Kentucky

As of July 1, 2006, Kentucky has an estimated population of 4,206,074, which is an increase of 33,466, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 164,586, or 4.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 77,156 people (that is 287,222 births minus 210,066 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 59,604 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 27,435 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 32,169 people. As of 2004, Kentucky's population included about 95,000 foreign-born persons (2.3%). The population density of the state is 101.7 people per square mile.

Kentucky's total population has grown during every decade since records began. However, during most decades of the 20th century there was also net out-migration from Kentucky. Since 1900, rural Kentucky counties have experienced a net loss of over 1 million people from migration, while urban areas have experienced a slight net gain.

The center of population of Kentucky is located in Washington County, in the city of Willisburg.

Race and ancestry

The largest ancestries in the commonwealth are: English (30.6%), German (12.7%), Irish (10.5%), and African American (7.8%). In the state's most urban counties of Jefferson, Oldham, Fayette, Boone, Kenton, and Campbell, German is the largest reported ancestry. Americans of Scots-Irish and English stock are present throughout the entire state, and many claim Irish ancestry because of the term "Scots-Irish", but most of the time in Kentucky this term is used for those with Scottish roots, rather than Irish. Southeastern Kentucky was populated by a large group of Native Americans of mixed heritage, also known as Melungeons, in the early 19th century. Groups like the Ridgetop Shawnee were organizing the descendants of those early Native American settlers.

African Americans, who made up one-fourth of Kentucky's population prior to the Civil War, declined in number as many moved to the industrial North in the Great Migration. Today, the African American population of Jefferson County is 20%; 44.2% of Kentucky's African American population is in Jefferson County and 52% are in the Louisville Metro Area. Other areas with high concentrations, besides Christian and Fulton Counties, are the city of Paducah, the Bluegrass, and the city of Lexington. Many mining communities in far Southeastern Kentucky also have populations between five and 10 percent African American.

Religion

In 2000, The Association of Religion Data Archives reported that of Kentucky's 4,041,769 residents:

46.57% were not affiliated with any church

33.68% were members of evangelical Protestant churches

* Southern Baptist Convention (979,994 members, 24.25%)

* Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (106,638 members, 2.64%)

* Church of Christ (58,602 members, 1.45%)

10.05% were Roman Catholics

8.77% belonged to mainline Protestant churches

* United Methodist Church (208,720 members, 5.16%)

* Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (67,611 members, 1.67%)

0.05% were Orthodox Christians

0.88% were affiliated with other theologies.

Today Kentucky is home to several seminaries. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville is the principal seminary for the Southern Baptist Convention. Louisville is also the home of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Lexington has two seminaries, Lexington Theological Seminary, and the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. Asbury Theological Seminary is located in nearby Wilmore. In addition to seminaries, there are several colleges affiliated with denominations. Transylvania in Lexington is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. Pikeville College in Pikeville, Kentucky is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. In Louisville, Bellarmine and Spalding are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. In Owensboro, Kentucky, Kentucky Wesleyan College is associated with the Methodist Church and Brescia University is associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Wilmore is home to Asbury University (a separate institution from the seminary), which is associated with the Christian College Consortium. The University of the Cumberlands, located in Williamsburg, Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Georgetown College in Georgetown and Mid-Continent University in Mayfield all have connections with the Southern Baptist Convention. Louisville is also home to the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and their printing press. Louisville is also home to a sizable Muslim and Jewish population.

Economy

, is manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky.]] , is manufactured in Louisville, Kentucky.]]

Early in its history Kentucky gained recognition for its excellent farming conditions. It was the site of the first commercial winery in the United States (started in present day Jessamine 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 in beef cattle production, and 14th in corn production.

