TIP #250 - GETTING TO KNOW KENTUCKY Many of you do not live in the beautiful state of Kentucky and I'm sure you sometimes wonder what Kentucky is like. What drew the early settlers here? I know that many readers have the same stereotyped picture as I did years ago - that of Kentucky being an area of barefooted, corncob smoking "hillbillies" with runny nosed, ragged dress children running up the hills and hollers. So, I'd like to give you some information about our state so you will have a better idea of how your Kentucky family lived. Kentucky is considered to be located in the south-central part of the United States and is also known as one of the West South Central states. It is bounded on the north by Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; on the east by West Virginia and Virginia; on the south by Tennessee and on the west by Missouri. The state contains 40,395 square miles of which 745 square miles are inland rivers. The capitol is Frankfort; the largest city is Louisville; it has 120 counties. It was the 15th state admitted to the union on 1 June 1792. The state bird is the cardinal; the goldenrod is the state flower; the tulip poplar the state tree and the Kentucky bass the state fish. State colors are blue and gold and it is nicknamed the Bluegrass State. The motto is "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." The State flag is the state seal in the center of a blue field; the state song, "My Old Kentucky Home." At its longest point, Kentucky is 182 miles long; at it's widest, 425 miles. Black Mountain is 4,145 feet; an area along the Mississippi River is the lowest at 257 feet. The main reservoirs include Barkley, Barren River, Cumberland, Green River, Herrington, Kentucky, Nolin, Rough River. The chief rivers are Barren, Big Sandy, Cumberland, Dix, Green, Kentucky, Licking, Mississippi, Nolin, Ohio, Rockcastle, Rolling Fork, Rough, Salt, Tennessee and Tradewater. The average temperatures run from 33 degrees in January to 77 in July at Louisville. (Hmmm .... seems hotter and colder than that!). Average rainrall in spring is 43 inches; average snowfall 18 inches at Louisville. Kentucky was, of course, once a part of Virginia. The Cumberland (Appalachian) Plateau is the highest along the eastern part of Kentucky. The border between Kentucky and Virginia is considered the "roughest". Coals fields are numerous in the eastern portion. West of the mountains is a low-lying plateau region called the Interior Low Plateaus. The eastern part of this is the Bluegrass Region which covers 1/5th of the total area of the state - named thusly because of the bluish-green color of the grasses which grow here. This area is devoted to grazing and farming. The central part of the Interior Low Plateau is called the Inner Bluegrass Region where many of the state's horse-breeding and tobacco farms are located. A narrow crescent surrounds the Bluegrass Region on the west, south and east known as the Knobs Region ... conical and dome-shaped hills know by locals as "knobs". These knobs separate the Bluegrass Region from the next region of the Interior Low Plateaus called the Pennyroyal Plateau. The Pennyroyal is a crescent shaped area occupying the central portion of the state, extending westwardly along the southern boundary for about 1/4th of the states area. It ranges from hilly to rolling land. No rivers are in this area due to the limestone here which allows the water to sink below ground level. But, under the land here are numerous caves and tunnels cut through the limestone; the most famous of course being Mammoth Cave. Two "arms" of the Pennyroyal encircle the third region known as the Interior Low Plateaus, the Western Coal Field. It is not as rugged as in eastern Kentucky; crossed by the Ohio, Green and Tradewater rivers. About ½ of the state's coal is mined from this region. West of the Interior Low Plateaus are two lowland areas, the Mississippi Alluvial Plain along the Mississippi River and the East Gulf Coastal Plain just east of the river. These combined make up the Coastal Plain. They are also known as the Jackson Purchase area bought from the Chickasaw Indians in 1818. The flora of Kentucky is of one of the greatest varieties in the United States. The eastern parts of Kentucky have maples, three types of pines, two types of walnuts, hickories of many species, tulip poplar, hemlock, buckeye, ash, sassafras, holly, beech, locust, elm, sweet and black gum, sycamore and linden trees. There is also hazelnut, huckleberry, crab apple, wild plum, redbuds, poison ivy (ah yes ... expert here!), and grape vines. The Bluegrass region is best known for its cherry, blue ash, catalpa, locust, white oak, walnut, sycamore and hackberry. The Pennyroyal and Jackson Purchase area have also cypress and tupelo gum. Flowering plants include the bluegrass, goldenrod, pennyroyal (pennyrile), may apple, ginseng trillium, bloodroot, jack-in-the-pulpit, snakeroot, fringed gentian, violet, bluebell, wild ginger and sweet William. Animal life - the fauna is abundant. According to old historians near the beginning settlements and before cite great buffalo herds, elk, arctic elephant. Today is to be found deer, fox, raccoon, opossum, rabbit, woodchuck, squirrel, mink and wildcat. Birds include the dove, quail, wild turkey, ruffled grouse, and pheasant. There are great flyways of geese and ducks. They are seen soaring in majesty along with blue jays, robins, cardinals, mockingbirds, bluebirds, towhees, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, starlings, bronzed grackles, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, juncos, white-crowned sparrows, crested flycatchers, catbird and brown thrashers. Poisonous snakes include the timber rattler, water moccasins and copperheads. Non-poisonous snakes include garter, black, bull, king, chicken, water snakes. There are also Carolina box turtles in the deep woods and the glass snake - a lizard able to disjoint its long tail at will. Popular fish varieties include crappie, white perch, blue gill, white sucker, drum, channel and blue catfish, jack salmon, jackfish and carp. Historically, Kentucky was a heavily forested state. Between 1870 and 1930 a massive amount of the forest were cut down in eastern Kentucky, leaving only tangled shrubbery and commercially undesirable trees in their stead. The rivers and streams were utilized early in running the watermills; the springs, wells and surface streams provided pure cold water for the thirsty settler. Coal, petroleum (long to be discovered) and natural gas was abundant. Can you close your eyes now and see your ancestors in their particular region just starting their lives in this brand new state of Kentucky? Strip away the hustle and bustle of the cities, the pollution, the shrieks of noises .... see them in the middle of a clearing in the woods - just Mom and Dad, children and a few almost domesticated livestock. Watch the birds flying overhead, hear the herds of buffalo and elk tromping past. See the trees bursting with nuts, walk softly through the meadows, picking wildflowers along the way, always dodging the snakes slithering by. To be continued. (c) Copyright, 30 June 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. Colonel Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 or E-fax (707)222-1210 Gorin Genealogical Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl