests , two National Wildlife Refuges, 45 state parks , 37,896 acres (153 km ) of state forest, and 82 wildlife management areas . Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in United States history. In

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3024-548: 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 to disperse further from the sphere of European influence. 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

3096-506: The far north as an average annual temperature and of 60 °F (16 °C) in the extreme southwest. 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);

3168-530: The flat tops of bluffs, cliffs or mountains, constructed from stone that was quarried in the surrounding valleys and brought up to the summit. These sites and artifacts were sometimes explained as being the remnants of a "lost" white race, or some variously identified ethnic group predating and distinct from the Native Americans. More recent scholarship identifies the mound builders as the Mississippian and Fort Ancient peoples, which were distinct from

3240-474: The freezing point vary from about sixty days in the southwest to more than a hundred days in the far-north and far-east. Kentucky has the second-most navigable miles of water among U.S. states, second to Alaska . Kentucky is the only state to have a continuous border of rivers running along three of its sides – the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and

3312-511: The indigenous cultures encountered by settlers, although sharing the same origin in Paleoindian groups that inhabited the area for at least 12,000 years. Beginning in the seventeenth century, before indigenous groups in Kentucky made direct contact with Europeans, articles of European origin such as glass beads entered the region via trade routes , and the appearance of mass graves suggests that European diseases were also introduced. By

3384-617: The interior can no longer be viewed. The Lifeways Building is the excavation of an early village/residential portion of the community. The early homes were replaced by an elongated mound. The excavation shows the arrangement of earlier structures, including numerous infant burials. In the lower Ohio River valley in Illinois , Kentucky, and Indiana, the Mississippian-culture towns of Kincaid , Wickliffe, Tolu , and Angel Mounds have been more closely grouped together into

3456-440: The interior of the state. French explorers in the 17th century documented numerous tribes living in Kentucky until the Beaver 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. The Chickasaw had territory up to the confluence of Mississippi and Ohio rivers. During

3528-622: The location of fields to maintain plots of land in various stages of ecological succession . In about the 10th century, the Kentucky native people's variety of corn became highly productive, supplanting the Eastern Agricultural Complex and replacing it with maize-based agriculture in the Mississippian era . As of the 16th century, what became Kentucky was home to tribes from diverse linguistic groups. The Kispoko , an Algonquian-speaking tribe, controlled much of

3600-457: 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

3672-489: The most of any lake in the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Kentucky's 90,000 miles (140,000 km) of streams provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation. Kentucky hosts multiple habitats with a high number of endemic species, including some of the most extensive cave systems in the world. 102 known species are endemic to the state. The Bluegrass region, which

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3744-620: The northern portion of the state, above the Knobs . Much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills sub-region, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills. The alluvial plain of the Ohio River is another geological region, as is the area south and east of Pine Mountain, part of the Ridge and Valley Belt of Appalachia. Most of Kentucky has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa ), with small Appalachian highland areas of

3816-822: The number of automobiles and trucks assembled. It is one of several states considered part of the Upland South . The state is home to the world's longest known cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park , the greatest length of navigable waterways and streams in the contiguous United States , and the nation's two largest artificial lakes east of the Mississippi River . Cultural aspects of Kentucky include horse racing , bourbon , moonshine , coal mining , My Old Kentucky Home State Park , automobile manufacturing, tobacco, Southern cuisine , barbecue , bluegrass music , college basketball , Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and Kentucky Fried Chicken . Prior to 1769, Botetourt County and successor counties in

3888-443: The prairie" (cf. Mohawk kenhtà:ke , Seneca gëdá'geh ( phonemic /kɛ̃taʔkɛh/ ), "at the field"). Another theory suggests a derivation from the term Kenta Aki , which could have come from an Algonquian language , in particular from Shawnee . 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

3960-548: The site around 1913 and continued sporadically for several decades. In 1932, Fain W. King, a lumberman, amateur archaeologist, and Indian artifact collector from Paducah, Kentucky , who was a member of the Board of Regents of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa requested and privately paid for the Alabama Museum archaeology staff to conduct the excavations of the center portions of three mounds (A, B, and C) at

4032-741: 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. Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Plateau in the east, which is wholly underlain by coal and constitutes the Eastern Coal Field; the north-central Bluegrass region , where the major cities and the capital are located; the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau (a Mississippian-age plateau that

4104-410: The southeast of the state having an oceanic climate ( Cfb ). 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. Kentucky has four distinct seasons, with substantial variations in the severity of summer and winter. The state's highest recorded temperature

4176-563: 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

4248-681: The state led to the development of large tobacco plantations similar to those in Virginia and North Carolina , which utilized enslaved 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

4320-413: The state's population was approximately 4.5 million. Previously 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

4392-492: 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 than Covington 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

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4464-571: 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

4536-675: The war due to the Southern Unionists sympathies of a majority of the Commonwealth's citizens who were split between the struggle of Kentucky's sister Southern States fully in the Confederate 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 observe Confederate Memorial Day on Confederate leader Jefferson Davis ' birthday, June 3, and participate in Confederate battle re-enactments. Both Davis and U.S. president Abraham Lincoln were born in Kentucky. John C. Breckinridge ,

4608-483: The west, Illinois to the northwest, and Indiana and Ohio 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 the Ohio River and its western border by the Mississippi 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 on U.S. 41 from Henderson, after crossing

4680-493: The winter of 1997, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources began to re-stock elk in the state's eastern counties, which had been extirpated from the area for over 150 years. As of 2009 , the herd had reached the project goal of 10,000 animals, making it the largest herd east of the Mississippi River . The state stocked wild turkeys in the 1950s, after reportedly having fewer than 900. Once nearly extinct, wild turkeys thrive throughout Kentucky. Hunters reported

4752-416: The work was undertaken as both a scientific and educational enterprise through which the public was enabled to examine a page of unwritten history. To defray the cost of operating the site a one dollar admission was charged for the one hour guided tour during the King era. In cooperation with his wife, Blanche Busey King, he opened the site for tourists under the name "Ancient Buried City". The Kings' venture

4824-463: Was 114 °F (46 °C) in Greensburg on July 28, 1930, while its lowest recorded temperature was −37 °F (−38 °C) in Shelbyville on January 19, 1994 . The state seldom experiences the extreme cold of far northern states or the high heat of the states in the Deep 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

4896-405: 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

4968-430: Was highly controversial because they used sensational and misleading advertising, altered the site to make it more visually appealing, and made dubious and exaggerated interpretations of the site. These actions put them directly in opposition to professional archaeologists who studied the site and did not want it disturbed. The Kings deeded the site to the Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah in 1946, that agreed to pay them

5040-439: Was indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel's assassination . Goebel is the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office. The Black Patch Tobacco Wars , a vigilante action, occurred in Western Kentucky in the early 20th century. As a result of the tobacco 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

5112-528: Was larger than the state of Kentucky today, encompassing most of today's West Virginia and (vaguely) part of southwestern Pennsylvania. Notable expeditions were Batts and Fallam 1671, Needham and Arthur 1673. Dr. Thomas Walker and surveyor Christopher Gist surveyed the area now known as Kentucky in 1750 and 1751. As more settlers entered the area, warfare broke out with the Native Americans over their traditional hunting grounds. June 16, 1774, James Harrod founded Harrod's Town (modern Harrodsburg). The settlement

5184-684: Was mortally wounded by an assassin while walking to the State Capitol in downtown Frankfort. Goebel was contesting the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899 , which William 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 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in May in favor of Beckham. After fleeing to Indiana , Taylor

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