Today Kentucky's economy has expanded to importance in non agricultural terms as well, especially in auto manufacturing, energy fuel production, and medical facilities.As of 2010 24% of electricity produced in the USA depended on either enriched uranium rods coming from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (the only domestic site of low grade uranium enrichment), or from the 107,336 tons of coal extracted from the state's two coal fields (which combined produce 4% percent of the electricity in the United States). Kentucky ranks 4th among U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. The Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR (2004–2009), Ford Explorer, Ford Super Duty trucks, Ford Excursion (2000–2005), Toyota Camry, Toyota Avalon, Toyota Solara, and Toyota Venza are assembled in Kentucky.

The total gross state product for 2006 was US$146 billion, 27th in the nation. Its per-capita personal income was US$28,513, 43rd in the nation.

As of October 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 10%.

Taxation

There are six income tax brackets, ranging from 2% to 6% of personal income. The sales tax rate in Kentucky is 6%. Kentucky has a broadly based classified property tax system. All classes of property, unless exempted by the Constitution, are taxed by the state, although at widely varying rates. Many of these classes are exempted from taxation by local government. Of the classes that are subject to local taxation, three have special rates set by the General Assembly, one by the Kentucky Supreme Court and the remaining classes are subject to the full local rate, which includes the tax rate set by the local taxing bodies plus all voted levies. Real property is assessed on 100% 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.

Until January 1, 2006, Kentucky imposed a tax on intangible personal property held by a taxpayer on January 1 of each year. The Kentucky intangible tax was repealed under House Bill 272. Intangible property consisted of any property or investment which represents evidence of value or the right to value. Some types of intangible property included: bonds, notes, retail repurchase agreements, accounts receivable, trusts, enforceable contracts sale of real estate (land contracts), money in hand, money in safe deposit boxes, annuities, interests in estates, loans to stockholders, and commercial paper.

"Unbridled Spirit"

To boost Kentucky's image, give it a consistent reach, and help Kentucky "stand out from the crowd", former Governor Ernie Fletcher launched a comprehensive branding campaign with the hope of making its $12 – $14 million advertising budget more effective. The "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. The Fletcher administration aggressively marketed the brand in both the public and private sectors. The "Welcome to Kentucky" signs at border areas have Unbridled Spirit's symbol on them.

The previous campaign was neither a failure nor a success. Kentucky's "It's that friendly" slogan hoped to draw more people into the state based on the idea of southern hospitality. Though it was meant to embrace southern values, most Kentuckians rejected it as cheesy and ineffective. It was quickly seen that it was also not an image that encouraged tourism as much as initially hoped for. Therefore it was necessary to reconfigure a slogan to embrace Kentucky as a whole while also encouraging more people to visit the Bluegrass.

Transportation

: Main article: Transportation in Kentucky.

Roads

is the longest route in Kentucky, pictured here west of Somerset.]] design, introduced in 2005.]] Kentucky is served by five major interstate highways (I-75, I-71, I-64, I-65, I-24), nine parkways, and three bypasses and spurs. The parkways were originally toll roads, but on November 22, 2006, Governor Ernie Fletcher ended the toll charges on the William H. Natcher Parkway and the Audubon Parkway, the last two parkways in Kentucky to charge tolls for access. The related toll booths have been demolished.

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 from .

Greyhound provides bus service to most major towns in the state.

Rails

over the Kentucky River was the tallest rail bridge in the world when it was completed in 1877.]]

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Ashland, South Portsmouth Maysville, Kentucky and Fulton, Kentucky. The Cardinal (trains 50 and 51) is the line that offers Amtrak service to Ashland, South Shore, Maysville and South Portsmouth. The City of New Orleans (trains 58 and 59) serve Fulton. The Northern Kentucky area is served by the Cardinal at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. The Museum Center is just across the Ohio River in Cincinnati.

As of 2004, there were approximately of railways in Kentucky, with about 65% of those being operated by CSX Transportation. Coal was by far the most common cargo, accounting for 76% of cargo loaded and 61% of cargo delivered.

