Everything about Jackson Purchase totally explained
» This article is about the region of Kentucky known as the Jackson Purchase. For the larger historical region originally called by this name, see Jackson Purchase (U.S. historical region).
The
Jackson Purchase is a region in the
state of
Kentucky bounded by the
Mississippi River to the west, the
Ohio River to the north, and
Tennessee River to the east. It was technically part of Kentucky at its statehood in
1792, but didn't come under definitive U.S. control until it was purchased from the
Chickasaw Indians by
Andrew Jackson in
1818. Kentuckians generally call this region simply
the Purchase.
Jackson's purchase also included all of
Tennessee west of the Tennessee River, but in modern usage the term
Jackson Purchase is used only to refer to the Kentucky portion of the acquisition; the Tennessee region directly to the south is typically called
West Tennessee.
The Purchase, which is primarily
alluvial and is geologically part of the
Mississippi Delta, is mostly agricultural. The largest city and main economic center,
Paducah, has fewer than 30,000 residents. Only two other towns in the region,
Murray and
Mayfield, have more than 10,000 residents. The region's main educational institution is
Murray State University.
Tourism is an important industry in the Purchase, largely focused on the
TVA-created
Kentucky Lake, which now forms most of the Purchase's eastern border, and
Lake Barkley a few miles to the east.
Despite its inland location, the Purchase is in a zone of high
earthquake risk. It lies near the
New Madrid fault zone, which in
1811 and
1812 experienced three of the most severe quakes recorded in the United States, and also had a major quake in
1895.
Politics
Historically, the Purchase was the most heavily
Democratic region in Kentucky. For well over a century, it provided such overwhelming margins for Democratic candidates that Kentucky Democrats routinely called it the "
Gibraltar of Democracy". In fact, the most widely circulated newspaper and media outlet in the Purchase,
The Paducah Sun was once named the Paducah Sun-Democrat (see
WPSD-TV).
In recent elections, The Purchase has voted for
Republicans in national elections while giving higher percentages to Democrats in state elections. As of
2004, the majority of the region's delegation in the Kentucky General Assembly is now Republican, and the region's two state senators are both Republicans for the first time in history. The purchase is within
Kentucky's 1st congressional district.
As of March 15, 2007, 74% of all Purchase voters are registered Democrats and 22% of Purchase voters are registered Republicans. However, Purchase Democrats are, in keeping with the South generally, decidedly more conservative than the majority of their party (see also
Blue Dog Democrats).
The Purchase comprises seven counties with a combined land area of 6,202.496 km² (2,394.797 sq mi), or about 6.03 percent of the state's land area. Its 2000 census population was 193,495 inhabitants, or about 4.787 percent of the state's population. Its three largest cities are
Paducah,
Murray, and
Mayfield.
Counties in the Purchase
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jackson Purchase'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://jackson_purchase.totallyexplained.com">Jackson Purchase Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
