Marshall County, Kentucky
| Marshall County, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Kentucky |
|
 Kentucky's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | 1842 |
| Named for | John Marshall |
| Seat | Benton |
| Largest city | Benton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 340 sq mi (881 km2) |
| • Land | 301 sq mi (780 km2) |
| • Water | 39 sq mi (101 km2), 11% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 31,448 |
| • Density | 104/sq mi (40/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Marshall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 31,448. Its county seat is Benton. It was a dry county until July 28, 2015, when residents voted for the county to go "wet". It is the only Purchase Area county to not border another state.
Marshall County was named Kentucky's "Best County to Live In" ten years in a row, from 1999 to 2009.
Marshall County was created by the Kentucky legislature in 1842 from part of Calloway County. The first settlers arrived in about 1818, shortly after the area was bought from the Chickasaw Indians as part of the Jackson Purchase. The Chickasaws then moved to new lands west of the Mississippi River. Marshall County was named in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall, who had died shortly before the county's creation. Like most of the Jackson Purchase, Marshall County was strongly pro-Confederate during the American Civil War, with many local men serving in the famous Kentucky Orphan Brigade. On March 23, 1864, detachments of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate cavalry clashed with Union cavalry near Benton, when each side scouring the countryside for needed cavalry remounts. A state historical marker stands at the site.
From its settlement until the 1930s, Marshall County was almost completely agricultural. In the 1940s, however, the Tennessee Valley Authority created Kentucky Lake, which brought tourism to the county with lake shore resorts. The Kentucky Dam's cheap and plentiful electricity also attracted chemical and manufacturing plants, mainly in the Calvert City area. Unfortunately, the flooding created by Kentucky Dam destroyed two historic Marshall County towns: Birmingham, six miles north of the present town of Fairdealing, and Gilbertsville, located at the dam's site. Gilbertsville was relocated west of its original location, but Birmingham residents had to find new homes elsewhere. Gilbertsville was an incorporated town until the 1970s, when its charter was dissolved by public vote. Kentucky Lake (created on the Tennessee River) and Lake Barkley (created on the Cumberland River) now form one of the largest man-made bodies of water in the world.
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