Bardstown features a tourist attraction known as My Old Kentucky Dinner Train. Run along a stretch of rail purchased from CSX 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. The Kentucky Railway Museum is located in nearby New Haven.

Other areas in Kentucky are reclaiming old railways in rail trail projects. One such project is Louisville's Big Four Bridge. If completed, the Big Four Bridge rail trail will contain the second longest pedestrian-only bridge in the world. The longest pedestrian-only bridge is also found in Kentucky—the Newport Southbank Bridge, popularly known as the "Purple People Bridge", connecting Newport to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Air

Kentucky's primary airports include Louisville International Airport (Standiford Field), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), and Blue Grass Airport in Lexington. Louisville International Airport is home to UPS's Worldport, its international air-sorting hub. There are also a number of regional airports scattered across the state.

On August 27, 2006, Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport in Lexington was the site of a crash that killed 47 passengers and 2 crew members aboard a Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet designated Comair Flight 191, or Delta Air Lines Flight 5191, sometimes mistakenly identified by the press as Comair Flight 5191. The lone survivor was the flight's first officer, James Polehinke, who doctors determined to be brain damaged and unable to recall the crash at all.

Water

, the only manmade section of the Ohio River]] Being bounded by two of the largest rivers in North America, water transportation has historically played a major role in Kentucky's economy. 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 the Ohio 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:

Huntington/Tri-State (includes Ashland, KY), largest inland port and 7th largest overall

Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky, 5th largest inland port and 43rd overall

Louisville-Southern Indiana, 7th largest inland port and 55th overall

As a state, Kentucky ranks 10th overall in port tonnage.

The only natural obstacle along the entire length of the Ohio River was the Falls of the Ohio, located just west of Downtown Louisville.

Subdivisions and settlements

Counties

Kentucky is subdivided into 120 counties, the largest being Pike County at , and the most populous being Jefferson County (which coincides with the Louisville Metro governmental area) with 741,096 residents as of 2010.

County government, under the Kentucky Constitution of 1891, is vested in the County Judge/Executive), (formerly called the County Judge) who serves as the executive head of the county, and a legislature called a Fiscal Court. Despite the unusual name, the Fiscal Court no longer has judicial functions.

Consolidated city-county governments

Kentucky's two most populous counties, Jefferson and Fayette, have their governments consolidated with the governments of their largest cities. Louisville-Jefferson County Government (Louisville Metro) and Lexington-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 single chief executive, the Metro 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. Somewhat incongruously, when entering Lexington-Fayette the highway signs read "Fayette County" while most signs leading into Louisville-Jefferson simply read "Welcome to Louisville Metro."

Cities and towns

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+ ! Rank ! City ! 2010 Pop ! 2000 Pop ! Δ Pop |- | align=center|1 | Louisville | align=right|566,503 | align=right|551,299 | align=right| |- | align=center|2 | Lexington | align=right|295,803 | align=right|260,512 | align=right| |- | align=center|3 | Bowling Green | align=right|58,067 | align=right|49,296 | align=right| |- | align=center|4 | Owensboro | align=right|57,265 | align=right|54,067 | align=right| |- | align=center|5 | Covington | align=right|40,640 | align=right|43,370 | align=right| |- | align=center|6 | Hopkinsville | align=right|31,577 | align=right|30,089 | align=right| |- | align=center|7 | Richmond | align=right|31,364 | align=right|27,152 | align=right| |- | align=center|8 | Florence | align=right|29,951 | align=right|23,551 | align=right| |- | align=center|9 | Georgetown | align=right|29,098 | align=right|18,080 | align=right| |- |align=center|10 | Henderson | align=right|28,757 | align=right|27,373 | align=right| |- | align=center|11 | Elizabethtown | align=right|28,531 | align=right|22,542 | align=right| |- | align=center|12 | Nicholasville | align=right|28,015 | align=right|19,680 | align=right| |- | align=center|13 | Jeffersontown | align=right|26,595 | align=right|26,442 | align=right| |- | align=center|14 | Frankfort | align=right|25,527 | align=right|27,741 | align=right| |- | align=center|15 | Paducah | align=right|25,024 | align=right|26,442 | align=right| |- |}

The Louisville Metro government area has a 2010 population of 741,096. Under United States Census Bureau methodology, the population of Louisville was 566,503. 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 2010, the Louisville Combined Statistical Area (CSA) has a population of 1,451,564; including 1,061,031 in Kentucky, which is nearly one-fourth of the state's population. 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.

