Nortonville

History

Nortonville owes its existence to the railroad industry and is named for Eckstein Norton, a Kentucky-born investment banker who started as a clerk in a country store in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1846. Norton participated in the creation of the Elizabethtown and Paducah Railroad in the late 1860s (east-west tracks). He then purchased of land in what would become "Norton Village", later changed to "Nortonville" around 1900. Norton became a shipping agent for the Illinois Central Railroad, which eventually acquired the Elizabethtown & Paducah Railroad. The north–south railroad, named the Evansville, Henderson and Nashville, was completed through Nortonville in 1872. It was purchased in a foreclosure sale in 1879 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Norton became president of the L&N Railroad on October 6, 1886. By 1886, Nortonville was one of only nine towns in the L&N system to have a steam hoist to unload and transfer freight. By then, the city was concentrated around a junction of the IC and L&N Railroads. Nortonville saw growth after 1902, when investors purchased land from the Norton heirs and opened a shaft coal mine as the Nortonville Coal Company. They also operated an electric power plant. Nortonville implemented its first water system in 1936 and paved its streets in 1956. A centralized sewage treatment system was built in the late 1970s, opening an opportunity for continued growth. The Nortonville City Hall occupies the well-maintained 1930s high school building, which was built by the WPA.

Geography

Nortonville is located in southeastern Hopkins County at (37.187660, -87.456032). U.S. Route 41 passes through the eastern and southern parts of the city, leading north to Madisonville, the county seat, and south to Hopkinsville. U.S. Route 62 passes through the northern part of Nortonville, leading east to Greenville and west to Dawson Springs. The Western Kentucky Parkway and Pennyrile Parkway intersect northeast of Nortonville. Interstate 69 follows the Western Kentucky Parkway west from the interchange towards Eddyville and the Pennyrile Parkway north towards Henderson. Paducah is to the west, Evansville, Indiana, is to the north, Elizabethtown is to the east, and Clarksville, Tennessee, is south of the highway junction. According to the United States Census Bureau, Nortonville has a total area of , of which , or 1.02%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,424
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,029
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  988
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  894
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  893
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  820
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  773
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  765

Most recent

• 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 2.61 — 2020-02-27
  5 km SW of Bremen, Kentucky
• M 2.61 — 2015-09-12
  5 km SE of Corydon, Kentucky
• M 2.5 — 2012-04-18
  13 km W of Owensboro, Kentucky