Beech Tree News Network

Madison County, founded in 1785, had an estimated population (as of 2015) of 87,824.  Richmond is the county seat.  Notable person from Madison County is Lonnie Napier, born in 1940.  Napier is one of the current Representatives for House District 36 in the Kentucky House of Representatives.  Indian trader John Findlay, Daniel Boone, and four others first came into the area that is now Madison County in 1769 on a hunting and exploring expedition.  

In 1774, the Transylvania Company, led by Judge Richard Henderson of North Carolina, purchased 20,000,000 acres of land west of the Appalachians (including present-day Madison County) from the Cherokee Nation. Daniel Boone was hired to cut a trail through the Cumberland Gap and establish a settlement on the Kentucky River. The settlement at Fort Boonesborough began in April 1775.  In 1785, Madison County was established from land taken from Lincoln County, Virginia and named for Virginia statesman and fourth President of the United States James Madison.

Magoffin County was formed in 1860 from Floyd, Johnson and Morgan Counties.  It was named for Beriah Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky from 1859-62.  The county seat is Salyersville.  Estimated population as of 2015 was 12,808.  Notable residents include: Jimmy Flynt, co-founder of Hustler magazine, Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, Rebecca Lynn Howard, country music singer, Buell Kazee, folk singer banjo player and minister, Chris Bailey, Chief Meteorologist at WKYT as well as Jim Caldwell, Meteorologist at WKYT.  

Marion County was founded in 1834.  It was named for Francis Marion, a military officer in the American Revolutionary War.  The county seat and largest city is Lebanon.  Estimated population as of 2015 was 19,365.  Marshall County was founded in 1842 and named for John Marshall, fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1801-1835.  The county seat and largest city is Benton.  Estimated population as of 2015 was 31,101.  Calvert City and Hardin are also communities in Marion.  From its settlement until the 1930s, Marshall County was almost completely agricultural. In the 1940s, however, the Tennessee Valley Authority created Kentucky Lake, which brought tourism to the county with lake shore resorts. The Kentucky Dam's cheap and plentiful electricity also attracted chemical and manufacturing plants, mainly in the Calvert City area. Unfortunately, the flooding created by Kentucky Dam destroyed two historic Marshall County towns: Birmingham, six miles north of the present town of Fairdealing, and Gilbertsville, located at the dam's site. Gilbertsville was relocated west of its original location, but Birmingham residents had to find new homes elsewhere. Gilbertsville was an incorporated town until the 1970s, when its charter was dissolved by public vote. Kentucky Lake (created on the Tennessee River) and Lake Barkley (created on the Cumberland River) now form one of the largest man-made bodies of water in the world. Historically, Marshall County has been a stronghold of the Democratic Party. Since the county's creation the county, Democrats have dominated county politics. At present, all elected county officials are Democrats, except for one. Republican Kevin Neal defeated Melonie Watkins Chambers to finish the unexpired term of the late Mike Miller, who died in office on December 17, 2014.