Owensboro, Kentucky
| Owensboro, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Historic District in downtown Owensboro
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| Nickname(s): BBQ Capital of the World | |
| Motto: "Progress 1817" | |
 Location of Owensboro within Kentucky |
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| Coordinates: 37°45′28″N 87°7′6″W / 37.75778°N 87.11833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| County | Daviess |
| Settled (as Yellow Banks) | 1797 |
| Established (as Owensborough) | 1817 |
| Incorporated | 1850 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Tom Watson |
| • Mayor Pro Tem | Bob Glenn |
| • City Manager | William Parrish |
| Area | |
| • City | 20.4 sq mi (52.9 km2) |
| • Land | 19.1 sq mi (49.5 km2) |
| • Water | 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km2) 6.47% |
| Elevation | 394 ft (120 m) |
| Population | |
| • Estimate (2015) | 59,042 |
| • Density | 3,057/sq mi (1,180.4/km2) |
| • Metro | 116,506 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC−6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC−5) |
| ZIP codes | 42301-42304 |
| Area code(s) | 270 & 364 |
| FIPS code | 21-58620 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0500082 |
| Highways |
  
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| Website | www |
Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat ofDaviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the 4th-largest city in the state by population. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about 107 miles (172 km) southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2015 population was 59,042. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506.
There is evidence of American Indian settlement in the area dating back 12,000 years. Following a series of failed uprisings with British support, however, the last Shawnee were forced to vacate the area before the end of the eighteenth century.
The first European descendant to settle in Owensboro was frontiersman William Smeathers or Smothers in 1797, for whom the riverfront park is named. The settlement was originally known as "Yellow Banks" from the color of the land beside the Ohio River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered at what is today's Owensboro prior to departing on their famous travels. In 1817, Yellow Banks was formally established under the name Owensborough, named after Col. Abraham Owen. In 1893, the spelling of the name was shortened to its current Owensboro.
In August 1864, Owensboro was subject to a raid by a band of Confederate guerrillas from Tennessee led by Captain Jack Bennett, an officer in Stovepipe Johnson's Partisan Rangers. Bennett's men rode into Owensboro, tried and failed to rob a local bank, took 13 Union soldiers of the 108th Colored Infantry prisoner, executed them, burned the bodies on a supply boat and escaped back to Tennessee having covered a total of 300 miles (480 km) on horseback inside six days. Another major battle occurred 8 miles (13 km) south of Owensboro and is today signified by a monument marking the battle located beside US Highway 431.
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Wikipedia