The second largest city is Lexington with a 2010 census population of 295,803 and its CSA, which includes the Frankfort and Richmond statistical areas, having a population of 687,173. The Northern Kentucky area (the seven Kentucky counties in the Cincinnati MSA) had a population of 425,483 in 2010. The metropolitan areas of Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky have a combined population of 2,173,687 as of 2010, which is 50.1% of the state's total population.

The two other fast growing urban areas in Kentucky are the Bowling Green area and the "Tri Cities Region" of southeastern Kentucky, comprising Somerset, London and Corbin.

Although only one town in the "Tri Cities", namely Somerset, currently has more than 10,000 people, the area has been experiencing 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 also landed a Wal-Mart distribution center in 1997, bringing thousands of jobs to the community.

In northeast Kentucky, the greater Ashland area is an important transportation, manufacturing, and medical center. Iron and petroleum production, as well as the transport of coal by rail and barge, 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. The population of the area has since stabilized, however, with the medical service industry taking a greater role in the local economy. The Ashland area, including the counties of Boyd and Greenup, are part of the Huntington-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) reside within the city limits of Ashland.

The largest county in Kentucky by area is Pike, which contains Pikeville, home of Hillbilly Days. It also contains the small towns of Elkhorn City, Cedarville and Coal Run Village. Pike County contains slightly over 65,000 people.

Only three U.S. states have capitals with smaller populations than Kentucky's Frankfort (pop. 25,527), those being Augusta, Maine (pop. 18,560), Pierre, South Dakota (pop. 13,876), and Montpelier, Vermont (pop. 8,035).

Education

is Kentucky's flagship university]]

is Kentucky's urban research university]]

Kentucky maintains eight public four-year universities. There are two general tiers: major research institutions (the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville) and regional universities, which encompasses the remaining 6 schools. The regional schools have specific target counties that many of their programs are targeted towards (such as Forestry at Eastern Kentucky University or Cave Management at Western Kentucky University), however most of their curriculum varies little from any other public university. "UK" and "U of L" have the highest academic rankings and admissions standards although the regional schools aren't without their national recognized departments - examples being Western Kentucky University's nationally ranked Journalism Department or Morehead State 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 "U of L" does all medical outreach in the state's western half.

The state's sixteen public two-year colleges have been governed by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System since the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, commonly referred to as House Bill 1. Prior to the passage of House Bill 1, most of these colleges were under the control of the University of Kentucky.

Transylvania University, located in Lexington, is the oldest university west of the Allegheny Mountains, founded in 1780. Transylvania is a liberal arts university, consistently ranked in the top tier in the country.

Berea College, located at the extreme southern edge of the Bluegrass below the Cumberland Plateau, was the first coeducational college in the South to admit both black and white students, doing so from its very establishment in 1855. This policy was successfully challenged in the United States Supreme Court in the case of Berea College v. Kentucky in 1908. This decision effectively segregated Berea until the landmark Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

Kentucky has been the site of much educational reform over the past two decades. In 1989, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the state's education system was unconstitutional. The response of the General Assembly was passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) the following year. Years later, Kentucky has shown progress, but most agree that further reform is needed.

Culture

is the largest Victorian Historic neighborhood in the United States.]]

