Portal:Kentucky
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The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States, normally included in the group of Southern states, but sometimes included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states established as a commonwealth. Originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th largest state in terms of land area, and ranks 26th in population.
Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State," a nickname based on the fact that bluegrass is present in many of the lawns and pastures throughout the state. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources, including the world's longest cave system, the most miles of navigable waterways and streams in the Lower 48, the two largest man made lakes east of the Mississippi River, the highest per capita number of deer, turkey, and elk in the US, and the most productive coalfield in the US. Kentucky is also known for thoroughbred horses, horse racing, bourbon distilleries, bluegrass music, automobile manufacturing (including the best selling car, truck, and SUV in the US market), and college basketball.
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. When the first pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet (322 m), a status it maintained until 1883. Today, many pedestrians use the bridge to get between the arenas in Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium, Great American Ball Park, and U.S. Bank Arena) and the hotels and parking lots in Northern Kentucky.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1983. It remains the busiest of Cincinnati's four non-expressway automobile or pedestrian bridges. Initially called the "Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge," it was renamed in honor of its designer and builder on June 27, 1983.
The state of Kentucky closed the bridge on November 13, 2006 to make extensive repairs to the structure. It was scheduled to reopen April 22, 2007, but reopened about a month ahead of schedule in late March. However, it will close again for much of 2008 for repainting.
Did you know...
- ...that Confederate brigadier general James Morrison Hawes studied advanced military tactics at the Cavalry School of Saumur, France?
- ...that one of the largest slave escape attempts in American history occurred in Kentucky in August 1848?
- ...that the Commonwealth of Kentucky had a Confederate shadow government during the U.S. Civil War, although it never officially seceded from the Union?
- ...that the Cumberland Gap Tunnel between Kentucky and Tennessee replaced a stretch of road that had been called "Massacre Mountain" because of the number of motorists killed there?
- ...that The Battle of Blue Licks, on August 19, 1782 was the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War?
- ...that for a long period of time after the Civil War, Kentucky was governed by former Confederates and Confederate sympathizers (the so-called Bourbon Democrats), despite the state being at first neutral, then declaratively Union during the war?
- ...that Diamond Lake Resort in Owensboro sold on eBay for $1.2 million?
- ...that Paducah is the only major city in Kentucky named after a Indian and has more markers interpreting historic sites than any other Kentucky city?
- June 13, 2007: Area code 364 will begin serving western Kentucky October 1, 2008. Learn more...
- June 8, 2007: A new Visitor Center is being built for Mammoth Cave National Park, Learn more...
- June 6, 2007: Trout levels are threatened as drought affects the Cumberland River. Learn more...
- June 5, 2007: A hand grenade was found in a Bullitt County pond. Learn more...
- May 22, 2007: Democrat Steve Beshear will face Republican governor Ernie Fletcher for the 2007 Kentucky governor's race. Learn more...
- May 17, 2007: An E.coli threat has caused Kentucky to do a product recall of 129,000 pounds of beef products. Learn more...
- May 17, 2007: A glitch in an automated phone system may have cost Republican primary candidate Anne Northup precious votes. Learn more...
Ernest Lee (Ernie) Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) has served as governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.
In 1994, Fletcher was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 78th District. He served one term, until legislative redistricting forced him and another Republican, State Representative Stan Cave, into the same district. He then ran for Kentucky's 6th District seat in the United States House of Representatives. He was badly defeated in November 1996 by incumbent Democrat Scotty Baesler, but ran again in 1998, beating Democratic State Senator Ernesto Scorsone. In 2000, he faced Baesler again, and this time Fletcher won by an 18-point margin. He was reelected in 2002 without major-party opposition.
“I was brought up to believe that Scotch whisky would need a tax preference to survive in competition with Kentucky bourbon.” -- Hugo Black
“Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they're from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin'. And if we have an opinion, you know you're gonna hear it.” -- Ashley Judd
- Beverage: Milk
- Bird: Cardinal
- Butterfly: Viceroy Butterfly
- Dance: Clogging
- Fish: Kentucky Spotted Bass
- Flower: Goldenrod
- Fossil: Brachiopod
- Fruit: Blackberry
- Grass: Kentucky Bluegrass
- Horse: Thoroughbred
- Instrument: Appalachian Dulcimer
- Mineral: Coal
- Tree: Tulip Poplar
- Wild Animal Game Species: Gray Squirrel
More State Symbols...
- Join WikiProject Kentucky
- Create an article about a place on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky, especially those that are National Historic Landmarks in Kentucky.
