Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
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2285369

Hopkinsville, Kentucky

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2285369

Hopkinsville, Kentucky

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Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 31,180.

The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 by Bartholomew Wood as part of a 1,200-acre (5 km2) grant for his service in the American Revolution. He and his wife Martha Ann moved from Jonesborough, Tennessee, first to a cabin near present-day W. Seventh and Bethel streets; then to a second cabin near present-day 9th and Virginia streets; and finally to a third home near 14th and Campbell.

Following the creation of Christian County the same year, the Woods donated 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land and a half interest in their Old Rock Spring to form its seat of government in 1797. By 1798, a log courthouse, jail, and "stray pen" had been built; the next year, John Campbell and Samuel Means laid out the streets for "Christian Court House". The community tried to rename itself "Elizabeth" after the Woods' eldest daughter, but Elizabethtown, Kentucky pre-ëmpted the name, and the Kentucky Assembly established the town in 1804 as "Hopkinsville" after veteran and state representative Samuel Hopkins of Henderson County (later the namesake of Hopkins County as well and despite being in a neighboring county and having the same namesake, Hopkinsville was never the county seat of Hopkins County, despite Hopkins County being created from Christian and Henderson Counties).

Along with the rest of Kentucky, the town was late in establishing free lower education, but natives organized private schools, and the town was the home of South Kentucky College (est. 1849) and Bethel Female College (est. 1854).

Since 1854, Hopkinsville has been the site of the Western Kentucky Lunatic Asylum.

The Civil War generated major divisions in Christian County. Confederate support in Hopkinsville and Christian County was evident in the formation of the "Oak Grove Rangers" and the 28th Kentucky Cavalry. Christian County was the actual birthplace of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, though his birthplace is now part of Todd County, Kentucky. Several local businessmen and plantation owners contributed money and war supplies to the South. After Confederate forces retreated to Tennessee, however, Camp Joe Anderson was established by the Union to the northwest of Hopkinsville in 1862. Men who trained there became members of the 35th Kentucky Cavalry, the 25th Kentucky Infantry, and the 35th Kentucky Infantry. Gen. James S. Jackson had been a Hopkinsville attorney before the war and was killed in service to the Union at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862. Private citizens who supported the Union cause provided the army with mules, wagons, clothing, and food.[citation needed]

The occupation of Hopkinsville changed at least half a dozen times between the Confederate and Union forces. In December 1864, Confederate troops under Gen. Hylan B. Lyon captured the town and burned down the Christian County courthouse which was being used at that time by the Union army as a barracks. Another skirmish between Union and Confederate forces took place in the field opposite Western State Hospital near the end of the war. [citation needed]

The Evansville, Henderson, and Nashville Railroad was the first to connect Hopkinsville to surrounding cities in 1868. In 1879, it was purchased by the L&N. The Ohio Valley Railroad (later purchased by the Illinois Southern) reached the city in 1892, as did the Tennessee Central in 1903.

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