Although Kentucky's culture is generally considered to be Southern, it is unique in that it is also influenced by the Midwest and Southern Appalachia in certain areas of the state. The state is known for bourbon and whiskey distilling, tobacco, horse racing, and college basketball. Kentucky is more similar to the Upland South in terms of ancestry which is predominantly American. Nevertheless, during the 19th century, Kentucky did receive a substantial number of German immigrants, who settled mostly in the Midwest, along the Ohio River primarily in Louisville, Covington and Newport. 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 and Scotch-Irish Americans have heavily influenced Kentucky culture, and are present in every part of the state. Kentucky was a slave state, and blacks once comprised over one-quarter of its population. However, it lacked the cotton plantation system and never had the same high percentage of African Americans as most other slave states. With less than 8% of its current population being black, Kentucky is rarely included in modern-day definitions of the Black Belt, despite a relatively significant rural African American population in the Central and Western areas of the state. Kentucky adopted the Jim Crow system of racial segregation in most public spheres after the Civil War, but the state never disenfranchised African American citizens to the level of the Deep South states, and it peacefully integrated its schools after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education verdict, later adopting the first state civil rights act in the South in 1966.

The biggest day in horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, is preceded by the two-week Derby Festival in Louisville. Louisville also plays host to the Kentucky State Fair, the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, and Southern gospel's annual highlight, the National Quartet Convention. Bowling Green, the state's third-largest city and home to the only assembly plant in the world that manufactures the Chevrolet Corvette, opened the National Corvette Museum in 1994. The fourth-largest city, Owensboro, gives credence to its nickname of "Barbecue Capital of the World" by hosting the annual International Bar-B-Q Festival.

Old Louisville, the largest historic preservation district in the United States featuring Victorian architecture and the third largest overall, hosts the St. James Court Art Show, the largest outdoor art show in the United States. The neighborhood was also home to the Southern Exposition (1883–1887), which featured the first public display of Thomas Edison's light bulb, and was the setting of Alice Hegan Rice's novel, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and Fontaine Fox's comic strip, the "Toonerville Trolley.

The more rural communities are not without traditions of their own, however. Hodgenville, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, hosts the annual Lincoln Days Celebration, and will also host the kick-off for the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in February 2008. Bardstown celebrates its heritage as a major bourbon-producing region with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. (Legend holds that Baptist minister Elijah Craig invented bourbon with his black slave in Georgetown, but some dispute this claim.) Glasgow mimics Glasgow, Scotland by hosting the Glasgow Highland Games, its own version of the Highland Games, and Sturgis hosts "Little Sturgis", a mini version of Sturgis, South Dakota's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The residents of tiny Benton even pay tribute to their favorite tuber, the sweet potato, by hosting Tater Day. Residents of Clarkson in Grayson County celebrate their city's ties to the honey industry by celebrating the Clarkson Honeyfest. The Clarkson Honeyfest is held the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in September, and is the "Official State Honey Festival of Kentucky."

Music

The breadth of music in Kentucky is indeed wide, stretching from the Purchase to the eastern mountains.

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 like Red Foley, Homer & Jethro, Lily May Ledford & the Original Coon Creek Girls, Martha Carson, and many others have performed as regular members of the shows there over the years. The Renfro Valley Gatherin' is today America's second oldest continually broadcast radio program of any kind. It is broadcast on local radio station WRVK and a syndicated network of nearly 200 other stations across the United States and Canada every week.

Contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman is a Paducah native, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers are closely connected with Muhlenberg County, where older brother Don was born. Kentucky was also home to Mildred and Patty Hill, the Louisville sisters credited with composing the tune to the ditty Happy Birthday to You in 1893; Loretta Lynn (Johnson County), and Billy Ray Cyrus (Flatwoods). However, its depth lies in its signature sound—Bluegrass music. Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass", was born in the small Ohio County town of Rosine, while Ricky Skaggs, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, Keith Whitley, David "Stringbean" Akeman, Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, Sonny and Bobby Osborne, and Sam Bush (who has been compared to Monroe) all hail from Kentucky. The International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in Owensboro, while the annual Festival of the Bluegrass is held in Lexington.

