Kuttawa

History

Former Ohio governor Charles Anderson founded the town on land he purchased in 1866. Originally spelled "Cuttawa" and "Kittawa", Kuttawa seems to have been the name of a Cherokee village near the site, whose meaning is a matter of dispute: it has been variously translated as "beautiful", "city in the woods", and "great wilderness". the same year it received its post office. In the early 1960s, the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed a dam across the Cumberland River at Grand Rivers, forming Lake Barkley. Eddyville and Kuttawa were both moved from their original locations owing to the impounded lake.

Geography

Kuttawa is located in north-central Lyon County and is bordered to the east by Eddyville and to the south by Lake Barkley, an impoundment of the Cumberland River, just upstream from Barkley Dam. The city is concentrated primarily in an area adjacent to the western intersection of U.S. Route 62 and Kentucky Route 295, though its municipal boundaries extend southwestward along US 62 and Kentucky Route 810, northeastward to the intersection of US 62 and the merged Interstate 24/Interstate 69, and along KY 295 as it follows the lakeshore to its eastern intersection with US 62. The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area lies along the lakeshore opposite Kuttawa. Mineral Mound State Park borders the city to the east. Both Barkley Dam and Kentucky Dam (the latter of which impounds the Tennessee River) are located southwest of Kuttawa. By highway, Kuttawa is east of Paducah, northwest of Hopkinsville, and southwest of Madisonville. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Kuttawa has a total area of , of which are land and , or 27.40%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,486
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,171
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  2,045
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,991
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,979
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,901
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,771
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,747

Most recent

• M 2.59 — 2023-08-23
  3 km ENE of Wilson City, Missouri
• M 2.52 — 2023-06-03
  7 km N of Nebo, Kentucky
• M 2.51 — 2023-05-30
  7 km W of Calhoun, Kentucky
• M 3.03 — 2023-05-30
  6 km W of Calhoun, Kentucky
• M 2.77 — 2020-04-25
  1 km E of Wilson City, Missouri
• M 2.61 — 2020-02-27
  5 km SW of Bremen, Kentucky