Madisonville, KY, was founded in 1807 and named for James Madison (who was then Secretary of State). Madisonville was named the county seat of Hopkins County in 1808 and was incorporated in 1810. The courthouse in Madisonville was burned by Confederates in 1864, as they passed through western Kentucky. The policies imposed by the occupying Union armies caused resentment and sparked sympathy for the Confederate cause. Farming was the major occupation in Hopkins County for most of the 1800s, with tobacco as the leading crop. Around 1837 an outcropping of coal was discovered and the first coal mine in the county opened in 1869. Mining did not become a major industry until the Louisville & Nashville Railroad pushed its line southward from Henderson through Madisonville and toward Nashville in 1870. By the early 1900s, Madisonville was a rail hub, coal mining center, and had a large tobacco market. This continued until the 1960s when manufacturing and service industries came to the area. To order a print of Madisonville, KY, click here: http://www.villageprints.com/drawings/kentucky/madisonville-ky.
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