Formed December 25, 1825 (81st county)
McCracken County (67,871), Paducah (27,119)
A Colonial Revival red brick and concrete 1943 courthouse replaced the 1857 facility. It is located on a square at 6th, Washington, 7th, and Clark streets. United States Highway 45 Business is one block to the northwest. S. Lester Daly provided the courthouse designs. The building was enlarged in 1997. An Annex supports the courthouse. The building features columns and a tower with a working clock. Veteran memorials are across the street. McCracken County was established on December 25, 1825 from Hickman County as the 81st county. Wilmington was the first county seat with Paducah taking over in 1831. It is named for War of 1812 hero Captain Virgil McCracken. Paducah is named for a Native American chief. McCracken County was the birthplace of 1 Kentucky Governor, Julian M. Carroll.
McCracken County government consists of a sheriff, County Judge Executive, and 3 Commissioners. Two Circuit Court Judges, Three District Court Judges, and One Family Court Judge serve McCracken County. The county sits in far west Kentucky on the border with Illinois. The Ohio River is its northern border. Evansville, Indiana is northeast and St. Louis, Missouri is northwest of the county. The county center is 8.3 miles Southwest of Paducah nearer Massac. The county is surrounded clockwise by Illinois and Livingston, Marshall, Graves, Carlisle, and Ballard counties.
The area of the county is 251 square miles. It is 85 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 12 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 270.4 persons per square mile making it 10 out of 120 in the state. McCracken County has 40.0% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 24 enters the county from the north, Illinois, and exits to the east, Marshall County. United States Highway 45 goes north to south from Illinois to Graves County. United States Highway 60 travels east to west from Livingston County to Ballard County. United States Highway 62 comes from Marshall County, east, and goes to Ballard County, west. United States Highway 68 enters from Marshall County and terminates. The county looks like a plow facing toward the north. Paducah is on the northeast border with Illinois. Paducah is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 40.0% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced PA-DUE-KA. This county is in the Paducah Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Paducah
