Caldwell County, Kentucky

Caldwell County, Kentucky
Caldwell County courthouse in Princeton
Location in the U.S. state of Kentucky
Kentucky's location in the U.S.
Founded	1809
Named for	John Caldwell
Seat	Princeton
Largest city	Princeton
Area
• Total	348 sq mi (901 km2)
• Land	345 sq mi (894 km2)
• Water	3.4 sq mi (9 km2), 1.0%
Population
• (2010)	12,984
• Density	38/sq mi (15/km²)
Congressional district	1st
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.caldwellcounty.ky.gov

Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,984. Its county seat is Princeton. The county was formed in 1809 from Livingston County, Kentucky and named for John Caldwell, who participated in the George Rogers Clark Indian Campaign of 1786 and was the second lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Caldwell was a prohibition or dry county until 2013, when the citizens voted to lift the ban.

Caldwell County was formed from Livingston County in 1809. Prior to that, Caldwell County had been part of Christian, Logan, and Lincoln Counties — Lincoln County having been one of the three original counties of Kentucky.

In the early nineteenth-century, Caldwell County witnessed the passage of the forced migration of the Cherokee to the West on the Trail of Tears during Indian removal. The Cherokee camped for several weeks in Caldwell County during the winter of 1838, mainly at Big Springs, now in downtown Princeton; at Skin Frame Creek, and in the Centerville area near Fredonia.

In 1860, the construction of Princeton College began, but it was delayed by the Civil War. Confederate troops camped on the grounds of Princeton College in 1861, using one of its buildings as a hospital. Following the Confederate retreat in early 1862, however, Union soldiers occupied Princeton for the remainder of the war. In December 1864, raiding Kentucky Confederate cavalry commanded by General Hylan B. Lyon burned the Caldwell County courthouse in Princeton, since it was being used to house the Union garrison.