You may be asked every once in awhile to state your hometown or someone will ask you where are you from? It seems like a simple answer you just say that you are from “insert town in insert state and/or country here” and perhaps the person you are talking to will state their hometown. One thing you realize is that your hometown when you think deeply about the subject is that your hometown is your foundation to which the rest of life often lies on. Unless you have moved around very frequently, your boyhood/girlhood, your childhood memories, your first friends and social structure are all developed in one place and that place builds the foundation that will become a part of you. Your hometown isn’t just an answer to “where are you from” it is a part of your journey in life.

This weekend I have been honored to see all of my former classmates (Hopkinsville High School Class of 2008 Represent) and in honor of that, it is time for a special hometown Highlighted Community. A town and county that was the birthplace for Western Kentucky, a community that has experienced the trails of war and natural disaster but came together for a stellar astronomical event, a community with a fierce high school sports rivalry, and a community that is not too far from both the good ole country life and bigger city amenities. This is the Highlighted Community post for Hopkinsville, KY aka as Hoptown.

joel-vetsch-quote-its-my-hometown-but-its-also-a-great-town-theres-a.jpg — **Figure 1:** A quote from Joel Vetsch that really applies to the city of Hopkinsville

Location:

Latitude: 36.87N

Longitude: 87.49W

Hopkinsville is located and is the county seat of Christian County Kentucky, which is the 2nd largest (in size) county in the Bluegrass State. Hopkinsville is in the Pennyroyal Plateau region of Kentucky (called the Highland Rim in Tennessee), an area that consists of a karst landscape which features caves, sinkholes, rolling hills, sinking streams, and abundant limestone. Sinking Fork is an example of a sinking stream where one fork of the Little River runs underground into a cave system. One cave known as Campbell Cave in the northeast side of town was often used for dances and as a pleasure resort due to spring water nearby. (http://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/meacham/chap2.html)

Hopkinsville is served by I-24 and I-169 (also known as the Pennyrile Parkway) which allows for people in Hopkinsville to directly travel by interstate to cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, and St. Louis all that are close enough for a weekend trip (within 4-5 hours). Once the I-69 bridge across the IN/KY state line is completed then you could add Indianapolis to that list. It isn’t just big cities that you can reach from Hopkinsville, Pennyrile Forest State Park is located only about 20 miles from town and features hiking, swimming, and fishing and the Lake Barkley section of Land Between the Lakes can be easily reached within a 45-minute drive.

Hopkinsville Map — **Figure 2:** Hopkinsville sits in southwestern KY along I-24 providing the city with a 72-mile drive to Nashville and only a 27-mile drive to Clarksville (which was covered in a previous post). This map faces north and the dotted line south of Fort Campbell and Guthrie is the Kentucky/Tennessee state line.

Hopkinsville exhibits a Humid Subtropical Climate. It is on the southern edge of what I would consider the classic Ohio River Valley climate. That is a climate where is the only consistency is warm to hot summers that are very humid. Winter can vary from snowless with only the occasional hard freeze to having cold and snowy periods that can last for weeks on end. The average winter season will have about 8 to 10 inches of snow but that can vary from pretty much nothing to over 25 inches of snow depending on the winter. Spring and Fall can either be pleasant or just extensions of either summer or winter. Precipitation is mostly spread out over the year even though there is a slight dry period from August to October, but one can expect between 45 and 50 inches of rain in a normal year. Severe weather and tornadoes are a legit concern with the city receiving hits by tornadoes significant enough to damage or destroy structures in 1963, 1978, 1995, 2006, 2011, and 2018.

Tornado Christian County — **Figure 3:** This was taken from a Hopkinsville webcam that is the property of WTVF on April 2nd, 2006. This EF-3 tornado caused 28 injuries and over $38 million dollars in damage across Christian and Todd Counties in KY as it moved across the northern outskirts of Hopkinsville and surrounding rural communities.

History:

http://www.visithopkinsville.com/about/history/

http://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/meacham/index.html

This will be a pretty short summary of Hopkinsville/Christian County history as the two links above it cover this section very well. Bartholomew Wood and his wife Martha Ann were the first permanent European settlers of Hopkinsville in 1796. Hopkinsville went under two different names before being named after General Samuel Hopkins (same namesake for Hopkins County KY as well). At first, the town was named Old Rock Spring, likely in relation to the springs and karst features of Hoptown. Then it was named Elizabeth after Wood’s oldest daughter but that had to be changed in 1804 because it was too close to Elizabethtown in Central Kentucky. One tragic event early on in the city of Hopkinsville was the Trial of Tears which is the forced removal of the Cherokees from Georgia and the Carolinas through Tennessee and Kentucky and eventually into Oklahoma. Several Native Americans died in route to the city of Oklahoma hence the name the Trail of Tears. Hopkinsville was a major point on the trial.

wp8a28c29a_06 from Cannon County — **Figure 4:** The Trail of Tears which was the forced migration of the Cherokee Tribe from their home in AL, GA, NC, and SE TN to Oklahoma. This passed through the city of Hopkinsville.

