Kentucky

城市概覽

Between about 500-300 million years ago much of what is now Kentucky was covered by shallow seas. The fauna of those seas is the source of the vast limestone deposits that lie under much of the state, containing its extensive cave systems, as well as its unusually rich fossil beds. The peat bogs that succeeded the seas eventually petrified into coal, and thus coal mining remains an important economic activity in Kentucky. Kentucky is the 15th state to join the United States, having been carved out of Virginia and allowed to join the Union in 1792. Prior to European settlement, the area that now comprises the state of Kentucky was subject to long periods of contention between various tribes, although it's usually agreed that by the time Europeans arrived it was mainly split between the Shawnee and Cherokee. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, although his family relocated to Indiana when he was fairly young, due to a land ownership dispute. Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy, was also a Kentuckian, and the state has a complicated history during the US Civil War - despite being a slave state, it never officially seceded from the Union, and thousands of Kentuckians fought on both sides of the conflict. As early as the 18th century, settlers took advantage of the warm, humid summers to grow large quantities of corn, as had the Native American tribes before them. Lacking means to get the corn to market in bulk, they distilled it into whiskey. Any available casks and barrels then had their interiors singed to sterilize them, and then were filled with whiskey, loaded onto barges, and sent on a slow journey down the Ohio and the Mississippi to New Orleans. The buyers in New Orleans found that aging in oak barrels dramatically improved the flavor of raw corn liquor, and, because many of the barrels were stamped "Bourbon County, Kentucky," Bourbon became the name of Kentucky's most famous export. Kentucky's calcium-rich water and abundant forage contributed to i

如何抵達

By car Kentucky is accessible by five Interstates:

I-71 and I-75 both enter the state from the north at Cincinnati. The two roads split in the Kentucky suburbs, with I-71 going to its southern end in Louisville and I-75 to Lexington, continuing past Richmond, Berea, and London. I-64 runs from Ashland in the east to Louisville in the west, passing by Lexington and Frankfort on the way. I-65 enters the state from Indiana and runs from Louisville to Bowling Green, continuing to the Tennessee state line. I-24 from Paducah to Hopkinsville and the Fort Campbell area. A sixth interstate, I-69, has segments in Kentucky, but is not yet connected with an interstate-standard highway to any other state. The Kentucky segment starts at Henderson, across the Ohio River from Evansville, taking an indirect southwest course through the state as it follows older parkways (see below). The signed route passes by Madisonville and Princeton before reaching Calvert City, at which point I-69 follows the Purchase Parkway to Fulton. A spur from I-69 running to Hopkinsville, also routed along part of a previously existing parkway, is now numbered as I-169. Kentucky's I-69 is a relatively small part of a major extension of that highway, which runs only from Indianapolis to the Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan, but is proposed to be extended to the Mexican border in Texas. Kentucky is connected to many U.S. highways:

US 25 runs south from Covington, paralleling I-75 until splitting into two branches just north of Corbin. (The branches reunite in East Tennessee.) US 25W continues to parallel I-75 before both roads cross into Tennessee. US 25E goes southeast to Middlesboro, and crosses into Tennessee through a tunnel beneath Cumberland Gap. US 27 runs from Covington south to Somerset, continuing from there until crossing into Tennessee. US 31 enters Kentucky southbound on a bridge over the Ohio River that feeds into downtown Louisville, and splits into two branches almost immediately af

當地交通

By car Kentucky maintains 9 parkways to supplement the Interstate and U.S. Highways. These roads were all built as toll roads but have since become freeways. Nine roads make up the parkway system; three of these are now fully incorporated into the Interstate Highway System, with others either partially incorporated or to be incorporated.

The Audubon Parkway, the shortest road in the system, connects Henderson and Owensboro. It is now signed as a "Future I-69 Spur", and will likely receive "I-69 Spur" as its permanent designation when improvements are completed. The Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway runs from I-65 on the north side of Elizabethtown to Versailles, just west of Lexington. The Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway runs through South Central Kentucky from I-65 east of Bowling Green to Somerset, near the Lake Cumberland resort region. The Hal Rogers Parkway (often called "the Rogers"; formerly the Daniel Boone Parkway), mainly a two-lane road with frequent passing lanes for heavy trucks, connects London with Hazard in the eastern third of the state. The Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway connects I-64 in Winchester to Salyersville in eastern Kentucky. The eastern half of this road, past Campton, is two lanes. Long-term plans call for the reinstatement of tolls to fund expansion of the eastern section to four lanes, plus an extension of about 15 miles to Prestonsburg. The William H. Natcher Parkway (often called "the Natcher"; formerly the Green River Parkway) connects Owensboro with Bowling Green. This road has now been fully upgraded to Interstate Highway standards, and is signed exclusively as I-165 between Owensboro and the I-65 interchange in Bowling Green. A short segment of the former Natcher Parkway between I-65 and US 231 in Bowling Green, despite meeting Interstate standards, was excluded from that system and is now signed as Kentucky Route 9007. The Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway runs from Henderson to Hopkinsville. The section from Hender

必看景點

Kentucky Horse Park: in Lexington off I-75. The only park of its kind and host of the 2010 World Equestrian Games. 1,200 acres of exhibits, pastures, barns, museums and an art gallery. Open year round. General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant: in Bowling Green off of I-65 exit 28 at Louisville Rd. and Corvette Dr. Bowling Green is the only production site for the classic American sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette and the two-seat Cadillac XLR. Every Corvette produced since 1982 was manufactured at the Bowling Green plant. The plant offers a 1-hour guided walking tour of portions of the assembly area. National Corvette Museum: in Bowling Green off of I-65 exit 28 across from the GM Assembly Plant. The museum houses more than 75 Corvettes including one of the original 1953 Corvettes, the only 1983 Corvette in existence, the millionth Corvette produced and many other rare 'Vettes. Also displayed are photographs, advertisements, television commercials, and Corvette memorabilia. Lost Ri