About Kentucky

Kentucky sits at the crossroads of the American South and Midwest. Bordered by seven states and the Ohio River to the north, it has always been a place where different cultures, landscapes, and loyalties meet. That tension , between North and South, tradition and progress, rural and urban, defines much of what makes Kentucky unique.

The state is famous worldwide for three things above almost everything else: bourbon whiskey, thoroughbred horse racing, and the Kentucky Derby. But there's far more here, from the Appalachian mountains in the east, to the world's longest cave system at Mammoth Cave, to two of America's most consequential presidents sharing a birthplace less than 100 miles apart.

Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792, making it the first state admitted west of the Appalachian Mountains. It has been shaping American history, and American culture , ever since.