As Hopkinsville began to grow the approaching Civil War created divides in the community in the early 1860s. Kentucky was a slave state but it did not officially join the Confederate States of America like Arkansas and Tennessee and points south did. Therefore, Kentucky was considered to be a neutral border state during the Civil War. Both Union and Confederate groups recruited Kentuckian’s into the Civil War which unfortunately led to sharp divisions statewide and in the local communities meaning that friends and even family members ended up fighting against one another.

Nothing symbolizes this more than the fact that both presidents involved in the Civil War were born in Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville and Jefferson Davis in Fairview just 10 miles east of Hopkinsville. In town, although a major battle didn’t occur in the county itself multiple skirmishes occurred and the city was taken over multiple times by both Union and Confederate troops until eventually in December 1864 General Hylan B. Lyon captured Hopkinsville and burned the courthouse.

787px-US_Secession_map_1861. by Julio Reis and edited by Tomf688 — **Figure 5:** A Civil War map. The blue states are the Union States, the dark red are states that initially seceded from the Union, the light red states seceded after the attack on Ft. Sumter, and the yellow states are slave states that did not officially secede from the Union. West Virginia would eventually secede from Virginia to become a border state. This map was created by Julio Reis and edited by user Tomf688 via Wikipedia Commons.

The Night Riders:

http://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/night.html

The Amercian Tobacco Company had a monopoly on tobacco in the area during the turn of the century. This brought down the prices of the dark tobacco that the local farmers produced. In response to this, the Dark Tobacco District Planters’ Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennesse was formed in 1904. Attempts were made to persuade farmers to not sell their crop to the Amercian Tobacco Company and when that did not work a group that is now known as the Night Riders raided the city on December 7th, 1907. They set fire to warehouses in town and took over the security and police in town. The mayor led some men were able to pursue some of the nightriders leading to a skirmish outside of town that lead to 1 fatality. At the end of the raid many windows were shot out, structures burned to the ground, and the city had to have troops on duty to guard the city for years following the raid. By 1910, the night rider activity had settled down in the area and by 1912 the troops were able to leave the area. The site of one of the burned warehouses became what is now known as Peace Park.

Modern Hopkinsville Life

One quirky event that occurred just outside of Hopkinsville is the story of the Little Green Men. In 1955, a family claims to have had an extraterrestrial experience just north of Hopkinsville. They reported flying saucers and that they were terrorized by what would be called “Little Green Men” that were 2 1/2 to 4 feet tall, had large pointed ears, and contained clawed hands. These creatures would appear around the home and cause the residents to fire shots at them to no effect. The situation required an investigation from the local sheriff department and there is still a debate on what this family actually witnessed on the night of 8/21/1955 with some saying it could have been a case of mistaken identity with another creature. The police report did note that the residents were alarmed and some I’m sure don’t discount that a strange event did in fact occur. I will allow the reader to make his or her decision based on the link below.

https://www.csicop.org/si/show/siege_of_little_green_men

Hopkinsville has had a long history of conflict whether it was the Civil War or the Black Patch Tobacco Wars but in modern times our conflict is a friendly but intense crosstown rivalry between two schools. Hopkinsville (Hoptown) High and Christian County High compete in everything from football, basketball, baseball, academics, to even who has the best reunions. Everyone who has grown up in Hopkinsville knows that the rivalry continues long after one graduates high school. Both schools have a history of fielding some of the best sports teams in the western part of Kentucky which contributes to the rivalry as sometimes playoff advancement is at stake. Since I am a Hoptown graduate I say go Tigers.

Figure 6: The Christian County and Hopkinsville High School logos. These schools form one of the most passionate rivalries in all of Kentucky. Both of these schools have several regional and state championships between them. These images are courtesy of Your Sports Edge.

In 2017, the town became part of the world stage as it was the closest population center to the path of totality in the 2017 solar eclipse. The town held a special eclipse themed festival and over 150,000 people flocked to the area to enjoy the sight of the solar eclipse and to experience total darkness for 2 hours and 40 minutes. One of my first blog posts on this site discussed this very same eclipse.

Famous Hoptown People:

Hopkinsville has had several famous people from famous journalists to athletes, coaches, and musicians have called Hopkinsville home at one point in time.

There are some of the most famous folks that are from Hopkinsville

Ted Poston: Became the first African American to work at a mainstream newspaper.

Edgar Cayce: A psychic known for his predictions and his contributions about food and health.

Keith Tandy: A Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety

Greg Buckner and Chris Whitney: NBA players

John Miller Cooper: Pioneer of kinesiology

Steve Gorman: Drummer with the Black Crowes

Brice Long: Country music artist

Caleb Reynolds: Contestant on several reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother

Conclusion:

Hopkinsville is a place where tradition runs deep but evidence of change is never too far away. From its growth on US-41A to its deep-rooted traditions in local athletics and streets where history is never too far away. Hopkinsville is also a place that is surrounded by the pristine rolling hills of the Pennyroyal Plateau and its springs, rock outcrops, and caves. Hopkinsville also contains great hangout places to have a drink like the Casey Jones Distillery or a burger place like Ferrells. All in all, this is my hometown and I am proud to be from here and I hope you all that are not from here learned at least a little bit about its story.