Kentucky - Fun Facts, State Symbols, Photos, Visitor Info

"In regards to this great Book (the Bible)... it is the best gift God has given to man.
All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are found portrayed in it."

President

George Washington

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible."

President

Kentucky
Entered the Union: Jan. 29, 1861 (34)		State Bird: Cardinal State Flower: Goldenrod State Tree: Tulip Poplar State Horse: Thoroughbred State Animal: Gray Squirrel
Capital: Frankfort
State Nickname: Bluegrass State
State Song: "My Old Kentucky Home"
Origin of Name: From an Iroquoian word “Ken-tah-ten” meaning “land of tomorrow”
State Motto: United we stand, divided we fall
National Forests: 2 • State Forests: 5 • State Parks: 52
Famous For: Race Horse Farms, Kentucky Derby, Mammoth Caves
Famous Kentuckians: Abraham Lincoln (US President), Kit Carson (scout), George Clooney • Johnny Depp (actors), Jefferson Davis (President of Confederacy), Crystal Gayle (singer), Naomi & Wynonna Judd (singers), Loretta Lynn (singer), Diane Sawyer (broadcast journalist), Casey Jones (locomotive engineer), Phil Simms (NFL), Steven Curtis Chapman (CCM artist), Nathan Stubblefield (inventor of radio)
Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make.

State Fair: Louisville

Listen to Horse Sounds

Kentucky National Forests

Kentucky State Forests

Kentucky State Parks

Kentucky Historic Sites

Kentucky Attractions

Mammoth Caves

Fishing in Kentucky

Hunting in Kentucky

Listen to Cardinal's Song

Kentucky Photo Gallery

Kentucky Butterfly Gallery

Kentucky Homeschooling

Kentucky Resorts

Kentucky RV Parks

Kentucky Hotels

Kentucky Restaurants & Reviews

Kentucky was the first region west of the Allegheny Mountains to be settled by American pioneers. James Harrod established the first permanent settlement at Harrodsburg in 1774. The following year Daniel Boone, who had explored the area in 1767, blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap and founded Boonesboro.

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the key Civil War political figures of the Union and the Confederacy, were both born in Kentucky within nine months of each other.

Cumberland Falls is known as the "Niagara of the South"

The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

The great Man o' War won all of his races except one, which he lost to a horse named Upset.

More than $6 billion worth of gold is held in the underground vaults of Fort Knox – the largest amount of gold stored anywhere in the world.

Mammoth Cave is the world's longest cave and was first promoted in 1816, making it the second oldest tourist attraction in the United States.

In the spring, bluegrass produces bluish-purple buds that when seen in large fields give a rich blue cast to the grass. Early traders began asking for the seed of the "blue grass from Kentucky." The name stuck and today Kentucky is known as the “Bluegrass State”.

More than $6 billion worth of gold is held in the underground vaults of Fort Knox. This is the largest amount of gold stored anywhere in the world.

All Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured in Bowling Green.

Fleming County is the Covered Bridge Capital of Kentucky.

The public saw an electric light for the first time in Louisville. Thomas Edison introduced his incandescent light bulb to crowds at the Southern Exposition in 1883.

Kentucky's Ethnic Roots: American 20.9%, German 12.7%, Irish 10.5%, English 9.7%, African 7.3%. "American" ancestry are of British or Scotch-Irish descent.

Religion in Kentucky: 82.9% Christian (68.9% Protestant, 14% Catholic), 15.7% No Religion, 1% Other Religions, 0.4% LDS

Middlesboro, Kentucky is the only city in the U.S. built within a meteor crater.

Prototypes of both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge can be found in Northern Kentucky. The Robeling Suspension Bridge in Covington is the scale model of the Brooklyn Bridge; while in nearby Maysville, the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge, the model of the Golden Gate Bridge, was built across the Ohio River.

The first observance of Mother's Day was in Henderson by teacher Mary S. Wilson in 1887. It was made a national holiday in 1916.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving - Thanking God for His blessings

Thanksgiving Day November 28, 2024
In 1621, 52 Pilgrims and approx. 50 Native Americans celebrated a 3-day feast thanking God for His blessings enabling their survival in the New World. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November.

Advent

December 1, 2024
Advent begins 4 weeks before Christmas and remembers the longing and waiting of God's people for the coming of the Messiah.

Bill of Rights Day

December 15, 1791
Bill of Rights Day
Celebrating the 10 amendments to the Constitution which protect individual rights by placing specific limits on government power. These freedoms do not exist in many countries of the world.

Christmas Day

December 25th Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. This joyous festival is enjoyed by Christians and nonChristians alike all over the world.