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Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state located in the east south-central region of the United States. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth (the others being Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts). Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States.

• Nickname(s): Bluegrass State
• Motto(s): United we stand, divided we fall; Deo gratiam habeamus (Let us be grateful to God)
• tree: tulip poplar (1994) flower: goldenrod bird: Kentucky cardinal
• song: “My Old Kentucky Home”
• Official language: English Demonym: Kentuckian
• Capital: Frankfort Largest city: Louisville
• Area: Ranked 37th  - Total 40,409 sq mi (104,659 km2)
• Before statehood: part of Virginia. Admission to Union: June 1, 1792 (15th)

Etymology

In 1776, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County, named for the Kentucky River. The precise etymology of the name is uncertain, but likely based on an Iroquoian name meaning "(on) the meadow" or "(on) the prairie" (cf. Mohawk kenhtà:ke, Seneca gëdá’geh (phonemic /kẽtaʔkeh/), "at the field").

Please do not add profiles to the Kentucky project. Add them to the appropriate sub-project.

notes

From infoplease

Kentucky was the first region west of the Allegheny Mountains to be settled by American pioneers. James Harrod established the first permanent settlement at Harrodsburg in 1774; the following year Daniel Boone, who had explored the area in 1767, blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap and founded Boonesboro. (See the Boonesborough Pioneers Project).

Politically, the Kentucky region was originally part of Virginia, but statehood was gained in 1792. Gen. Anthony Wayne's victory in 1794 at Fallen Timbers in Ohio marked the end of Native American resistance in the area and secured the Kentucky frontier.

As a slaveholding state with a considerable abolitionist population, Kentucky was caught in the middle during the Civil War, supplying both Union and Confederate forces with thousands of troops.

• please see the Geni projects:
  • The Torn States during the US Civil War
  • Kentucky in the US Civil War - Union
  • Kentucky in the US Civil War - Confederate

Kentucky prides itself on producing some of the nation's best tobacco, horses, and whiskey. Corn, soybeans, wheat, fruit, hogs, cattle, and dairy products are among the agricultural items produced.

Among the manufactured items produced in the state are motor vehicles, furniture, aluminum ware, brooms, apparel, lumber products, machinery, textiles, and iron and steel products. Kentucky also produces significant amounts of petroleum, natural gas, fluorspar, clay, and stone. However, coal accounts for 85% of the total mineral income.

Government

Please add Geni profiles to the appropriate projects listed in this section, and feel free to make new projects as need be.

• Kentucky Governors
• United States Senators from Kentucky
• United States House of Representatives from Kentucky
• Kentucky General Assembly

Resources: Kentucky Legislative Branch, Kentucky Executive Branch, Kentucky Judicial Branch

Places

Louisville is famous for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and the Bluegrass country around Lexington is the home of some of the world's finest race horses. Other attractions are Mammoth Cave, the George S. Patton, Jr., Military Museum at Fort Knox, and Old Fort Harrod State Park.

regions

Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions:

• the Cumberland Plateau in the east,
• the north-central Bluegrass region,
• the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau (also known as the Pennyrile or Mississippi Plateau),
• the Western Coal Fields and
• the far-west Jackson Purchase.

Resource: "Regions of Kentucky" Prezi presentation

counties

From List of counties in Kentucky

There are one hundred and twenty counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties; depending on definitions, this is either third or fourth among U.S. states.

The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat and back in a single day, as well as being able to travel from one county seat to the next in the same fashion.

Resource: The Formation of Kentucky Counties & Courthouse Disasters; History of County Formations in Kentucky 1776-1939

In Geni, we will list the counties in projects for the regions in which they are geographically associated.

populated places

Please index projects on the region or county page, and add them as "related" projects

• see the portal: Kentucky counties, cities and towns
• Hopkins County, Kentucky

People

please add Geni profiles to related projects, and index the projects below.

• Jews of Kentucky
• Kentucky Pioneers
• Kentucky Migration - from St. Mary's County to Nelson County
• Kentucky Women Remembered
• Moonshiners and Bootleggers
• Native American Tribes - Kentucky
• Notable Kentuckians
• Hangings in Kentucky
• Lynchings in Kentucky

resources

The best way to understand ancestors is to understand their geographical residence. This project provides information to facilitate such purpose.

• Wikipedia
• An Introduction to the Bluegrass state
• Wikipedia - History of Kentucky
• The Kentucky Encyclopedia
• Kentucky Digital Library
• Notable Kentucky African Americans Database University of Kentucky
• KYGENWEB Project (Online Kentucky Genealogy Resources
• Kentucky Vital Statistics Records
• SURFKY
• Webster County KYGenWeb 'Webster County was formed in 1860 from Henderson Hopkins, and Union Counties. Other neighbors are Crittenden County, Caldwell County and McLean County'
• Webster County Kentucky Obituaries
• Wheatcroft Cowans Of Western Kentucky
• Accsss Genealogy