LEXINGTON, Ky. – Northern Kentucky has been defined as a "gateway" in many respects. Its position along the Ohio River makes it an economic and industrial gateway and its location along the Mason-Dixon line defines it as a gateway between the North and South.
The region, which was also an important gateway in early westward expansion, now serves as a transitional zone between two major climate classifications and exists in a state of socio-economic limbo, as it is classified as neither urban nor rural.
Northern Kentucky’s consciousness about its border status has fostered a culture that differs greatly from the rest of the state, but this awareness has also served as an obstacle when defining regional identity.
"The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky" defines a region of more than 450,000 citizens and includes over 2,100 entries written by more than 300 authors who chronicle the historical, geographical, social, cultural, religious, political, and economic history of the area. The volume contains 170 images and thirteen maps, providing a complete overview of the region’s geography and exhibiting the area’s relationship with the surrounding cities.
The Northern Kentucky region shares a culture markedly independent from the rest of the state, drawing major influence from the metropolitan area of Cincinnati, one of America’s first inland cities. Consisting of eleven counties, Northern Kentucky exhibits a unique mix of northern industry, southern tradition, and German influence resulting from the influx of immigrants who settled there in the 1800s.
The region serves as one point of the "Golden Triangle," along with the cities of Louisville and Lexington, and continues to greatly influence industrial, social, and economic development throughout the state.
Despite its somewhat ambiguous regional identity, Northern Kentucky is home to a number of companies and organizations essential to the state’s economy and commerce, including Ashland Oil, Fidelity Investments, Omnicare, Toyota North America, and United States Playing Card. Similarly, the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport serves as a major hub of national and international travel.
While it seems that Northern Kentucky is often forgotten when compiling Kentucky history, the 21st century has brought with it a new interest in the diverse nature of the region.
"The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky" is a direct product of this movement. Michael Hammons, then director of Forward Quest, approached this encyclopedia’s coeditors in 2002 with the idea of compiling a comprehensive reference volume specifically tailored to highlighting Northern Kentucky’s economic, industrial, and social culture.
Made possible by hundreds of generous benefactors and dedicated volunteers, "The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky" celebrates the people, places, and events of the border region’s rich heritage. This vast compilation of information will serve as an invaluable reference for any who wish to learn more about a region defined by numerous cultures, traditions, and ideas.
Paul A. Tenkotte is chair and professor of the department of history and geography at Northern Kentucky University and former chair and professor of the department of history, international studies, and political science at Thomas More College, where he taught for twenty-four years.
James C. Claypool, professor emeritus of history at Northern Kentucky University, is the author or editor of nine books as well as numerous articles and book reviews.
Fun Facts About Northern Kentucky from "The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky":
- Northern Kentucky is made up of eleven counties along the Ohio River: Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Mason, Owen, Pendleton, and Robertson
- Baseball’s first professional baseball team, the Red Stockings, was organized in Cincinnati and its 1869 team played through an undefeated season. The Cincinnati Commercial thought enough of the interest in the new game that a full-time reporter was assigned to travel with "the Reds"; it was the first newspaper in the country to make such an assignment. Being part of the Cincinnati media market, Northern Kentuckians became aware of baseball and have been ever since.
- Newport is home to one of the top aquariums in the nation. Newport Aquarium was recently named the number one aquarium in the Midwest by the Zagat Survey, and includes 70 exhibits and 14 galleries, including five seamless acrylic tunnels totaling over 20 feet in length.
- During the first half of the 20th century, homing pigeons were raised in Northern Kentucky, participated in races, and performed their duties as communicators. Earlier, before the invention of the telegraph, the homing (carrier) pigeon constituted the "overnight express." Generally owned by the stagecoach industry and located in major cities such as New Orleans, Nashville, Lexington, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh, these birds contributed significantly to keeping the nation informed.
- Northern Kentucky is home to several wineries and orchards, including River Valley Winery in Carroll County and Elk Creek Vineyards, Kentucky’s largest vineyard, located in Owen County.
- Meatpacking was one of the major industries of Northern Kentucky during the 19th and early 20th centuries. As early as the 1840s, drovers were herding stock, mainly hogs, north into Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati for slaughter, dressing, packing, local consumption, and shipment to distant markets.
- The flood of 1937 devastated Northern Kentucky, as over the course of 10 days, the Ohio River swelled to a height never seen before or since. The final figure of 79.99 feet, more than 27 feet above flood stage, is still one for the history books, as are the experiences of those who lived through the greatest natural disaster seen in Northern Kentucky.
- Boone County is home to the historical landmark Big Bone Lick, a site which was, by the mid-19th century, internationally renowned as one of the most important repositories of prehistoric animal bones on earth. 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, a great ice sheet stretched from northern Canada to the Ohio River. South of the sheet, elephant-like woolly mammoths and mastodons, giant ground sloths, giant bison, and other animals came to a salt lick about 12 miles from the present town of Burlington in Boone Co. Many were trapped in the surrounding bogs and died, their bones buried and preserved around the salt lick that came to be named Big Bone Lick.
- Located in Hebron, in Boone Co., the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) is the child of both World War II and the flood of 1937 on the Ohio River. The flood left Cincinnati’s eastside Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport under water, and, in the days leading up to World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps was caught with virtually no paved runways except at civilian airports. An airbase program was started, called Development of Landing Areas for National Defense. Under this program, more than 300 airports were built or improved with federal funds.
