2000 Population:
8,286 County Seat: Wickliffe
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From History
of Kentucky by Kerr, 1922
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Ballard County was named for Capt. Bland W.
Ballard, who was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 16, 1761,
and who came to Kentucky in 1779. He was a brave soldier and competent
officer in all the struggles with the Indians in the pioneer days of Kentucky.
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History from
Collins' History of Kentucky, 1877
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Ballard county, the 93d in order of
formation, was organized in 1842, out of parts of McCracken and
Hickman counties, and named in honor of Capt. Bland Ballard. It
is situated in the extreme western part of the state, opposite Cairo, Illinois;
contains 339 square miles; and is bounded on the north by the Ohio river,
west by the Mississippi river, south by Hickman county, and east by Graves
and McCracken counties. Mayfield creek runs westerly entirely through the
county, dividing it into north and south Ballard - north Ballard being
a beautiful high, level, and comparatively open country, producing more
than the average in the state, of corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, sorghum,
and the finest tobacco in the world (which has sold in several instances,
as high as $410 per hundred pounds); south Ballard is more broken, more
heavily timbered, and has more depth of soil. The soil of the river-bottoms,
a mixture of black loam and sand, is very productive. But little is exported
besides tobacco and staves. The county (in 1872), is still new, fully one-third
yet unsettled and held under military entries, in tracts of from 1,000
to 10,000 acres. There is not a macadamized road in the county, and only
one gravel road - from Blandville to Cairo. |
