Brandenburg

History

Brandenburg was built on a tract of land called "Falling Springs", purchased in 1804 by Solomon Brandenburg. He opened a tavern around which the community grew. In 1825, the community became the seat of Meade County, but it wasn't formally incorporated by the state assembly until March 28, 1872. During the Civil War, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan crossed at Brandenburg to start his raid into Indiana in July 1863. During the Battle of Brandenburg Crossing, two men on the Indiana side of the river were killed by cannon fire from Brandenburg. A Union gunship was deployed to block the crossing, but it ran out of ammunition and Morgan and his men were able to pass into Indiana. Brandenburg was devastated by an F5 tornado during the Super Outbreak of April 3, 1974. The tornado had touched down near Hardinsburg and as it moved to the northeast grew into a half-mile wide wedge tornado, striking Brandenburg head on. The tornado killed 31 people and injured 270, with all but three of the fatalities and most of the injuries occurring at Brandenburg. 128 homes and 30 businesses were also destroyed. There was no early warning from tornado sirens or NOAA Weather Wire Service about the storm. About an hour after the storm, the same supercell spawned an F4 tornado that formed in the southwest part of Louisville in Jefferson County near Kosmosdale. Three people lost their lives in this storm, but it also left two hundred and seven injuries. The Brandenburg tornado remains as the only F5/EF5 tornado in Kentucky state history since official record keeping began in 1950, although later that day another F5 that hit Cincinnati, Ohio crossed the Ohio River from Indiana into Kentucky then into Ohio. The Confederate Monument in Louisville was relocated to Brandenburg in late 2017…

Geography

Brandenburg is located in north-central Meade County at (37.992664, -86.174657), along the south bank of the Ohio River. The Matthew E. Welsh Bridge connects Brandenburg with Mauckport across the river in Indiana. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.44%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,168
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,025
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,794
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,768
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,618
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,540
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,441
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,435