Madisonville, Kentucky
| Madisonville, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Hopkins County Courthouse in Madisonville
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| Nickname(s): Best Town on Earth | |
 Location in the state of Kentucky |
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| Coordinates: 37°19′58″N 87°30′8″W / 37.33278°N 87.50222°WCoordinates: 37°19′58″N 87°30′8″W / 37.33278°N 87.50222°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Hopkins |
| Incorporated | 1807 |
| Named for | Sec. James Madison |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | David Jackson (R) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 18.5 sq mi (48 km2) |
| • Land | 17.8 sq mi (46.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.7 sq mi (1.9 km2) |
| Elevation | 470 ft (144 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 19,307 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 42431 |
| Area code(s) | 270 & 364 |
| FIPS code | 21-49368 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0497441 |
| Website | www.madisonvillegov.com |
Madisonville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States, located along the Pennyrile Parkway in the state's Western Coal Fields region. The population was 19,307 at the 2000 census. Madisonville is a commercial center of the region and is home to Madisonville Community College.
Madisonville was founded in 1807 and named for Secretary of State James Madison. It was named the seat of Hopkins County in 1808 and formally incorporated in 1810.
Hopkins County and Madisonville were divided by the Civil War. Union supporters joined a regiment recruited locally by James Shackleford; Al Fowler recruited Confederate troops. The courthouse in Madisonville was burned by Confederates led by Gen. Hylan B. Lyon on December 17, 1864, as they passed through western Kentucky. The policies imposed by the occupying Union armies caused resentment and sparked sympathy for the Confederate cause.
Farming was the major occupation in Hopkins County for most of the 1800s, with tobacco the leading crop. Around 1837 an outcropping of coal was discovered and the first coal mine in the county opened in 1869. Mining did not become a major industry until the Louisville & Nashville Railroad pushed its line southward from Henderson through Madisonville and toward Nashville in 1870. By the early 1900s, Madisonville was a rail hub, coal mining center, and had a large tobacco market. This continued until the 1960s when manufacturing and service industries came to the area.
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