Fun Facts About Western KY

Western Kentucky is more than just a place to run around barefoot and date your cousin (just joking).  There are some great events, as well as fun and interesting facts about this area as well.

Listed below are only a few of the fun and interesting facts about Western Kentucky.  Feel free to submit more by contacting us.

1. There are 200 miles of trails in Land Between the Lakes.
2. There are 4,000 miles of shoreline with Kentucky and Barkley Lakes combined.
3. The cost of building the KY Dam in 1938-1944 was $118.5 million.
4. $10.72 billion was spent on tourism to Kentucky Lake in 2007.
5. The average distance traveled, one way, to get to Kentucky Lake is 291 miles.
6. Kentucky Lake can hold 1.3 trillion gallons of water.
7. The average number of visitors per year to Kentucky Lake is 2 million.
8. It took 5,000 men to build Kentucky Lake.
9. Residents of Benton, Kentucky, celebrate the sweet potato at the annual Tater Day Festival, which dates back to the early 1840s.
10. Before it took on it's current name, Murray, KY was known as Williston, Pooltown, and Pleasant Springs.
11. Shape-note singers gather annually at Benton on the fourth Sunday in May to sing from a tunebook called The Southern Harmony.
12. Big Singing Day, in Benton KY, was organized in 1884 and is considered by many to be the oldest indigenous musical tradition in the United States.
13. Western KY is known as the Jackson Purchase because Andrew Jackson authorized the negotiation of a land purchase from the Chickasaw Indians in the 1800s.
14. Wingo-area historical tornado activity is above Kentucky state average. It is 132% greater than the overall U.S. average.
15. In the War of 1812 more than half of all Americans killed in action were Kentuckians.
16. Vice President Alben W. Barkley was born in Graves County, KY.
17. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the key Civil War political figures of the Union and the Confederacy, were both born in Kentucky less than one hundred miles apart and within nine months of each other.
18. The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray in 1892.
19. There is only one Amtrak stop in KY, which is in Fulton KY at about 2AM.
20. When Lincoln was elected President he received no votes in Mayfield, which was deep in pro confederate territory.
21. The name Kentucky comes from the Cherokee word "Ken-tah-teh", which might mean "lands where we will live" or "meadowland".
22. The Irvin Cobb Hotel was named after Irvin S. Cobb (born in Paducah).  He was a journalist/humorist/short story writer who authored more than 60 books and 300 short stories.
23. The feature film, "In Country", starring Bruce Willis, was based on a novel written by Bobbie Ann Mason, born in Mayfield, KY.
24. Steven Curtis Chapman, contemporary christian musician and advocate for adoption and many charities was born in Paducah.
25. Johnny Depp, actor and musician known for his portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters such as Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series was born in Owensboro.
26. Kevin Skinner, American country music singer who was the winner of the fourth season of America’s Got Talent was born in Mayfield.
27. Kentucky has more miles of running water than any other state except Alaska.