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Jackson Purchase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1] It was technically part of Kentucky at its statehood in 1792, but did not 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.
Although Jackson's purchase also included all of Tennessee west of the Tennessee River, 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.
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).
Counties in the Purchase:
- Ballard County
- Calloway County
- Carlisle County
- Fulton County
- Graves County
- Hickman County
- Marshall County
- McCracken County
- ^ (1987) "Geographical Configuration", Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. ISBN 0403099811.
