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Kentucky Counties

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Kentucky Counties

Despite ranking 37th in size by area, Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind Texas's 254 and Georgia's 159.

McCracken County, Kentucky

McCracken County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Paducah
Year Organized: 1825
Square Miles: 251

Court House:

301 South 6th Street
County Courthouse
Paducah, KY 42003-1702

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Virgil McCracken (?-1813), hero in the War of 1812. One of those honored after the Battle of River Raisin.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

McCracken county was formed in 1825. It is located in the Jackson Purchase region of the state. The elevation in the county ranges from 290 to 500 feet above sea level. In 2000 the county population was 65,514 in a land area of 251.02 square miles, an average of 261.0 people per square mile. The county seat is Paducah.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Massac County, Ill.
Northeast: Livingston County
Southeast: Marshall County
South: Graves County
Southwest: Carlisle County
West: Ballard County

Cities and Towns:

- Kevil	city	Incorporated Area
- Lone Oak	city	Incorporated Area
- Paducah (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."