Geography of Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky, the seat of McCracken County, at the Illinois border. It lies 175 miles (280 km) southwest of Louisville, on the Ohio River at the mouth of the Tennessee. Paducah is a tobacco market and the site of large railway repair shops. Boats, shoes, and automobile radiators are manufactured. Nearby are major installations of the federal government that produce fissionable material from uranium ores. Also nearby are Kentucky Dam—largest of the Tennessee Valley Authority dams—and Kentucky Dam State Park, on vast Kentucky Lake.
Paducah was incorporated as a town in 1831 and as a city in 1856. The city was the home of Alben W. Barkley, Vice President under President Truman.
Population: 26,307.