Fulton

Formed January 1, 1845 (99^th county)

Fulton County (6,515), Hickman (2,361)

An 1899 red brick and stone Beaux Arts courthouse is situated on Moulton at Wellington streets.  Kentucky State Highway 94 is one block to the north of the courthouse.  Frank P. Milburn was the building architect.  The building features a tower with working clock and bell.  A rot-iron fence surrounds the grounds.  The county was founded on January 1, 1845 from Hickman County as the 99^th county.  Inventor Robert Fulton is the namesake for the county.  Hickman was named for the wife of one of the settlers.  Hickman has been the only county seat. 

Fulton County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 4 Magistrates (legislative.)  One Circuit Court Judge and One District Court Judge serve Fulton, Ballard, Carlisle, and Hickman counties and a court clerk serves Fulton County (judicial.) The county is in the southwest corner of Kentucky on the border will Tennessee and Missouri.  The Mississippi River forms its western border.  Paducah, Kentucky is northeast and Memphis, Tennessee is southwest of the county.  The county center is 3.2 miles East of Hickman.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hickman County and Tennessee and Missouri. 

The area of the county is 209 square miles.  It is 98 out of 120 in the state.  It ranks 114 out of 120 in population in the state.  It has a density of 31.2 persons per square mile making it 106 out of 120 in the state.  Fulton County has 72.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 45 clips the southeast tip of the county from Hickman County to Tennessee.  United States Highway 51 enters from Hickman County and joins United States Highway 45 into Tennessee.  The county is shaped like a snow plow.  Hickman is on the northwest border of the county.  Fulton is in the southeast corner.  Hickman is the county seat and the largest city.  Hickman is 35.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Union City Micropolitan Statistical Area.