Kentucky is also home to famed jazz musician and pioneer, Lionel Hampton (although this has been disputed in recent years). Blues legend W.C. Handy and R&B; singer Wilson Pickett also spent considerable time in Kentucky. The R&B; group Midnight Star and Hip-Hop group Nappy Roots were both formed in Kentucky, as were country acts The Kentucky Headhunters, Montgomery Gentry and Halfway to Hazard, The Judds, as well as Dove Award-winning Christian groups Audio Adrenaline (rock) and Bride (metal). Heavy Rock band Black Stone Cherry hails from rural Edmonton, Indie rock band My Morning Jacket with lead singer and guitarist Jim James also originated out of Louisville, on the local independent music Scene. Rock band Cage the Elephant is also from Bowling Green. The bluegrass groups Driftwood and Kentucky Rain, along with Nick Lachey of the pop band 98 Degrees are also from Kentucky. Pop singer Nicole Scherzinger has lived in Kentucky.

In eastern Kentucky, old-time music carries on the tradition of ancient ballads and reels developed in historical Appalachia.

Cuisine

Kentucky's cuisine is generally similar to traditional southern cooking, although in some areas of the state it can blend elements of both the South and Midwest. One original Kentucky dish is called the Hot Brown, a dish normally layered in this order: toasted bread, turkey, bacon, tomatoes and topped with mornay sauce. It was developed at the Brown Hotel in Louisville. The Pendennis Club in Louisville is the birthplace of the Old Fashioned cocktail. Also, western Kentucky is known for its own regional style of barbecue.

Harland Sanders originated Kentucky Fried Chicken at his service station in North Corbin, though the first franchised KFC was located in South Salt Lake, Utah.

Sports

hosts the Kentucky Derby.]] Kentucky is the home of several sports teams such as Minor League Baseball's Class A Lexington Legends and AAA Louisville Bats. They are also home to the Frontier Leagues Florence Freedom and several teams in the MCFL. The Lexington Horsemen and Louisville Fire of the af2 appear to be interested in making a move up to the "major league" Arena Football League. The northern part of the state lies across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, which is home to a National Football League team, the Bengals, and a Major League Baseball team, the Reds. It is not uncommon for fans to park in the city of Newport and use the Newport Southbank Pedestrian Bridge, locally known as the "Purple People Bridge," to walk to these games in Cincinnati. Also, Georgetown College in Georgetown is the location for the Bengals' summer training camp.

As in many states, especially those without major league professional sport teams, college athletics are very important. This is especially true of the state's three Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs, including the Kentucky Wildcats, the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers, and the Louisville Cardinals. The Wildcats, Hilltoppers, and Cardinals are among the most tradition-rich college basketball teams in the United States, combining for nine championships and 22 NCAA Final Fours; and all three are on the lists of total all-time wins, wins per season, and average wins per season. The Kentucky Wildcats are particularly notable, leading all Division I programs in all time wins, win percentage, NCAA tournament appearances, and being second only to UCLA in NCAA championships. Louisville has also stepped onto the football scene in recent years, with eight straight bowl games, including the 2007 Orange Bowl. Western Kentucky, the 2002 national champion in Division I-AA football (now Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), completed its transition to Division I FBS football in 2009.

Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville was the primary location for training and rehab for WWE professional wrestlers from 2000 until February 2008, when WWE ended its relationship with OVW and moved all of its contracted talent to Florida Championship Wrestling.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will also have a race at the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, an hour away from Louisville. The race will be called the Quaker State 400. The NASCAR Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series also race there.

