Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Kentucky

Copyright, 1882, by John R. Procter.

ENTUCKY, one of the central States of the United States of America, is situated between 36° 30' and 39° 6' N. lat., and 82° and 89° 38' W. long., and is bounded on the N. by Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the W. by Missouri, on the S. by Tennessee and Virginia, and on the E. by Virginia and West Virginia. It extends from east to west 458 miles, and its greatest width from north to south is 171 miles.



Geological Map of Kentucky.

The area of the State has been variously estimated at from 37,000 to 40,000 square miles. The surface is an elevated plateau sloping from the great Appalachian uplift on the south-east, to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on the north and west. Only that portion of the State including and lying between the Pine or Laurel Mountain and the Cumberland range may be said to partake of the mountain structure. These parallel ranges have an elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet above sea-level, whilst the mountains in the Cumberland valley between these ranges have an elevation of 3500 feet. The Cumberland river, near where it passes through a break in Pine Mountain, is at low-water mark 960 feet above the sea. Some of the hills immediately to the north are as high as Pine Mountain, gradually decreasing in height to the western edge of the Appalachian coal-field, where the greatest elevation is less than 1600 feet above the sea. The topography can be understood by reference to the accompanying sketch map of the geology of the State. The eastern coal-field, with an area over 10,000 square miles, has an elevation of 650 on the Ohio river to 1400 feet on the south-western

edge on the Tennessee line, and 3500 feet on the south eastern border of the State. The great central or &ldquo;Blue Grass region&rdquo; (Lower Silurian on map) has an area of about 10,000 square miles, and an elevation of from 800 to 1150 feet. Although elevated several hundred feet above the drainage level, the surface is that of a gently undulating plateau, with a pleasing topography. The Upper Silurian and Devonian, with an area of about 2500 square miles, have an elevation of 450 on the north-west and 800 on the north-eastern end to 1100 feet where these formations curve around the Lower Silurian on the south west. In this region are wide stretches of very level country, often with insufficient drainage. Around this central region extends from the mouth of Salt river to the mouth of the Scioto a continuous ridge known as Muldrows Hill, King's Mountain, Big Hill, and other local names, having an abrupt escarpment on its inner circle, and sloping away from the central uplifted dome of the Blue Grass region, as a broken plateau on the east, and an almost level plateau on the west where the subcarboniferous limestone determines the topography. This range of hills is one of the prominent features in the State. The subcarboniferous has an area of about 10,000 square miles, with an elevation of from 350 to 600 feet on the south-western to 950 in the central region. In the eastern portion of this formation the streams have cut deep gorges in the limestone, but in its central part only the larger streams are open to daylight, and most of the drainage is subterraneous, which gives to that region a peculiar topography,—the surface being a series of slight round or oval depressions, through which the surface water escapes to the streams below. Whenever the small passage way leading downwards from one of these sinks becomes closed, a &ldquo;pond&rdquo; is formed. In this formation are the numerous caverns for which this State is noted. The western coal field has an area of about 4000 square miles and an elevation of from 400 feet along the Ohio river to 850 feet in its south-eastern portion. The Quaternary, with an area of about 2500 square miles, has an elevation of about 280 feet on the river bottom lands and from 350 to 450 on the uplands. The average elevation for the entire State is over 1000 feet above the sea, and the numerous streams penetrating all portions have cut their channels deep enough to secure ample drainage, and exemption from the dangers of floods, with the exception of very limited areas.

Rivers.&mdash;The State has a river boundary of 813 miles of navigable streams:—the Chatterawha or Big Sandy on the east for 120 miles, the Ohio on the north for 643 miles, and the Mississippi on the west for 50 miles. The Chatterawha, Licking, Kentucky, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers have their sources in the Appalachian coal field, and flow through the State to the Ohio river. The Green and Tradewater rivers drain the western coal-field. Kentucky has many hundred miles of navigable rivers,

connecting with the Mississippi system, and furnishing a most advantageous means of cheap transport for coal, timber, &amp;c. A system of river improvement, begun by the State some years ago, by which the Green and Barren rivers from Bowling Green downwards, and also the lower portion of the Kentucky river, were made continuously navigable, is being prosecuted still further by the United States Government. It is now possible to float down logs, rafts, flat boats, &amp;c., from almost the fountain heads of the rivers.