KENTUCKY
Eddyville, KY
Name: The Kentucky State Penitentiary
Population: 856 prisoners
Black Inmates: 34%
Other Inmates: 1%
White Inmates: 65%
Daily Cost Per Inmate: $76.22
Founded: 1886
Who owns it and General Facts:
Kentucky State owns it
The Kentucky State Penitentiary in Lyon County is the Department's oldest and only maximum-security facility. This state prison houses Kentucky's Death Row Inmates.
Land History:
The Shawnee, Chickasaw, Mosopelea, and Cherokee tribes were the original stewards of the land. (500 nations)
Eddyville was colonized around 1798 and named for the eddies in the nearby Cumberland River. Starting in 1959, the town was moved about three miles north to its current site to make room for the new Lake Barkley. Eddyville was incorporated in 1812. The Eddyville post office opened in 1801. ( Beth and Walker)
The population in 2010 was 2,554.
Sign in Lyon County,
Eddyville is the seat of Lyon County. The memorial tells of the Saratoga Battle in the Civil War. The Battle of Saratoga at was one of the earliest Civil War actions in Kentucky. On Oct. 26, 1861, 300 Union soldiers surprised 160 Confederate recruits stationed here, which resulted in 7 CSA deaths & 3 Union injuries.
Lyon County saw clashes between Union & Confederate forces and CSA-aligned guerrillas until the end of the Civil War. (KY History)Mineral Mound plantation in Lyon County is now a state park in Kentucky.
Saratoga United Methodist Church
Saratoga Methodist Church was established in 1822 in a log cabin. It was later rebuilt in 1859.
It is thought to be one of the oldest churches, and the only one to serve as a scene of a Civil War
battle, in Lyon County. According to Lyon County historian, Odell Walker, the bullet holes in the original siding of the Saratoga United Methodist Church are proof to the location of the battle.
Unusual Facts:
In 2011, a marker was put up to remember Mineral Mound plantation in Lyon County. It was acquired and installed through the efforts of the Lyon County Historical Society and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, commemorates the heritage and life of Willis B. Machen. Machen, born in 1810 in present-day Lyon County (at that time Caldwell County), was a farmer, businessman and attorney who rose to prominence for his role in politics during and after the Civil War. (Times Leader, KY ) He loved the confederacy and gave all of his time and efforts to it. Machen was the grandfather of Zelda Fitzgerald. (Britannica Encyclopedia)
Lyon is a mostly dry county, meaning that the sale of alcohol is prohibited except by the drink in restaurants in the city of Kuttawa that seat at least 100 diners and derive at least 70% of total sales from food.