State symbols

Official state places and events

State arboretum: Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

State botanical garden: The Arboretum: State Botanical Garden of Kentucky

State Science Center: Louisville Science Center

State center for celebration of African American heritage: Kentucky Center for African American Heritage

State honey festival: Clarkson Honeyfest

State amphitheater: Iroquois Amphitheater (Louisville)

State tug-o-war championship: The Fordsville Tug-of-War Championship

Covered Bridge Capital of Kentucky: Fleming County

Official Covered Bridge of Kentucky: Switzer Covered Bridge (Franklin County)

Official steam locomotive of Kentucky: "Old 152" (located in the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven)

Official pipe band: Louisville Pipe Band

State bourbon festival: Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Inc., in Bardstown, Kentucky

Unless otherwise specified, all state symbol information is taken from Kentucky State Symbols.

Gallery

See also

Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky

References

Bibliography

Politics

Miller, Penny M. Kentucky Politics & Government: Do We Stand United? (1994)

Jewell, Malcolm E. and Everett W. Cunningham, Kentucky Politics (1968)

History

Surveys and reference

Bodley, Temple and Samuel M. Wilson. History of Kentucky 4 vols. (1928).

Caudill, Harry M., Night Comes to the Cumberlands (1963). ISBN 0-316-13212-8

Channing, Steven. Kentucky: A Bicentennial History (1977).

Clark, Thomas Dionysius. A History of Kentucky (many editions, 1937–1992).

Collins, Lewis. History of Kentucky (1880).

Harrison, Lowell H. and James C. Klotter. A New History of Kentucky (1997).

Kleber, John E. et al. The Kentucky Encyclopedia (1992), standard reference history.

Klotter, James C. Our Kentucky: A Study of the Bluegrass State (2000), high school text

Lucas, Marion Brunson and Wright, George C. A History of Blacks in Kentucky 2 vols. (1992).

Notable Kentucky African Americans http://www.uky.edu/Subject/aakyall.html

Share, Allen J. Cities in the Commonwealth: Two Centuries of Urban Life in Kentucky (1982).

Wallis, Frederick A. and Hambleton Tapp. A Sesqui-Centennial History of Kentucky 4 vols. (1945).

Ward, William S., A Literary History of Kentucky (1988) (ISBN 0-87049-578-X).

WPA, Kentucky: A Guide to the Bluegrass State (1939), classic guide.

Specialized scholarly studies

Bakeless, John. Daniel Boone, Master of the Wilderness (1989)

Blakey, George T. Hard Times and New Deal in Kentucky, 1929–1939 (1986)

Coulter, E. Merton. The Civil War and Readjustment in Kentucky (1926)

Davis, Alice. "Heroes: Kentucky's Artists from Statehood to the New Millennium" (2004)

Ellis, William E. The Kentucky River (2000).

Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone (1993)

Fenton, John H. Politics in the Border States: A Study of the Patterns of Political Organization, and Political Change, Common to the Border States: Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri (1957)

Ireland, Robert M. The County in Kentucky History (1976)

Klotter, James C. Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900–1950 (1992)

Pearce, John Ed. Divide and Dissent: Kentucky Politics, 1930–1963 (1987)

Remini, Robert V. Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (1991).

Sonne, Niels Henry. Liberal Kentucky, 1780–1828 (1939)

Tapp, Hambleton and James C Klotter. Kentucky Decades of Discord, 1865–1900 (1977)

Townsend, William H. Lincoln and the Bluegrass: Slavery and Civil War in Kentucky (1955)

Waldrep, Christopher Night Riders: Defending Community in the Black Patch, 1890–1915 (1993) tobacco wars

External links

Kentucky.gov: My New Kentucky Home

Kentucky State and County Government Websites

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.

Kentucky Department of Tourism

The Kentucky Highlands Project

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Kentucky

Energy & Environmental Data for Kentucky

Kentucky State Facts

Kentucky: Unbridled Spirit

Kentucky Virtual Library

"Science In Your Backyard: Kentucky" U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey, July 3, 2006, retrieved November 4, 2006

U.S. Census Bureau Kentucky QuickFacts

Category:States of the United States Category:States of the Southern United States Category:States and territories established in 1792