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 colonial 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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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Etching of Jereboam O. Beauchamp

Jereboam Orville Beauchamp (/dʒɛrəˈboʊ.əm ˈɔːrvɪl ˈbiːtʃəm/; September 6, 1802 – July 7, 1826) was an American lawyer who murdered the Kentucky legislator Solomon P. Sharp; the crime is known as the Beauchamp–Sharp Tragedy. In 1821, Sharp had been accused in Bowling Green, Kentucky, by Anna Cooke of fathering her illegitimate child; it was stillborn. Sharp denied paternity, and public opinion favored him. In 1824, Beauchamp married Cooke, who was seventeen years his senior. She asked him to kill Sharp to defend her honor.

When Sharp campaigned in 1825 for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives, opponents revived the story of his alleged illegitimate child by Cooke. They distributed campaign literature claiming the child was mulatto. Enraged, Beauchamp renewed his intention to avenge his wife's honor. In the early morning of November 7, 1825, he tricked Sharp into opening the door of his home in Frankfort, and fatally stabbed him. (Full article...)

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Lexington skyline

Lexington is a consolidated city coterminous with Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous city in Kentucky (after Louisville), the 14th-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 59th-most populous city in the United States. By area, it is the country's 33rd-largest city.

Lexington is known as the "Horse Capital of the World" due to the hundreds of horse farms in the region, as well as the Kentucky Horse Park, The Red Mile and Keeneland race courses. It is within the state's Bluegrass region. Notable locations within the city include venues Rupp Arena and Central Bank Center, colleges and universities such as the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Headquarters. (Full article...)

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General images -

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

Image 1An 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 2Mount Horeb Site 1, an Adena culture causewayed ring ditch and timber circle located in Fayette County (from History of Kentucky)
Image 3James Pierce Barton's Kentucky Landscape (1832) (from History of Kentucky)
Image 4Mississippian culture pottery from the Wickliffe Mounds site in western Kentucky, including a human effigy pot. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 5Map of the polity centered at the Angel Mounds site. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 6Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap by George Caleb Bingham (from History of Kentucky)
Image 7Old Louisville is the largest Victorian Historic neighborhood in the United States. (from Culture of Kentucky)
Image 8Battle of Point Pleasant (from History of Kentucky)
Image 9Artist's conception of Annis Mound and Village, a Mississippian site in Butler County, c. 1250–1300 CE (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 11The Native American Crab Orchard culture existed in western Kentucky and southern Indiana from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE. (from History of Kentucky)
Image 12At 464 miles (747 km) long, Kentucky Route 80 is the longest route in Kentucky, pictured here west of Somerset. (from Transportation in Kentucky)
Image 13High Bridge over the Kentucky River was the tallest rail bridge in the world when it was completed in 1877. (from Transportation in Kentucky)
Image 14A barge hauling coal in the Louisville and Portland Canal, the only manmade section of the Ohio River (from Transportation in Kentucky)
Image 15Biggs Site, also known as the Portsmouth Earthworks Group D, an Adena culture archaeological site located Greenup County (from History of Kentucky)

Did you know -

... that John White shot himself after it was discovered that he had plagiarized a speech by Aaron Burr?
... that Joseph Bosworth was the last Republican speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives until the election of Jeff Hoover in 2017?
... that a British steam locomotive sat at a logistics center in Kentucky for more than a decade?
... that Holy Cross Church in Kentucky was built on land donated by the namesake of a brand of whiskey?
... 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?

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Kentucky by county

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