Geography of Kentucky
The Cumberland (or Appalachian) Plateau dominates the eastern third of Kentucky. It is a heavily forested area of hills and mountains, and contains the state’s highest point, Black Mt., at 4,139 feet.
The (North-central) Bluegrass region is a series of rolling hills and grasslands. It gets its colorful name from bluegrass, a common name for lawn and pasture grass in parts of the eastern United States.
Northwestern Kentucky is a rolling land bordered by the Ohio River. It is often referred to as the Western Coalfield due to the large coal deposits in the area.
The state’s southwestern corner includes the Mississippi River flood plain and the lowest elevations in the state. This area, purchased from the Chickasaw Indians in 1818, is called the Jackson Purchase, and is named for Andrew Jackson. Mammoth Cave (Central) area, the longest cave system in the world, with 365 miles explored to date. The “Land Between the Lakes” recreation area, bordered by Lake of the Lake and Kentucky Barkley, is a hilly, forested area of approximately 170,000 acres. The state’s waterways are dominated by the major Ohio River, forming its entire northern border, and by the Cumberland and Tennessee river systems and their many offshoot lakes.
Other notable rivers include the Green, Lick, Kentucky, and Mississippi.
- Allcitycodes: Provides map of area codes in Kentucky by county and city.
- Ask4beauty: Introduction to the state of Kentucky, addressing geography, history, politics, economy and population.
- Toppharmacyschools: Lists all educational institutes in Kentucky, including psychology, biological science, clinical psychology, computer science, economics, fine arts, etc.
Kentucky bend. covers a land area of 17.5 sq. miles. It was created due to a change in the course of the Mississippi River (it flowed backwards) after the New Madrid Earthquakes in 1811 and 1812.
Kentucky Famous Natives
A
John Adair leadership developer, author
David Akers footballer
Sean Alexander footballer
Muhammad Ali boxer
James Lane Allen author
Derek Anderson basketball player
Sherman Armstrong jockey, coach
Written by Harriett Simpson Arnow
B
Photographer Karen Ballard
Albin William Barkley Vice President of the United States
Judge Roy Bean, “law west of the Pecos”, “hangin’ judge”
Actor Ned Beatty
Adrian Belew musician
Wendell Berry author, poet
James Best actor
Stephen Bishop’s slave, Mammoth Cave explorer, tour guide
Written by Stephanie Bond
Nathan Boone tour guide, militia official, politician
James Bowie pioneer, soldier
Louis D. Brandeis Justice of the United States Supreme Court
John C. Breckinridge US Vice President
Leader Madeline McDowell Breckinridge women’s suffrage
Foster Brooks actor
John Mason Brown drama critic, author
John I. Brown Jr. politician
- Earl Brown actor
Written by William Wells Brown
Tod Browning actor, director, screenwriter
John Buford, Jr. Civil War Union Cavalry Officer
Laura Bell Bundy actress
Jim Banning baseball player, politician
Chris Burke baseball player
Magician Lance Burton
C
Kit Carson tour guide, soldier, frontiersman
Psychic Edgar Cayce
Written by Henry M. Caudilla
Jockey Steve Coten
Albert Benjamin “Lucky” Chandler politician, baseball commissioner
Ray Chapman baseball player
Rex Chapman basketball player
Stephen Curtis Chapman musician
Jerry Claiborne American football coach
Clark Champion Politician
Anna Mac Clark WAC, first black officer in command of the white unit
Cassius Marcellus Clay abolitionist, editor
Cassius Marselles Clay Jr. “Mohammed Ali” boxer, social activist
Henry Clay statesman (born in VA)
George Clooney actor
Nicholas Clooney television journalist
Singer Rosemary Clooney
Irwin S. Cobb author, humorist, columnist
Floyd Collins cave explorer (provocation and death widely reported)
Martha Lane Collins first female governor of Kentucky
Earl Combs baseball player
John Conley singer
William Conrad actor
John Sherman Cooper politician, ambassador
Tim Kucha football player
Dave Cowens basketball player, coach
Joe Crison journalist
J.D. Crowe singer, banjo player
William J. Crowe, Jr. US naval admiral, diplomat
Billy Ray Cyrus singer, songwriter
D
President Jefferson Davis unites the states into a confederation of America during the Civil War
Skeeter Davis singer
Actress Kassie DePaiva, singer
Actor Johnny Depp
Daughters of co-founder Mary Deshi of the American Revolution
Singer Jackie Deshannon
- A. Diddla college basketball coach
Actress Irene Dunn
Frank Duveneck artist
E-F
Bob Edwards radio host
Don Everly musician
Actress Farah Fat
John Fetterman journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
Larry Flynt publisher
Fontaine Fox cartoonist, illustrator
John Fox Jr. author
Heather French Miss America 2000
Joe Fulks basketball player
G
Tyson Gay, running medalist
Actress Rebecca Gayheart
Singer Crystal Gale
Singer Troy Lee Gentry
James Lamont “Shelter” Gillespie composer, lyricist
Written by Joey Goebel
Written by Sue Grafton
Darrell Griffith basketball player
David “DW” Griffith film producer
Robert H. Grubbs chemist, Nobel laureate
H
- Tom T. Hall singer, songwriter
- Evangelist Mordecai Ham
- Lionel Hampton musician
- Written by Elizabeth Hardwick
- Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan
- Larnell Harris singer, songwriter
- Nicky Hayden motorcycle racer
- Company of Duncan Hines founder Duncan Hines
- B. Holmes golfer
- Joseph Holt US Postmaster General Attorney General
- Telma Hopkins singer
- Paul Hornang footballer
- Silas House author
- Allan Houston basektball player
- Joshua Ryan Hutcherson actor
J
- Richard Mentor Johnson Vice President of the United States
- John “Casey” Jones railroad engineer (born in MO)
- Louis Marshall “Grandpa” Jones singer, banjo player
