Great Depression in Kentucky

The prehistory and history of Kentucky spans thousands of years, and has been influenced by the state's diverse geography and central location. It is not known exactly when the first humans arrived in what is now Kentucky. Around 1,800 BCE, a gradual transition began from a hunter-gatherer economy to agriculturalism. Around 900 CE, a Mississippian culture took root in western and central Kentucky; by contrast, a Fort Ancient culture appeared in eastern Kentucky. While the two had many similarities, the distinctive ceremonial mounds of the former were absent in the latter. The first permanent European settlement, Harrod's Town, was established in 1774. Kentucky was the 15th U.S. state, admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792. Kentucky was initially neutral in the American Civil War, but joined the Union side after a Confederate invasion in 1861. The state remained under Union control for most of the war.

While it is assumed that humans were probably living in Kentucky prior to 10,000 BCE, "archaeological evidence of their occupation has yet to be documented".

Stone tools, particularly projectile points (arrowheads) and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Paleoindian bands probably moved their camps many times a year. Their camps were typically small ones, consisting of 20–50 people. Band organization was egalitarian, so there were no formal leaders and no social ranking or classes. Scientific evidence links indigenous Americans to Asian peoples, specifically eastern Siberian populations. Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been linked to Siberian populations by linguistic factors, the distribution of blood types, and in genetic composition as reflected by molecular data, such as DNA.

At the end of the last Ice Age, between 8000–7000 BCE Kentucky's climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and technology advances, resulting in more sedentary lifestyle. This warming trend killed the big game megafauna, such as the mammoth, mastodon, giant beavers, tapirs, short faced bear, giant ground sloths, saber-toothed tiger, horse, bison, musk ox, stag-moose, and peccary, all of which were native to Kentucky during the Ice Age, became extinct or moved north as the glacial ice retreated.

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